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THE
EARLY
NAVAL HISTORY
OF
ENGLAND.
BY
ROBERT SOUTHEY, LL.D.
POET LAUREATE.
"
PHILADELPHIA:
CAREY, LEA, AND HUANGRAND
1835.
१.
1
Transportation
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DA
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ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL
TABLE
OF THE
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
Object of this Work
INTRODUCTION.
CHAPTER I.
FROM CÆSAR'S INVASION TO THE DEATH OF
ED.
Only Merchants allowed to enter the Ports of Britain, and
the Ports only
British Ships at the Time of Cæsar's Invasion
Their Fleet destroyed in the Defeat of the Veneti
Coracles
British Pearls
Dominion of the Seas acquired by the Possession of Britain
PAGE
19
23
ib.
24
Seius Saturninus, the Roman Admiral
Carausius
Acknowledged as Emperor in Britain
Constantius builds a Mole across the Harbour of Gessoriacum,
near Boulogne
Carausius murdered
Defeat and Death of the Murderer
Coasts fortified against the Saxons
The Romans abandon Britain
26
ib.
27
28
ib.
29
30
ib.
Arrival of Hengist and Horsa
Offa builds Ships, and makes a commercial Treaty with
31
Charlemagne
32
First Danish Invasion
ib.
System of Piracy
ib.
The Vikingr
33
Their Cruelty
34
Their Ferocity
35
The Berserkic Madness
36
Lindisfarne and Wearmouth plundered
38
Egbert
ib.
His Struggle with the Danes
39
Ethelwulph
40
London plundered by the Danes
41
They winter here
ib.
Ethelbald
42
•
Money first paid to the Danes
Ethelbert
The Danes penetrate to the Interior on Horseback
43
ib.
44
Ethelred
it
A 2
5
6
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
F
Alfred
Alfred fits out a few Ships and puts to Sea
He expels the Danes from London and fortifies it
Hastings the Pirate
He forms two Camps in Kent
Alfred pitches his Camp between them
They break up, and get to the Isle of Mersey
Hastings fortifies a Camp at Benfleet
His Family and his Spoils captured there
He marches to the Severn.....
He retreats to his Stronghold at South Shobery
He marches to Chester
He returns to the Isle of Mersey
He brings his Fleet into the Lea
•
Alfred confines it there by digging new Channels
PAGE
45
ib.
46
ib.
47
48
49
50
ib.
51
52
ib.
53
ib.
ib.
Hastings finally driven from England
54
Ships of the Northmen, called Escs
ib.
Alfred builds Galleys to oppose them
ib.
Alfred the first English King who established a naval Force 56
Bede, Alfred, and Roger Bacon
57
918. Danes defeated in Herefordshire
938. Confederacy against Athelstan
First Treaty with France
CHAPTER II.
FROM THE DEATH OF ALFRED TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST.
Edward the Elder
He guards the eastern Coast
He defeats the Anglo-Danes
Again on the Somersetshire Coast
Battle of Brunnaburgh
939. First English Fleet equipped with relation to the Affairs of
ib.
the Continent
ib.
Athelstan's Law in honour of Commerce
Present of a Ship from Norway
941. Edward the Elder consents to a Partition Treaty with Aulaf 62
Eric the Fratricide
946. His Piracies, Invasion, and Death
982. Ravages of the Danes immediately after his Death
991. Brithnoth's Defeat and Death
992. Ælfric's Treason
Early History of Sweyne
Vows made at his Father's Obsequies
959. Edgar's Naval Force
The People corrupted by the Example of his licentious Life. ib.
Anglo-Danes
Ethelred purchases a Truce
First direct Taxation
He is refused a Refuge at Edgar's Court
994. London successfully defended against him...………………
66
67
68
ib.
ib.
69
ib.
70
ib.
BARU HIKIINJURIESKONN
58
ib.
59
ib.
60
ib.
61
ib.
ib.
63
ib.
64
65
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
A second Truce purchased
Olaf converted
The Danes ravage the western Coast
They overrun Kent
They gain a Victory in Hampshire
Peace again purchased
Massacre of the Danes
Sweyne comes to revenge it
Thetford burnt
More Money paid to them
Ship-money levied
Naval Preparation frustrated
London still well defended
The Country at their Mercy
Canterbury besieged
Archbishop Elphege made Prisoner there
The Danes put him to Death
Miracles said to have ensued
Danegelt again paid
Three Days of Humiliation
·
Sweyne again invades England
7
PAGE
1
71
ib.
ib.
72
73
ib.
74
75
ib.
76
ib.
77
78
ib.
79
80
82
ib.
83
ib.
84
He proceeds from the Humber without resistance to London 85
The Londoners repulse him
Ethelred withdraws from London
London then submits
Ethelred flees to Normandy
ib.
86
ib.
The English invite him back
National Compact with Edmund his Son
London Bridge attacked by the auxiliary Danes, from the
Water
London delivered
Money raised for the Auxiliaries
Edric murders the Chiefs of the Anglo-Danes
Canute returns with a powerful Fleet from Denmark
Edmund marries the Widow of one
Want of Authority and of Concert
Ethelred's Death
Canute digs a Canal at Southwark for the Passage of his
Ships
Battle of Sceorstane
Edmund compels Canute to raise the siege of London
The English defeated by Treachery at Assandun
Edmund and Canute divide the Kingdom
Death of Edmund
Canute marries Queen Emma
Beneficial Effects of his Conquests
Canute's Lesson to his Courtiers
89
1
ib.
90
ib.
91
92
93
ib.
ib.
95
ib.
96
ib.
97
ib.
98
His great Power
99
1035. Harold Harefoot succeeds
ib.
Canute's Dominions divided
100
1040. Hardicanute's Accession
Lib.
Discontent at the Exaction of Ship-money
ib.
Godwin's Present of a Ship
101
The Country prosperous
ib.
1042. Edward the Confessor
ib.
Magnus claims the Succession
ib.
8
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
F
PAGE
1047. Piracy renewed
102
!
Danegelt abolished
103
1051. Godwin and his Sons exiled
ib.
1052. They ravage the Coast
ib.
They draw up their Forces at London
They make their own Terms with the King
English inexpert Horse Soldiers
105
ib.
1063. Griffith, the Welsh King, slain
106
1066. Harold takes the Crown
Harold Hardrara's Preparations
Apprehensions excited by the appearance of a Comet
Tostig's first Invasion and Defeat
107
ib.
108
ib.
Ill Omens with which his Expedition was undertaken
109
He takes Scarborough
110
Harold's Force collected on the south Coast
ib.
Edwin and Morcar defeated by Hardrada
ib.
York opens its Gates to him
111
Interview with Tostig
Defeat of the Norwegians
He lands at Bulverhithe
Battle of Hastings
Harold arrives at York
Tostig ades a Retreat to the Ships
Death of Hardrada and Tostig
The Normans
William's Armament
"Harold compelled to leave the Coast unguarded
St. Valery borne in procession
William sails for England
National Sins which then received their Punishment
ib.
112
113
114
ib.
: 115
116
117
•
118
ib.
ib.
119
120
3-***I*3*165*88
122
124
127
CHAPTER III.
FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO THE ACCESSION OF KING JOHN.
William in Danger from the North
The Sons of Harold invade England from Ireland
1068. They are defeated, and repair to Denmark
William endeavours to counteract their Application
The Danes invade England
York burnt
1069. Defeat of the Normans there
William lays Northumbria waste
1070. He makes Terms with the Danes
•
Interview between the Kings of Denmark and Norway
Northern Armament
It is broken up
Danegelt revived
Mercenaries employed by William
William Rufus permits his Subjects to fit out Cruisers
He embarks in a Storm
...
1120. Shipwreck of Prince Henry
Laws relating to Wrecks
Growth of Commerce
Jews in England
129
131
132
133
ANALYTICAL and chronOLOGICAL TABLE.
9
PAGE
Commercial Prosperity
133
1121. The Foss Dyke cut
134
Miserable State of England under King Stephen
ib.
1155. Henry II. expels the Aliens
135
He feels the want of a Naval Force
ib.
Irish Piracy one Motive for the Conquest of Ireland
Henry II. and the Patriarch of Jerusalem
136
ib.
1189. He prepares for a Crusade and dies
138
Richard Cœur de Lion's Fleet
ib.
Laws for the Punishment of Offences in the Fleet
139
The Fleet dispersed by Storme
ib.
One Ship broken up at Sylves
140
Others put into the Tagus
...
ib.
Transactions with the Portuguese
ib.
Richard embarks at Genoa
141
He puts into the Tiber
ib.
His Dispute with a Peasant, and consequent Danger
Richard reaches Messina
His Claims on the King of Sicily in behalf of his Sister, the
142
ib.
Dowager Queen
143
He takes possession of a Fortress and Monastery
ib.
Messina stormed by the English
144
Laws for the Crusaders
145
Agreement with the King of Sicily
146
Jealousy between the Kings of England and France
147
Law of Shipwrecks improved
148
Richard's Fit of Contrition
ib.
His Interview with the Abbot Joachim
149
Philip's supposed Letter to Tancred
150
Explanation between the two Kings
ib.
•
Berengaria arrives at Messina
Richard sails from Sicily
His Fleet dispersed
Conduct of the Ruler of Cyprus
Richard lands in Cyprus
He enters the Capital
Isaac's Submission and Escape
Conquest of the Island
Fate of Isaac
151
152
ib.
153
ib.
154
155
ib.
156
Cyprus given to Guy de Lusignan
ib.
Action with a great Saracen Ship
157
D
Greek Fire
158
Naval Action
159
Event of Richard's Crusade
160
Philip Augustus thinks of invading England
161
He seeks a Danish Princess in Marriage
ib.
His Claim upon the Throne of England
ib.
History of that Marriage
162
1196. Richard punishes the English who supplied the Enemy's Army 164
CHAPTER IV.
99999
165
ib.
FROM THE ACCESSION OF KING JOHN, TO THE BATTLE OF SLUYS.
Friar Bacon's Brazen Head
Feudal Principle upon which Fleets were raised
10
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
Damme burnt by the French
1215. Fleet of Mercenaries wrecked
1200. John asserts the Dominion of the Seas
Story of an amphibious Man
1213. John_prevented by his Nobles from attempting to recover
Normandy
1213. Philip Augustus threatens to invade England
The Invasion prevented by John's submission to the Pope
Philip invades Flanders
He sends his Fleet to Damme
History of that Port
PAGE
166
ib.
167
168
ib.
169
ib.
ib.
The French receive Money from the Inhabitants under Pro-
mise of respecting their Property, and then plunder them 170
Battle of Damme, being the first naval Victory of the Eng-
lish over the French
Defeat of the English on Shore
Philip burns the Remainder of the Fleet
John on the Isle of Wight
Eustace the Monk
•
1218. His feet, coming with Reinforcements to Louis, is defeated
171
172
ib.
ib.
173
ib.
174
by Hubert de Burgh
ib.
Remarkable Instance of individual Gratitude for a national
Service
175
Ship seen in the Air
176
Fleet on the Coast from some unknown Land
ib.
1238. Attempt to murder Henry III.
177
The Person charged with this Treason gets possession of
Lundy Island, and pirates from thence
178
1242. He is taken and put to Death
ib.
Piracies by the Ships of the Cinque-ports
ib.
1266. Edward I. compromises with those Ports
179
Agreement that the Flemings might trade with England,
though their Earl was bound to serve the King of France 180
Edward's return from the Holy Land
181
1282. He occupies Anglesea
182
Bridge of Boats across the Menai
ib.
Defeat of the English there
183
Intention of constructing a Stone Bridge there
ib.
1293. English Ships attacked by the Normans
184
Retaliations
ib.
Naval Victory over the French
ib.
.
Foreigners removed from the Coast on an Alarm of Invasion 185
Sir Thomas Turberville's Treason
ib.
Dover sacked
186
St. Thomas of Dover
ib.
1297. Battle between the Yarmouth and the Cinque-ports Ships
187
Misconduct of the English in Flanders
ib.
Marriage of Edward of Caernarvon
188
History of the Lady Philippa
ib.
Consequence of Edward II.'s Marriage
191
by France
Sovereignty of the Seas asserted by England, and recognised
English Shipwrights engaged by the Spaniards
National Enmity between the English and French
Outrages at Sea
1308. Spanish Pirates at Southampton
ib.
193
ib.
•
194
ib.
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
1310. The Flemings and the Scotch
Extraordinary Request of the King of France concerning
certain Spanish Ships
1315. A Navy raised
1324. Affray with the Venetians at Southampton
Rigorous Measures against the French in England
1327. Peace with France
Decay of naval Strength under Edward II.
Edward III.'s Title to the Crown of France
Homage required from him for his Possessions in France
1328. His secret Protest
Preparations for the Ceremony on the Part of France.
Edward demurs at a Part of the Homage
Supposed Intention of detaining him
The French Demand proved to be well founded
Edward evades acknowledging this to its full Extent
France foments the War in Scotland
1336. A Fleet commissioned
Instructions to the Admirals
•
Ships could not be fitted out for War at Bristol
The Cinque-ports and Yarmouth bound to keep the Peace
towards each other
The Scotch seek to procure Vessels from the Mediterranean
and from Norway
Edward procures Ships from Genoa
1337. Covert Hostilities of the French
They occupy the Isle of Cadsant
A Fleet sent against them
Cadsant
Defeat of the French and Flemings there
A Crusade proposed
11
PAGE
.195
ib.
196
ib.
ib.
198
ib.
ib.
ib.
199
ib.
201
ib.
202
ib.
203
204
ib.
205
ib.
ib.
206
ib.
ib.
ib.
207
208
209
210
ib.
ib.
ib.
ib.
211
ib.
ib.
212
ib.
ib.
ib.
214
ib.
215
ib.
ib.
•
ib.
217
ib.
ib.
219
220
Discontent in England at the Costs of the War
The People on the South Coast refuse to pay the Imposts for
its Defence
Precautions against Invasion
1339. Portsmouth burnt
London fortified
Capture of the Edward and the Christopher
Inhabitants of that Town forbidden to leave it
Plymouth burnt
Defeat of the Enemy there
Southampton sacked
•
Exploit of a Thresher
Defence of the Coast
Ships in the Harbour there burnt
Subjects
Boat Expedition from the Cinque-ports to Boulogne
Edward's resentment of the Cruelties committed upon his
Speech of a Cardinal to him
1340. Philip's Intention to put two English Noblemen to Death
The King of Bohemia dissuades him
Edward sails from Ipswich
French Fleet discovered in the Zwijn
Sluys
Battle of Sluys
The Christopher retaken
12
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
PAGE
Great Victory of the English
221
Edward's Letter to the Clergy, being the first Despatch an-
nouncing a naval Victory
222
Philip informed of the Defeat by a Court Fool
223
CHAPTER V.
FROM THE BATTLE OF SLUYS TO THE DEATH OF EDWARD III.
Edward returns thanks for his Victory
He is distressed for Money
The Pope's Representation to him
224
225
ib.
Dispute with Genoa
A Truce brought about by the Lady Jeanne de Valois
Edward's Difficulties for Money
1341. He returns to England
The bad Weather in his Voyage imputed to French Necro-
mancers
English Coasts infested
League between the Cinque-ports and Bayonne
A naval Assembly convened
1342. Portsmouth burnt
War concerning the Succession in Bretagne
John of Montford taken Prisoner
His Countess besieged in Hennebon
..: 226
227
228
ib.
ib.
ib.
229
ib.
230
ib.
ib.
231
•
She cuts her Way through the Besiegers
ib.
And returns with a small Reinforcement
232
•
The town battered from twelve great Engines
ib.
The Bishop of St. Pol de Leon proposes to surrender
ib.
The English Succours arrive under Sir Walter Manny .
233
They sally and destroy the great Engine
234
Don Luis d'Espana
235
He takes and garrisons Comper
it.
Sir Walter Manny retakes it
236
Dinant taken by Don Luis
ib.
His Cruelty at Guerande
ib.
Sir Walter captures his Ships there
237
Don Luis defeated, and his Nephew slain
238
Sir Walter makes an Attempt on Rosternan Castle
ib.
Sir John Butler and Sir Matthew Trelawny made Prison-
ers there
239
Sir Walter takes Gony in the Forest
ib.
Hennebon again besieged
240
Don Luis returns to the Camp
ib.
He asks the two Prisoners as a Boon, with the Intent of put-
ting them to Death
241
...
•
Sir Walter Manny rescues them
242
•
The Siege raised
244
A Truce
ib.
The Countess goes to England
ib.
1343. She returns with a Fleet
ib.
Naval Action with the Genoese and Spaniards
245
Don Luis attacks the King's Fleet in a French Harbour
246
Truce for three Years
247
Edward driven to the Coast of Spain
ib.
France obtains Ships from Genoa
ib.
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
Another naval Council convoked
1344. Clisson put to Death by the French King
Edward considers this a Breach of the Truce
13
PAGE
248
ib.
249
250
251
ib.
ib.
ib.
252
ib.
253
254
255
ib.
ib.
He sends a Defiance to Philip
Death of Sir Henry de Leon
Don Luis created Prince of the Fortunate Islands by the Pope
Under that Pretext he raises Forces against England
The English Ambassadors at Avignon discover this
1348. John de Montford dies
1346. Statutes against those who publish false News
The Dominicans required to inuct the People concerning
the Grounds of the War
Precautions for the Defence of the Coast
Edward embarks for France
He declares his Intention of sending back his Navy
They make for Gascony, and are twice driven back
The Lord of Harcourt persuades him to land in Normandy
Omen when he leapt on Shore
Battle of Cressy
Calais besieged
1347. Attempts to relieve it by Sea
Daring Service of two French Seamen
Calais taken
Edward in Danger of Shipwreck
Long Truce
Edward at the Height of his Glory
Prosperity of the Kingdom
Ill-founded and therefore unstable
1348. The great Pestilence
...
ib.
•
256
257
ib.
258
259
ib.
ib.
ib.
260
ib.
261
The Pope mediates between the two Kings
Conferences for Peace
Death of King Philip
ib.
262
ib.
263
•
Truce prolonged
ib.
Don Carlos de la Cerda inherits his Father's Hatred of the
English
ib.
1350. He infests the Coast with a Spanish Fleet
ib.
Edward and the Black Prince embark to give the Spaniards
Battle
265
The Victory interrupted by the Night
ib.
Fourscore Knights made after the Action
1351. Ships burnt at Boulogne and in the inland Ports
Sir John Goldesborough slain
Peace with the Spaniards
1352. Isle of Wight threatened
Many persons leave Winchester to avoid the Charges for
local Defence
266
ib.
ib.
ib.
267
ib.
1356. Battle of Poictiers
ib.
1357. Preparations for rescuing the captured King on his Way to
England
ib.
The Pope demands the Arrears of King John's Tribute 268
Scotch Pirates driven by Storms into Yarmouth, and there
...
taken
ib.
Edward chooses his Burial Place
269
Camp Mills in the English Army
ib.
Leathern Boats also
ib.
1360. The Count of St. Pol ravages the Coast of Sussex
B
ib.
*
14
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
t
The Clergy required to take Arms
London fits out eighty Sail
Edward offers Battle before Paris
Peace proposed by the French
Peace concluded
Thunder-storm at Chartres, by which the English Army suffer.
great loss
1362. The Duke of Anjou breaks his Parole
1364. The French King goes to England, and dies there
English Language introduced into our Courts and Schools
1371. Capture of a Flemish Fleet
The Flemish Towns make Peace without the Consent of the
Earl
Edward's Reverse of Fortune
1372. The Earl of Pembroke sent with a Fleet to Rochelle
Action with the Spaniards off that Port, and total defeat of
the English
Treatment of the Prisoners
Du Guesclin besieges Thouars
Edward and the Black Prince embark for its Relief
The Weather prevents them from landing before the Day
appointed for its Surrender
Latter Days of Edward III.
1373. Ships burnt at St. Maloes
PAGE
270
ib.
ib.
271
ib.
ib.
272
273
ib.
274
275
276
277
ib.
280
ib.
281
282
ib.
283
CHAPTER VI.
FROM THE DEATH OF EDWARD III. TO THE ACCESSION OF HENRY IV.
The Noble coined in honour of a naval Victory
Edward's Care for the Seas
Foreign Merchants encouraged to the Injury of our naval
Strength
1381. First Navigation Act
•
1382. Modification of this Act
Respect made to the Memory of Edward by the French
King
1377. Rye burnt
•
..
The south Coast ravaged by the French and Spaniards
Complaint in Parliament that the Kingdom is in Danger ..
A Fleet sent out
...
1378. Scotch Sea-rovers under John Mercer
...
John Philpot, a London Alderman, sends out a Squadron,
and captures them. Maritime Defence of the Realm
intrusted for one Year to John of Gaunt
Sir Peter Courtenay taken Prisoner
1379. Sir John Clarke slain
Sir Hugh Calverly and Sir Thomas Percy, Admirals
Shipwreck of Sir John Arundel
284
ib.
ib.
22 128 1280
ib.
289
290
291
292
Olivier de Clisson infests the southern and western Coasts
Enemy's Ships taken in Kinsale Harbour
294
ib.
Portsmouth and other Places burnt by the French and Spa-
niards
•
ib.
They enter the Thames, and burn Gravesend
ib.
Distress and discontent of the People ..
Accounts laid before Parliament
295
ib.
J
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
4.
1381. The Commons petition for Peace
15
PAGE
296
The Cinque-ports send forth Ships
1384. Prizes taken in the Seine
ib.
297
Portuguese Galleys sent to aid the English
1385. The French Admiral in Scotland
Cadsant ravaged by the English
Slays occupied by the French
Frans Ackerman surprises Damme
Gantese and English garrison it
The King of France besieges it
Siege of Damme
Ackerman and the Troops escape
The Place taken
•
Many of the French Fleet wrecked or captured
Invasion of England proposed
The Duke of Burgundy exchanges Bethune for Sluys
He fortifies Sluys
1386. The Invasion is resolved on
Fleet collected at Sluys
Preparations for the French Armada
Portable Intrenchment
298
ib.
299
ib.
300
ib.
301
ib.
302
ib.
303
ib.
304
·· •
ib.
305
306
ib.
308
Calais provided against an Attack
309
John of Gaunt refuses to return from Spain
ib.
Preparation for Defence
310
Proposal to remove the Shrine of Thomas à Becket for Se-
curity
313
The King of Armenia comes to England as a Mediator
ib.
The King proposes to invade France
315
The Commons impeach the Chancellor
ib.
Their Remonstrance to the King
316
The King of Armenia disregarded by the French
318
Delay of the French Armada
ib.
Part of the Portable Intrenchment captured
319
The Armada sails, and is driven back
320
Enmity of the Flemings towards the French
ib.
Government vested in a Council of Fourteen
The Expedition is abandoned by the Duke of Berry's advice 322
Disbandment of the English Force
1387. The Earl of Arundel sent out with a Fleet
Peter Vanden Bosch goes out in this Fleet
Action with the Flemish Fleet from Rochelle
The English waste the Coast and return
Disposal of the Wine
Hotspur sent to Sea
Invasion intended in the Spring
323
324
ib.
325
326
328
ib.
329
330
ib.
331
ib.
332
...
ib.
333
334
ib.
The Armament ready in the Ports of Bretagne
Jean de Bretagne a hostage in England
Montfort's ill Čonduct towards the English
He is bound to ransom Jean de Bretagne
This he refuses to do
Clisson ransoms him
Enmity of Montfort towards Clisson
He summons a Council at Vannes
Indignation of the People
Clisson invited to his Castle, and there treacherously seized 335
Clisson threatened with Death
336
337
1.
ja
1
ม
16
ANALYTICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
He is released upon Payment of a Ransom, and the Surren-
der of certain Places.
PAGE
339
The Armament against England broken up in consequence
of this Affair
ib.
Clisson complains to the King, and resigns the Office of Con
stable
Gelderland defies France
ib.
340
English desirous of an active War
ib.
Temporizing Policy of the French Government
342
Montfort's Perplexity
ib.
He applies for Aid to England
343
An Expedition sent to co-operate with him
ib.
Montfort is advised to submit
344
He yields and restores the Places
345
He goes to Blois to meet the royal Dukes
ib.
They compel him to proceed to Paris
346
He performs Homage
347
He is detained at Paris till all Danger from the English is
over
ib.
Purport of the English Expedition frustrated by this Trans-
action
348
The English proceed towards Rochelle
349
They land at Marant
350
The Rochellers attack them in their Quarters, and are re-
pulsed with Loss
351
The English store themselves at leisure, and then re-embark 352
1393. Truce of thirty Years
354
1395. Piracies wrongly attributed to the Danes..
ib.
The Vitalians
355
Disputes and Negotiation with the Teutonic Order in Prussia 356
PREFACE.
In this Naval History of England, no more of our
general history is included than was necessary for form-
ing a connected narrative, and for tracing the causes and
consequences of those events which are the proper sub-
ject of the work. After the accession of Elizabeth, it
may best be continued in a biographical form; because
there are then materials for such biography, whereby we
are enabled to understand how much depended upon
the character of individual commanders. It was not,
indeed, till her reign that the military and naval services
began to be considered as distinct.
The evils which maritime enemies have inflicted upon
this country, and which we in return have inflicted upon
others, may seem an unpromising and ungrateful sub-
ject. Yet such a history will not be without interest,
while men retain their admiration for the great, their
sympathy for the brave, and the love of their native
land. Entertainment, therefore, it may be expected to
afford; and the information which it may convey must
be in proportion to the research that has been employed
in collecting it; and a higher end will be attained, if the
reader should feel that the sense of right and wrong, and
the ways of Providence, have been borne in mind re-
ligiously throughout.
KESWICK, Feb. 11, 1833.
17
M
T
B 2
、
¡
1
F
*
THE
NAVAL HISTORY
OF
ENGLAND,
ETC.
ACCORDING to the Welsh Triads,* the earliest name by
which Britain was known was CLAS MERDDIN, the sea-defend-
ed green spot. Such an appellation may seem to have been
prophetic. But the sea defends no people who cannot defend
themselves; and it was with this feeling that Wordsworth,
the great poet of his age, poured forth a lofty strain, when,
looking from a valley near Dover towards the coast of France,
and “the span of waters” which separated us from that then
most formidable neighbour (for it was while Buonaparte was
in the plenitude of his power), he said—
"Even so doth God protect us, if we be
Virtuous and wise! Winds blow, and waters roll,
Strength to the brave, and Power, and Deity;
Yet in themselves are nothing! One decree
Spake laws to them, and said, that by the soul
Only, the nation shall be great and free."t
With all the ports of the continent in his possession,
and all its navies at his command, that narrow channel was
found impassable by the most ambitious, the most power-
ful, the most enterprising, and the most inveterate enemy
* Cambro-Briton, i. 8.
†Sonnets dedicated to Liberty, part i. sonnet xi.
19
yo
#
20
OBJECT OF THIS WORK.
2.
with whom this nation ever was engaged in war; for Great
Britain had manfully won and victoriously maintained the
dominion of the sea. It will be neither an unworthy nor a
useless task for an Englishman who loves his country, and
who, in doing his duty towards it in his station, trusts that
he may deserve to be held in remembrance by posterity, to
record the actions of those brave men by whom that domi-
nion was acquired: and a series of their lives ("wherein,"
to use the words of a wise and good man,* "I intend to do
them right with the truth thereof, and myself with the free-
dom") will be the most convenient form for a compendious
naval history of England.
It is, however, no wish of the writer that the work he has
thus undertaken should be the cause of inducing any hope-
ful youth, who otherwise might not have been so inclined, to
enter the naval service; the ways of that service are as little
ways of pleasantness as its paths are paths of peace; and
rather would he that his right hand should forget its cun-
ning than that his writings should produce such an effect.
Nevertheless, as for that profession, with all its determents
and its moral dangers, adventurers never will be wanting, so
long as, in the order of Providence, such means of national
defence are needful,-it is good that they should be provided
with a manual of this kind, wherein, as in a chart, they may
discern what they are to seek and what to shun, by perceiv-
ing what things in the conduct of their predecessors ought
to be regarded as warnings, and what as examples. And as
every way of life, from the highest to the humblest, has its
besetting sins, so, let it be remembered, each may and ought
to have its appropriate virtues; and those which the seaman
is called upon to practise are of a high order. He lives in a
course of privations, self-denial, and strict obedience, always
in insecurity, often in danger, not seldom in the face of death,
Through such discipline no man can pass unchanged; he must
be brutalised by it, or exalted; it will either call forth the
* Sir Henry Wotton. Parallel between the Earl of Essex and the Duke
of Buckingham.
1
秦森
4
.
OBJECT OF THIS WORK.
21
noble qualities of his nature, or worsen a bad disposition,
and harden an evil heart. The more necessary is it, there-
fore, that he should be taught where to look for examples,
and where for assistance and support: the former are afforded
him by history, which is always most useful when it is re-
lated with most fidelity; for the latter he must look to that
Heavenly Father who has created and preserved him, and in
His infinite mercy has given him the means of grace.
Sailors are taught in their part of our incomparable Li-
turgy to pray that they may be a safeguard to the sovereign
and his dominions, and a security to such as pass on the seas
upon their lawful occasions. They are required, before a
battle, to call upon the Lord, and entreat Him "who sitteth
on the throne, judging right," to "take the cause into his
own hand, and judge between them and their enemies;"
and they are enjoined, after the victory has been given them,
to acknowledge that He has been their strength, and to pray
that "the mercies which they have received at His hands
may be improved to his glory, to the advancement of His
gospel, the honour of their sovereign, and, as far as in them
lieth, to the good of all mankind." Thus solemnly are they
instructed; and it is not presumptuous to believe, that while
the service is carried on in this spirit, and in this faith, the
protection which has hitherto been vouchsafed it, and which
is thus implored, will never be withdrawn.
•
!
!
THE
NAVAL HISTORY
OF
ENGLAND,
ETC.
13
INTRODUCTION.
CHAPTER I.
BRITISH SHIPS AT THE TIME OF CESAR'S INVASION.-CARAU-
SIUS.-SAXON PIRATES IN THE FOURTH CENTURY.-SAXON
CONQUEST.-SYSTEM OF NORTHERN PIRACY.-NÄVAL FORCE
ESTABLISHED BY ALFRED.
THE first inhabitants of Great Britain were a maritime
people, a branch of those whom the Greeks called Kimme-
rioi, and the Latins Cimbri; a name which the Cambrians,
or, more properly the Cymry, retain in their own tongue to
this day. According to tradition, which there is no cause
for impugning, they came from Asia, or the Summer Coun-
try, but by way of the Hazy,* or German Ocean. The
Kelts, a kindred people, came next, from the opposite coast
of France; and it is probable that the Phenicians at an early
age did more than visit this island, otherwise there would
not have remained so many vestiges of their language, their
mythology, and their superstitions. Cæsar could obtain no
information either concerning the extent of the land or the
condition of its inhabitants, for none but merchants were al-
lowed to enter the ports; and these, as it appears, the ports
only. A country could hardly have been thus jealously de-
fended without some maritime force; but when Cæsar
determined upon invading the Britons, he had previously
destroyed their fleet in the great naval victory which he ob-
tained over them and their allies, the Veneti. The de-
scription of the Gallic ships which he encountered in that
action must be understood as describing the British also.
Their bottoms were flatter than those of the Roman vessels,
that they might be the better accommodated to tide harbours
* Triads, quoted in Turner's History of the Anglo Saxons, i. 38. (third
edition.) Cambro-Briton, i. 45, 46.
1
24
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
and to a shoal coast; and they were elevated both at the
prow and the poop, because that mode of building was then
deemed best adapted to our stormy seas. They were con-
structed wholly of oak, for strength; the anchors were se-
cured by iron chains instead of cables; and the sails were
made of skins and thin leather, either because the people
were not acquainted with the use of linen, or because it was
erroneously supposed (and this was thought by Cæsar more
likely) that no weaker material could withstand the winds
to which they were liable in these parts. It was by disabling
their rigging that he defeated them; and this he effected by
affixing keen bill-hooks to long poles, and catching with
these the ropes whereby their sails were fastened to the mast;
this hold having been caught, the Roman rowers put forth all
their strength, and when the tackling was cut the ship be-
came unmanageable. Thus the Romans obtained a victory
which they knew not how to seek by any other means; for
the beaks of their galleys could make no impression upon
the strong oak timbers of the Gauls and Britons; and even
when they set up towers, the enemy looked down upon them
from their lofty poops, and threw their weapons at advan-
tage. An opportune calm enabled Cæsar to complete his
success, when the ships which had saved their cordage en-
deavoured to make off; and of two hundred and twenty
sail, of which the allied fleet consisted, so few escaped, that
their naval force was in that action destroyed.*
*
*
As it thus appears that the Britons had good war ships
before the Roman conquest,† so is it certain that they were
hardy seamen, and used to cross both the English and Irish
channels in vessels constructed of wicker work and covered
with skins.‡ Coracles § thus made, differing only in the
* Cæsar, de Bello Gallico, 1. iii. § 13-16. Mare Clausum, Seldeni Opera,
ii. 1287.
†The learned person who digested the Chronological Epitome of the
Historical Triads (Cambro-Briton, iii. 133-137.) fixes the probable date for
the introduction of ship-building among the Cymry about 100 years before
Christ. The Triads ascribe it to one of "the three beneficent artizans of
the isle of Britain; Corvenwr, the bard of Ceri, of the Long White Lake,
who first made a ship, with sail and rudder, for the nation of the Cymry."-
(Ib. ii. 389.)
Selden, ii. 1283. It was in boats of this construction, the use of which
he had learnt in Britain, that Cæsar passed his army across the Segre, near
Ilerda (the modern Lerida,) when he was advancing against Afranius and
Petreius.-De Bell. Civ. 1. i. § 54.
§ Several canoes have been dug up in Lincolnshire, all of oak, and re-
markable for the free grain of the timber; so that the millwrights and car-
penters who examined it, declared that, in their opinion, it was of foreign
growth, and the produce of a warmer country. But that the canoes could
not have been brought there from any warmer country seems certain; and
+
FIRST BRITISH VESSELS.
25
material with which they are coated, and carrying only a
single person, are still used upon the Severn, and in most
of the Welsh rivers. They are so small and light, that,
when the fisherman lands, he takes his boat out of the water
and bears it home upon his back. In the management of
such slight and unsteady vessels great hardihood and dexte-
rity must have been acquired, especially in a climate so un-
certain, and in such stormy seas as ours.
*
Cæsar's success against the Britons, when he invaded
them, was not such as he had gained in his naval action
against the Veneti. Over these he exercised, in full rigour,
what were then deemed the rights of conquest,-putting
their senators to the sword, and selling the people for slaves
by military auction. But the advantages which he obtained
over the Britons afforded him little more than a pretext for
withdrawing from the island without dishonour. On his re-
turn to Rome he dedicated to Venus a breast-plate, adorned,
it was said, with British pearls:* such an offering to the sea-
born goddess was intended to denote that he had acquired the
dominion of the seas, and this became the theme of his enco-
miasts; and it was not an empty boast. For the naval supe-
riority of the Romans could no longer be disputed in the
British seas; and it enabled them in the reign of Augustus
to exact that as a tribute from Britain which Čæsar had only
imposed in the form of a duty upon all imports and exports.
Caligula's insane bravado upon the opposite Batavian coast,
where he drew up his army upon the sand, and made them
collect shells as the spoils of the sea, unequivocally proved
his craziness; but it also shows of what importance the
Romans esteemed their maritime dominion, and that they
considered it as depending in these parts upon the posses-
sion of this island. And when Claudius invaded it, and
carried into effect the threat of his frantic predecessor, he
caused upon his triumphal return a naval crown to be
affixed beside the civic one on the summit of the Palatine
palace, and he also was panegyrised as "sovereign of the
ocean.
if any inference can be drawn from the grain of the wood, as indicating
its growth in a warmer climate, it would seem to be, that these canoes were
made when the climate of this island was warm enough for elephants,
hyenas, tygers, hippopotamuses, and other inhabitants of southern coun-
tries, whose remains have been brought to light here.
* C. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. ix. § 57. Pliny seems to suspect that the pearls
were not procured in Britain: he says, "In Britannia parvos atque deco-
lores nasci certum est; quoniam divus Julius thoracem, quem Veneri Gene-
trici in templo ejus dicavit, ex Britannicis margaritis factum voluerit in-
telligi."
† Suetonius, in Claud. § 17.
VOL. I.
C
· ·
26
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
*
It was chiefly by means of his ships that Agricola com-
pleted the reduction of the island, as far as it was reduced.
From that time the Romans kept a fleet upon its coast; and
if the title archigubernus is not rather to be interpreted chief
pilot, Seius Saturninus was the first high admiral of the Bri-
tish fleet whose name appears in history, and the only Ro-
man one whose name has been preserved. He held that
station (whichever it may have been) in the reigns of Ha-
drian and Antoninus Pius.* But there is nothing uncertain
concerning the rank and character of the next person, who,
after an interval of two centuries, kept the British seas, and
first made Britain a maritime power. This person, Caius
Carausius by name, and by birth a Menapian of the lowest
origin, had been, for his approved courage and nautical skill,
appointed to the command of the Roman fleet, which had
its station at Gessoriacum (now Boulogne) in his native
country. With this fleet he was to scour the seas, and clear
them of the northern sea-rovers, who had now begun to in-
fest all civilized coasts within their reach. But he, whose
object at that time was to enrich himself, compounded with
the pirates, instead of destroying them; and when he learnt
that this practice was suspected, he suffered them to pass
unmolested on their outward voyage, and intercepted them
on their return, laden with booty, which he took to himself,
distributing it among his men so as to secure their fidelity.
Maximian, who then governed the western division of the
empire, rightly apprehended that Carausius was meditating
some scheme of usurpation. In those ages, power consti-
tuted right; and any means seem to have been thought al-
lowable for retaining, at least, if not for acquiring it. The
readiest means, perhaps the only ones, which occurred to
the emperor for preventing an intended treason, was to make
away with the traitor; and, as a Mahommedan Sultan would
now do towards a governor whom he suspected, he sent a
messenger to assassinate him. The attempt was
A. D. either foreseen or frustrated; and Carausius, sailing
across to Britain, persuaded the Roman troops there,
289.
* Henry, i. 422. Selden, Mare Clausum, lib. ii. c. 5., there quoted. The
Britannia on our copper coin differs little, except in costume, from the
Britannia on the copper coin of Antoninus Pius:" Ea est forma muliebris
pallâ seu supparo induta, nunc rupibus, nunc globo in oceano insidens cum
signo militari, hastâ, scuto.-Britanniam circumambienti oceano imperare
ita notabant, et Romanum imperatorem Britanniæ."-Mare Clausum, Sel-
den. Op. t. ii. 1309,
† Mascou's Hist. of the Ancient Germans, English translation, book vi.
§ iii. p. 243. Aurelius Victor, c. xxxix. Eutropius, lib. ix. § xiii., there
quoted. Turner, i. 162–164. Henry, i. 61.
1
CARAUSIUS.
27
and the people in general, to take up his cause, assumed the
purple, and took the titles of Emperor and Augustus.
The adventurer was well qualified for the perilous station
which he had attained: he increased his navy by building a
great number of ships upon the Roman model; he courted
the friendship of the Franks and other barbarous nations, in-
vited their young men into his fleet and his army, trained
them both to the land and sea service; and being in posses-
sion of both sides of the channel he harassed the coasts of
Gaul, and Spain, and Italy. A new naval force was tổ be
created before any effort could be directed against him; but
sailors cannot be made ready upon any sudden demand, like
soldiers; Carausius obtained an easy victory; and Diocle-
tian and Maximian saw they had no better course than that
of making peace with him for the present. They acknow-
ledged him, therefore, by the name of Marcus Aurelius Vale-
rius Carausius, for their brother emperor, and resigned Britain
to him. He soon recovered from the Picts and Scots all that
had ever been possessed by the Romans; and he repaired
the wall of Severus, which he is said to have strengthened
with seven castles, or rather towers. A remarkable monu-
ment of antiquity on the river Carron, known by the name of
Arthur's Oven,* among other guesses concerning its origin,
has been supposed to have been erected by him. Cultivat-
ing, also, the arts of peace as well as of war, he endeavoured
to make the Romanised Britons sensible that it was not less
for their advantage than their honour that the emperor should
reside among them. He struck sundry coins, specimens of
which yet remain; and skilful artists came hither from the
Continent, attracted by the encouragement of a munificent
sovereign. But the greatest proof of his policy is, that he
formed a league with the piratical tribes who were then set-
tled on the Thracian Bosphorus; the object of which was
that they should send a strong fleet up the Mediterranean to
join him on the British seas, and act against the Romans.
Little pretence even to good faith was made in those imperial
ages; and the peace which he had concluded with Diocle-
tian and Maximian was tacitly intended on both sides to con-
* "Mr. Gordon supposes it," says Pennant, "to have been a sacellum, or
little chapel-a repository for the Roman insignia or standards: but, to the
mortification of every curious traveller, this matchless edifice is now no
more; its barbarous owner, a Gothic knight, caused it to be demolished, in
order to make a mill dam with the materials; which, within less than a
year, the Naiads, in resentment of the sacrilege, came down in a flood and
entirely swept away.-Unfortunately it stood at a small distance from the
founderies, on a little rising above the river."-Pinkerton's Collection of
Voyages, iii. 116.
28
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
tinue only till a favourable opportunity for breaking it should
arrive. The old emperors, who at this time had adopted each
a coadjutor and successor, exerted themselves now to crush
an enemy, who, it was evident, would not long content him-
self with the possession of Britain. Maximian, accordingly,
fitted out a fleet of a thousand sail in the Batavian ports; and
the Cæsar Constantius marched with an army to besiege
Carausius in Gessoriacum. This undertaking seems to have
been begun before the naval armament was ready to co-ope-
rate; and Constantius had no other means of cutting off the
enemy from the succours which he received by sea, than by
building a dam across the harbour. He, no doubt, bore in
mind the example of Alexander at Tyre, and did not take into
consideration the force of the tide. So strong, however, was
the mole which he erected, that Carausius, despairing of any
other deliverance, broke through the Roman camp, with a few
followers, in a dark night, and embarking in a small vessel,
crossed to Britain. It is said, that on the following night
the sea swept away the mole, and left the port open; but
this, for which he must long have looked wistfully, occurred
too late for Carausius, for the town surrendered, and with it
a considerable part of his naval force. Constantius
A. D. then was enabled to leave a sufficient squadron on the
coast, and proceeded with the rest of his fleet against
the Franks, whom he entirely defeated.*
292.
Carausius, thus deprived of his dominion on the opposite
coast, and of his allies also, was reduced to act on the defen-
sive; and he might have maintained himself in Britain, and
not improbably recovered the command of the channel, if any
abilities could be secure against domestic treason. One of his
chief officers, who was also his most trusted friend, Allectus
by name, murdered him, and assumed the purple in his stead.
This was joyful news for the Romans, who looked upon the
separation of Britain from the empire as an intolerable re-
proach, and as a grievous loss also; being a country that
produced corn in abundance, was rich in pastures and in
mines, yielded a large revenue in its customs and tributes,
and was environed with havens, the importance of which
was now perceived when the coasts of the empire were in-
fested by maritime enemies: yet nearly three years elapsed
after the murder of Carausius, before Constantius could com-
plete his preparations for invading the island. At length he
sailed with one part of his armament from the Scheldt; the
other, putting to sea at the same time from the Seine, under
* Gibbon, ii. 123–127. (8vo edition.) Henry, i. 62.
L
CARAUSIUS.
29
favour of a fog, passed the British fleet which was lying off
the Isle of Wight to intercept them. This division landed
without opposition, and their commander, Asclepiodotus, set
fire to his ships, because they must otherwise have fallen
into the enemies' hands. Allectus manifested more courage
than ability in his measures; marching hastily against this
division, he left Constantius to land unresisted; and he fell
in the first action, having cast off the purple, not in the hope
of escape, it is said, for of that he despaired, but that it might
not be known he was slain; but his body was discovered up-
on the field.* His army consisted almost wholly of Franks,
Saxons, and other Northmen; scarcely a Roman, that is, a
civilized Briton, being found among the dead. Those who
escaped made with all speed for London, intending to sack
the city, and then take ship for their own country; but a part
of Constantius's force, which having parted company in the
fog, had landed in the Thames, arrived at London just in
time to protect the inhabitants; and these barbarians were
slaughtered in the streets. Their leader, Gallus, was driven
into a rivulet, and drowned; and from him that rivulet is said
to have been called Walbrook,‡-a name retained by the
parish under which the stream now flows.
Constantius was extolled by his encomiast for the recovery
of Britain, as if he had conquered another world, and added
the main ocean to the Roman empire. The evil which he
had put an end to might have spread, it was truly said, far as
the ocean seas stretch, and the Mediterranean gulfs extended,
for no place which the pirates could approach was safe from
them. They put us in fear," said the orator, "as far as
either sea reacheth or winds blow. But now were the seas
purged and brought to perpetual quietness. Now were the
coasts of Gaul in security; now was Spain safe; now Italy;
now Africa, and all nations, even to the marshes of Mæotis,
relieved from their perpetual apprehensions."§ The import-
ance of Constantius's success was not, indeed, over-rated as
* Coins of this adventurer are preserved, having on the reverse a galley
with this inscription:-VIRTUS AUG. "Quà imperium ejus Britannicum
oceani circumflui dominio maxime subnixum esse quin vellet, vix dubito,”
says Selden, ií. 1294.
† Henry, i. 63.
"In the British tongue, Nant-Gall, and by the Saxons Walbrook.”-
Campbell, i. 17. I have not met with Campbell's authority. This deriva-
tion is more likely than that given by Mr. Nightingale (Beauties of England,
vol. x. part iii. p 259,) who says, that as this stream past through an aper-
ture made in London wall, it received the name of Wall Brook. Other brooks
must have entered in the same manner.
Holinshed (ed. 1807.,) i. 521-525., where the substance of a panegyric
ascribed to Mamertinus is given at considerable length.
c 2
30
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
to its immediate consequences; but the quietness which the
orator had promised should be perpetual, was of short dura-
tion in the British seas; the spirit of maritime enterprise
which possessed the northern nations had received only a
temporary check; they soon recovered so much activity, that
the Romans found it necessary to keep a fleet on the south
and east coasts, and to build a chain of forts along the coast
from the borders of Lincolnshire and Norfolk to the Isle of
Wight; and before the end of the third century, the com-
mander-in-chief of those garrisons had the title of count of
the Saxon shore in Britain; the name of that formidable
people being thus given to a part of the island long before
they attempted a settlement on it.†
*
•
During the fourth century they not only infested the seas,
but acted in concert with their kindred people, the Picts and
lowland Scots, and baffled all the efforts of the Romans to re-
press them, till Theodosius, father to the emperor of that name,
and himself, far more worthy to have been called the Great,
was appointed to the command here. By a series of victories
over the Saxons, he obtained the honourable title of Sax-
onicus; he regulated the internal affairs of the island with as
much ability as he displayed in its defence, and left it safe
and prosperous for a time, with the blessings of the people.‡
But no prosperity could be stable under an unsettled system
of government, which tempted every ambitious adventurer
with the prospect of a throne. The Britons, at the latter end
of the fourth and beginning of the fifth century, were deeply
engaged in the wars which such adventurers raised; great
numbers perished on the Continent, or, instead of returning
from it, settled in Armorica; and the country, having thus
been drained of its best population, had no time for recovering
its native strength, before the Romans, pressed on all sides by
the Teutonic and Sarmatic nations, and then in the last stage
of their own degeneracy, found it necessary to with-
draw their troops from Britain, and leave the island to
its fate. They had taught the Britons many of the arts,
A. D.
420.
*The Count of the Saxon shore resided at will in any of nine maritime
towns on the Sussex, Kent, Essex, and Norfolk coast; "quas (sedes) pro in-
signibus, ad mare depictas et principali diplomati adjectas, semper habuit."
These ports were, Othona in the hundred of Dangy in Essex; Dubris, Do-
ver; Lemmanis, near Hithe; Branodum, Branchester, in Norfolk; Garia-
num, either Yarmouth (Gernemutha) or some place near; Regulbrum, or
Regulbus, Reculver; Rittupis, or Rhútupiæ, at the mouth of the Wantsome
in Kent, supposed to be Richborough; Änderidos, on the Rother; Newen-
den; and Portus Adurni, Aldrington, near Shoreham."-Selden, Mare Clau-
sum, Op ii. 1299.
† Henry, i. 237. 424.
*
Ibid. i. 71, 72.
ARRIVAL OF HENGIST AND HORSA.
31
and comforts, and refinements of civilization; but they had
subdued the spirit of independence; and the people, who by
their departure were emancipated from foreign dominion,
were in a condition which made them regard it rather as a
desertion than a deliverance. Taking heart, however, in
their necessity, they made a great effort against the Picts and
Scots, recovered from them the cities which they had taken,
and drove them within their own borders. But the unani-
mity which had given them this success ended with it.
Every ambitious chief, who could keep together a sufficient
body of followers for defying his neighbours, made himself a
petty sovereign. The country was divided among such roy-
alets, and devastated by their perpetual wars. Thus it be-
came again a prey to the Picts and Scots, who, though
more barbarous than themselves, had yet some rude regula-
rity in their government, or rather some principle of succes-
sion in their chiefs, which rendered them more efficient as a
people. The Britons were not able to govern, and there-
fore not to defend, themselves. One of their kings called in
foreign aid; and the arrival of two northern adventurers at
Ebbsfleet, in the isle of Thanet, with three ships, and not
more than 300 men, led to consequences of more permanent
importance than Cæsar's invasion of the island. Tha-
net was then separated from the main land by an es-
tuary nearly a mile in width: that estuary is now re-
duced to the narrow channels of the river Stour, and of the
Nethergang, a still smaller stream; but at that time it was
wide enough to render the isle a strong hold for its new oc-
cupants, because they had command of the water.
.
A. D.
449.
These first adventurers were Jutes, Saxons, and Angles;
others of the same stock, speaking the same language, and
under the same institutions, civil, military, and religious,
followed them, and finally subdued and replenished the
better part of the land. They were one people, though,
as every chief conquered for himself, divided into many
petty kingdoms. The Jutes lost their name, and the whole
were at length collectively called Saxons or Anglo-Saxons,
and, lastly, English. As they had frequented the seas only
as pirates, no sooner had they effected a settlement here than
they ceased to be seamen. War was the only employment
which they desired; they had enough of this in winning the
country from the Britons, and contending for it among them-
selves and they had nothing to fear from maritime ene-
mies, so long as the ties of affinity were remembered in the
countries from whence they had emigrated. Those ties
grew weaker in every generation; and when England, by
:
32
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
the conversion of its northern conquerors, once more be-
came a part of Christendom, and began to partake of those
blessings of civilization which Christianity, corrupted as it
was, brought with it wherever it was established, the North-
men were again tempted to its coasts by the desire of plun-
der. Offa, the most ambitious and powerful king who reigned
during the polyarchy, saw how necessary it was for their
own security that the English should become a maritime
people he encouraged them, therefore, to build ships, and
trade with the Continent themselves, instead of letting fo-
reigners be the carriers of their produce; and when Charle-
magne denied them admission into his ports, this king,
whose high spirit wanted only a wider theatre to have made
him a most conspicuous actor in the wicked drama of those
ages, exercised his right of reprisals; and terminated the
dispute by a commercial treaty,* which was negotiated by
Alcuin.
Offa's policy was too late; he was a great but wicked man,
and the hand of retributive justice was upon him and
A. D. his race. Some seven years before his death, the
787.
Danes, with three ships from "the land of robbers,'
made their first invasion of England; and during the fol-
lowing half century they became more formidable to it than
ever the earlier Northmen had been; for they had now made
piracy a part of their political system. The shores of the
Baltic and of the adjacent ocean were possessed by a most
enterprising and ferocious people, of the same stock as the
Saxon occupants of this island, but probably with a fresh in-
fusion of a more barbarous and perhaps different race. Upon
the death of a king, one of his sons was chosen to succeed
him, the rest had the seas for their inheritance; ships and
equipments were provided for them, and they passed their
lives in piracy, which among these people was the most
honourable, the most exciting, and the most gainful of all
occupations. Mahommedan sovereigns usually at this day
commence their reign by putting to death their brethren by
whom, or in whose names, the succession might be disputed;
the system which sent the younger and rejected branches of
a royal family to rove the ocean as sea-kings, inflicted wider
*Turner's Anglo-Saxons, i. 419-421. William of Malmesbury, Sharpe's
translation, 94.
† Saxon Chronicle, Ingram's edition, 78. It is expressly stated there,
that these were the first ships of Danishmen that sought the land of the
English people.
The book of Judges shows how early this practice (which is the system
of a bee-hive) was followed in the East.
THE VIKINGR.
33
evil, but was less malignant in itself: for this allowed the
natural affections and domestic charities to grow up and
flourish; but where these are extirpated, as they are in ori-
ental dynasties, the heart is utterly desecrated; and for the
people among whom fratricide is thus established as a cus-
tom of the realm there can be no hope; they can only pro-
ceed from degradation to degradation, till they perish as a
nation.
The Vikingr, as these sea-rovers were called, were, to
all shores within reach of their incursions, what the buc-
caneers were during the seventeenth century to the coasts
of Spanish America: like them, they were the bravest and
most inhuman of mankind. But the age in which they lived,
and the institutions in which they were trained up, are to be
regarded, and it will then appear that the difference between
them in wickedness is great indeed. The state of nature is
not a state of war, though erring philosophers have so re-
presented it; but false religions and barbarising customs
have rendered it so from the earliest times after the disper-
sion of mankind, always in the uncivilized parts of the world,
and too generally in those where civilization has taken root
and flourished. Before the north of Europe was converted
to Christianity, all free men were considered there to be as
certainly and properly born for war, as sheep and oxen are
reared for slaughter. With all the infinite variety of indi-
vidual dispositions, collective men are, nevertheless, like
clay in the potter's hand; they receive the stamp of their
age and country, and it is in iron ages that the deepest im-
press is produced. The law of nations being then nothing
but the law of the strongest, no country could be at peace,
unless it were able at all times to resist all invaders; and
none could at any time be secure, because all were always
exercising themselves in war. The Vikingr, in those days
were the Arabs of the sea;-their hand was against every
man, and every man's hand was against them; their world
was in a state of warfare; all men were common enemies,
those alone excepted who were united in friendship by some
special tie; and they only did to others what others would
have done unto them. When we see what men are, in the
most enlightened and Christian countries, living under good
laws, and in the profession of a religion which was pro-
claimed with peace on earth, good will towards men, and by
"Fate leaves no manlonger quiet here,
Than blessed peace is to his neighbour dear.”
This melancholy reflection of lord Brook is not more applicable to history
than it is to private life.
34
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
the due observance of which peace on earth might be esta-
blished, and peace of mind here as well as endless happiness
hereafter would become the assured portion of every one who
accepts the proffered salvation, can we wonder at the worse
than brutal condition to which our fellow-creatures may be
brought by institutions which, instead of seeking to repress
the evil propensities of human nature, are designed for ex-
citing them to the strongest action?
There have been fouler and bloodier superstitions than
that of the Scandinavians; but none, either among earlier or
later idolatries, that has produced so great a degree of na-
tional ferocity; none that has ever made war the great and
all-absorbing business of life, and represented the souls of
the happy in paradise as cutting each other every day to
pieces for amusement, and assembling after such pastime,
when heads and dissevered limbs were reunited, to drink
together out of the skulls of their enemies. Not to die in
battle was esteemed among them a misfortune and a dis-
grace; a death of age or sickness was to be punished by
exclusion from the battles-royal and the skull-cups of Val-
halla; and, as a means of averting such a miserable destiny
in the world to come, there were many who committed sui-
cide. Some of the Vikingr boasted that they never caroused
over a hearth, nor slept under a smoking roof; but commonly
they seem to have roved the seas as long as they continued.
open, and when they were ice-locked, to have revelled upon
their spoils in some friendly port during the winter. There
is so much of hardihood and of enterprise in a seafaring life,
that it will always attract the most adventurous spirits
wherever a people addict themselves to maritime pursuits;
and the more hazardous and the more audacious the adven-
ture, the more eagerly will such tempers engage in it. Thus,
though a great proportion of the Northmen literally inhabited
the seas, the land-kings themselves made piracy their sum-
mer occupation, when they were not engaged in wars at
home all strangers were enemies: they went, therefore, as
enemies wherever the wind carried them, and they returned
with the stores of every kind which more industrious nations
had laid up; gold and silver, church ornaments, domestic
utensils, rich or useful vestments, mead, ale, and wine, and
such prisoners as were spared to perform the business of
agriculture and other servile work for their new masters.
But mercy was no attribute of the gods of Valhalla; and
that generosity which leads to it was seldom found among
their votaries. Their course, on whatever coast they landed,
was tracked with fire and blood; neither age, nor sex, nor in-
THE VIKINGR.
35
fancy, were spared; for it was not in the ability with which
their excursions were planned and executed that they had
their chief delight, nor in the excitements of hope and dan-
ger, but in the act of carnage; so totally had they corrupted
their humanity. We read of barbaric kings who fed their
captive princes* like dogs under their table, carried them
about in cages, and set foot upon them when they mounted
on horseback; but compared with the usages of his prisoners
by a Baltic hero,† this may be called courtesy; and in the
cruelty which the Northmen exercised upon those whom
they put to death, they were scarcely exceeded by the North
American savages.
The discipline which existed among the Vikingr seems to
have been preserved by a sternt equality, submitting to no
other control than its own laws, and that obedience to their
chiefs, which, for their own sake, was indispensable. There
could be no bolder or better sailors. Early education on their
own stormy seas had given them full confidence in themselves:
skill in swimming, and dexterity in managing the oar, were
among the accomplishments of which their princess boasted;
and it is related of king Olaf Tryggeson, that he could walk
on the oars without the boat while the men were rowing. But
it was not upon skill that they relied in naval battle; they
sought then only to lash ship to ship, and let the issue be de-
cided by strength and courage. Perhaps it was because cou-
rage could confer so little distinction among men, who were all
in the highest degree courageous, that they vied with each
other in ferocity. Fear is an infirmity, which even the feeble
overcome when they are compelled either to endure the worst,
or to exert themselves for averting it; but there are feelings
of humanity which the bravest partake, and of which the wick-
ed cannot divest themselves without some effort; and therefore
they, whose hearts were suited to this way of life, gloried in
manifesting how completely they had subdued in themselves
the last remains of humanity. They devoured raw flesh, as
if to show that such diet accorded with their ferocious na-
ture; and they made it a sport in their inroads to toss babes
* Judges i. 7.
† Stærk Odder's treatment of his prisoners is related, and, as it seems,
approved, in the Hist. Gentis Dan. ascribed to Eric of Pomerania : “Quatuor
aut sex ex iis complicans ad modum sedis, ad purgandum alvum; et multa
alia præclara fecit." Quoted by Holberg, Dannemarks Riges Historie, vol. i.
p. 54. Yet this Odder the Strong was a hero of the highest renown, and a
poet also, if (as I suppose) he be the same person from whom an Icelandic
metre derives its name.
↑ Turner, i. 464, 465.
& Complaint of Harold. Five Pieces of Runic Poetry, 78.
#Ibid. 81.
36
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
one to another, and receive the infant on the point of a spear!
Some who aspired to the highest degree of atrocious renown,
were called Berserkir: these men wrought themselves up
by an effort of the will to the same pitch of fury which the
Malays excite in themselves by a deleterious drug, before
they run amuck: they became mad with rage, like a rabid
animal, bit their shields, threw off their clothing; and naked,
and howling like wild beasts, rushed upon their enemies.
This practice was sanctioned by the example of their god
Odin, wherefore they who followed it were at one time
respected as being favoured with a divine influence; but it
was so horrible in its manifestations and effects, so like the
worst which can be imagined of demoniacal possession, that
the Berserkir at last became objects of fear and loathing to
the Northmen themselves; and the Berserkic madness, as
it was then called, was prohibited by penal laws.*
This system of piracy was in full vigour about the time
when the Danes commenced their depredations upon the Bri-
tish islands. Former invaders had come to conquer the land
that they might occupy it, and reap its produce: the object of
these was to plunder, and to lay waste, and to destroy.
The Saxon chronicler says that their inroads were foreto-
kened by dreadful signs and warnings, portentous lightning
which terrified the people, and tempestuous winds and fiery
dragons flying through the air. Blood also is said to have
fallen from heaven like drops of rain; and crosses of a
bloody colour to have appeared on men's garments as they
walked abroad.§ Such portents are in most ages easily
imagined, or readily applied; at this time, indeed, it was
evident that more than ordinary evils were about to visit the
land. The consequences of a scheme of policy so framed
and so pursued as that of the Vikingr, were lamented in
helpless foresight by Charlemagne himself, a man deserving
of the honourable epithet which has been inseparably united
with his name. He was at dinner in the city of Narbonne,
when one of their fleets, the first which had entered the Me-
diterranean, came in sight. It was evident, by the construction
of the vessels, and the manner in which they were navigated,
that they were not merchants; Charlemagne, therefore, rose
* Turner, i. 464, 465.
+ The Danish writers speak of some claim upon Northumbria, in conse-
quence of their king Hroar's marriage with the daughter of a Northumbrian
royalist: but it is certain that all their expeditions, before the time of
Sweyne, were made by Vikingr, not by any king of Denmark. Holberg, i.
50.99.
† Page 80. A. D. 794.
§ Holinshed, i. 653.
FIRST DANISH INVASION.
37
from table to look at them; and perceiving too surely what
they were, tears came into his eyes. "I fear not," he said,
"that they can injure me; but I weep that they should dare,
in my lifetime, thus to approach my coasts; for I foresee
the misery they will bring upon my descendants !”* He
fortified the entrance of his rivers, and stationed fleets or
erected forts along the coasts both of the channel and of the
German Ocean.† The British islands had no such protec-
tion. Even Charlemagne's defensive measures were of no
avail when his dominions had passed into weaker hands: but
Britain was open to the spoilers: it was still divided into petty
kingdoms; and the people, being, as one of our historians
says, "naturally hard and high-minded, continually scourged
each other with intestine wars,"-thus, during the intervals
that the Danes allowed them, wasting their strength in in-
ternal conflicts. The pirates were often resolutely and
sometimes successfully resisted; but defensive war was
waged, at miserable disadvantage, in a large island, the
coasts of which were every where accessible, against an
enemy who were masters of the seas. Frequent
Frequent victories
encouraged the invaders; occasional defeats exasperated
them; and when such of them as were made prisoners were
put to death, the Skalds, who composed death-songs in their
name, exhorted their kin and countrymen to vengeance in
heart-stirring strains, and invented circumstances of horrort
to inflame them, if that were possible, with fiercer enmity,
* Monac. S. Gall. quoted by Turner, i. 484. Carte is of opinion that the
Northmen, who at that time infested these islands, were those Saxons who,
instead of submitting to Charlemagne, took refuge in the peninsula of Den-
mark. Life of Ormond, i. 10.
† Gaillard, Hist. de Charlemagne, ii. 472.
The death of Regner Lodbrog I regard as an invention of this kind.
To cast a prisoner into a dungeon where he might be killed by venomous
snakes, is a mode of death most unlikely to have been imagined in such a
climate as Northumberland, and among a people who delighted to feast
their eyes with the sight of an enemy's sufferings. But the vengeance
which was taken for him by his sons, upon Ella the Northumbrian royalet,
is in the spirit of the times; it was what Stephanus Stephanius thus de
scribes in his notes on Saxo-Grammaticus:-
Apud Anglos, Danos, aliasque nationes Boreales, victor ignominiâ
summa debellatum adversarium affecturus, gladium circa scapulas ad spinam
dorsi adigebat, costasque amplissimo per corporis longitudinem facto vul.
nere, utrinque a spinâ separabat; quæ ad latera deductæ, alas repræsent
abant aquilinas. Hoc genus mortis vocabant aquilam in dorso alicujus
delineare. Glossarium Islandicum MS. ejusmodi vulnus sive plagam tes-
tatur." In Iarlasaga, "Tunc comes Einarus in dorso Halfdani aquilinam
excitavit plagam, ita ut gladium dorso adigeret, omnesque costas a spina
separaret, usque ad lumbos, indeque pulmones extraxit." In Ormsaga,
"Örmerus evaginato gladio in dorso Brusi aquilinam inflixit plagam, se-
paratis a dorso costis, ad pulmonibus exemplis."
Very probably the spread eagle of heraldry was originally designed to
blazon the remembrance of some such triumph over a encmy.
D
VOL. I.
38
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
and make them seek after revenge as the holiest of all duties,
and the keenest of all delights.
Their first incursion was on the coast of Wessex,
787.
where the Reeve thought to drive them, as a handful
of robbers, to the king's town,* but was slain by them.
They are next spoken of as making lamentable havoc
793.
in God's church at Lindisfarne,-a venerable edifice,
which suffered so often by their invasions, that the remains
of St. Cuthbert were at length removed from thence, to be
deposited where they might rest in peace. In another
794.
descent, they plundered the monastery at Wearmouth,
remarkable as having been the first edifice in this island in
which glass was used in the windows, and whither the first
glass-makers were brought over at that time, and settled by
St. Benedict Biscop, its founder. There, however, some of
their leaders were slain; some of their ships foundered on
the coast, and those of the crew who succeeded in swim-
ming to shore found there as little mercy as they were wont
to show. But even these inroads had no effect in suspend-
ing the destructive feuds by which Northumbria was dis-
tracted; and the Danes met with so little resistance, because
there was no ruler there able to raise any power of men by
public authority to encounter with the common enemies,‡
that they were emboldened not merely to repeat their expe-
ditions, but to invade the country with the intention of win-
ning and possessing it. Adventurers were soon found in
sufficient numbers to engage in an enterprise so inviting; for
barbarous as Northumbria then was, it was far advanced be-
yond the shores of the Baltic, and of the Eastern Sea, in
comparative civilization, and in the consequent comforts of
life: even its climate might offer some attraction to the Scan-
dinavians. Fleet followed fleet: they had to contend with
a people weakened not only by mutual slaughter, but by
the exile or voluntary migration of many of the chief per-
sons, both ecclesiastical and civil; and they established
themselves in this part of England by an easy conquest, for
which discord and anarchy had prepared the way.
This conquest seems to have occupied the whole attention
of those Northmen whose views were directed toward Eng-
land, for nearly forty years. During this time, other parts
of the island were advancing through scenes of turmoil and
treachery toward a more general, and therefore a more effi-
800.
cient government, than had been enjoyed since it
ceased to be a Roman province. Egbert, who had
succeeded to the kingdom of Wessex, first rendered the
* Sax. Chron. 78.
† Ibid. 80, 81.
Holinshed, i. 655.
FIRST DANISH INVASION.
39
greater part of Wales tributary; successively compelled the
kings of Kent, East Anglia, Mercia, and Sussex, to acknow-
ledge themselves his vassals; and being thus undisputed
lord of all the states south of the Humber, he marched
against the Angles beyond that river. They also submitted
to his authority as Bretwalda, a title equivalent to that of
Emperor of Britain. But the Saxons and Angles, who began
about this time to be collectively called English (for the
Jutes had long lost their name as a separate people,) yielded
to the assumption of a power which, as it was felt to be
useful, was also deemed legitimate, when there was suffi-
cient strength to support its claims. There was an enemy
now rooted in the land, and that enemy possessed the seas;
and Egbert had to sustain more frequent and more obstinate
contest with the Danes than with all the royalets of the
declining heptarchy. They ravaged the isle of Shepey ;*
and in the ensuing year landed from a fleet of five
and thirty ships at Charmouth in Dorsetshire, and
832.
began to make sore war in the land." Egbert gather-
ed an army with what speed he could, and gave them battlef
at a place called Carrum; but after an obstinate action, the
day, which seemed to have been in his favour, turned against
him by some chance of war. The bishops Hereferth
833.
of Winchester and Wigferth of Sherburne, with two
of the chiefs or ealdermen, Dudda and Osmond by name,
were slain, and he himself escaped under cover of the night.‡
A council was held at London,§ for providing means against
these formidable enemies, and, as it seems, with good effect;
for when in the year 835, the Danes landed in Cornwall,
which, with the adjacent country, was then called West
Wales, and the Britons,|| glad of an occasion to wreak their
* Sax. Chron. 89.
† Ibid.
Sharpe's William of Malmesbury, 111. Holinshed, i. 658.
§ Turner, i. 440.
The Britons themselves sometimes engaged in piratical expeditions,
though, as it appears, but seldom. A Triad speaks of "the three roving
fleets of the Isle of Britain (meaning that part of it which the Britons pos-
sessed :) the fleet of Llawr, the son of Eiriv; the fleet of Divwg, the son
of Alban; and the fleet of Dolor, the son of Mwrchath king of Manaw (the
Isle of Man.) But neither the age of these Welsh admirals is known, nor
any thing more than their names, as thus recorded."- Cambro-Briton, ii.
387. There is another Triad which names the three fleet owners of the
Isle of Britain: Geraint, the son of Erbin; Gwenwynwyn, the son of Nav;
and March, the son of Meirchion; and each of these fleet-owners had six
score ships, and six score mariners in each ship. Geraint is said to have
been a prince of Devon in the sixth century, who was slain fighting on
Arthur's side in the battle of Llongborth, and celebrated in an elegy by
Llywarch Hen. He is also the hero of one of the Mabinogion Tales. "The
history of the other two admirals is involved in darkness, though their
names sometimes occur in our old writings.”—Cambro-Briton, ii. 241.
40
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
old vengeance upon the Saxons, joined them, Egbert, with
a far smaller army, defeated their united forces near Kingston
Hill; shortly after this victory he died, leaving a
836.
name, which, owing less to his own deserts (though
he was a brave and able prince,) than to the error of our
earlier historians, has become a land-mark in English his-
tory.
Egbert had learnt much while he was an exile at the court
of Charlemagne; but if he had learnt from that Emperor's
example the impolicy of dividing his dominions, that lesson
was not impressed upon his son, who, reserving Wessex to
himself as his paternal kingdom, gave up to his son Æthel-
stan* all his father's conquests, which included Kent, Es-
sex, Sussex, and Surrey. This was in him a greater error
than in the western Emperor; his extensive and ill-com-
pacted dominions could hardly have been kept together by
any one less able and less vigorous than himself; whereas
the petty states of the Anglo-Saxon polyarchy were weak if
they were disunited, and never was their whole strength
more needful than at this juncture. Ethelwulph was of a
gentle disposition, suited for better times, and for a happier
station than that to which his birth called him. Following
the bent of that disposition, he had made a religious life his
choice, and entered the monastery at Winchester, under the
care of Swithin, a meek, unworldly, pious man, afterwards
bishop of that diocese, and still well known as the Aquarius
of the English Almanac. He had even been ordained a
sub-deacon; but, on the death of his elder and only brother,
he was summoned from the convent, a papal dispensation
released him from his sacerdotal vows, and, when he suc-
ceeded to the throne, no want of vigour or of ability was
found in him. He had to struggle with a maritime enemy,
against whom no means of naval defence had been prepared;
and the annals of his reign record, year after year, the mise-
ries which these invaders brought upon the people. Hardly
had he divided his kingdom, before three and thirty sail of
pirates entered the Southampton river; after an obstinate
battle, the Danes were defeated with great slaughter; but
another squadron defeated and slew Ethelhelm, the eal-
derman, in Dorsetshire. Herebert, who held the same
rank, was slain the following year, among the Marsh-
839.
landers, and his people routed: we read then of great
slaughter in Lindsey, and East Anglia, and Kent;
then at London, and at Canterbury, and at Rochester. Ethel-
838.
* Sax. Chron. 90.
LONDON PLUNDERED.
41
wulph in person attacked a force which had landed from five
and thirty ships at Charmouth; but they remained masters
of the place.* "Long time and often assailing the land on
every side," says the chronicler, "now invading it in this
place, and now in that, the Danes did not at the first so much
covet to conquer it as to spoil it; nor to bear rule in it, as to
waste and destroy it. If they were at any time overcome,
the victors were nothing more in quiet, for a new navy and a
greater army were ready to make some new invasion; nei-
ther did they enter it all at one place, nor at once, but one
company on the east side and one on the west, or on the north
and south coasts, in such sort that the Englishmen knew not
whither they should first go to make resistance against
them."t
843.
851.
The English, however, were not yet wanting either in
courage or in conduct. The Somersetshire men under the
ealderman Eanwulf, and the Dorsetshire men under the eal-
derman Osric, and Ealstan bishop of Sherborn, met
and defeated an army of invaders at the mouth of
the Bridgewater river.‡ The heathens (for by that name
the Northmen were often called, because of the ferocious ha-
tred which they displayed against Christianity and
its professors) suffered another memorable defeat at
Wicganburgh in Devonshire; and in the same year, nine of
their ships were taken at Sandwich, and the rest of their fleet
dispersed by Æthelstan the royalet of Kent (whose name
never occurs afterwards,) and by Ealchere the ealderman.
The victory must have been incomplete, or over an inconsi-
derable part of their forces; for a fleet of three hundred and
fifty ships entered the Thames that year; the Northmen
landed, plundered Canterbury and London, routed the Mer-
cians under their king Bertulph, and then turned southward
over the Thames into Surrey. There, at a place called Aclea,
that is to say Oakley, or the field of oaks, king Ethelwulph
and his son Ethelbald, with the force of Wessex, met and
defeated them with greater slaughter than ever before, or for
many years after, was heard of in this island.§ Neverthe-
less, the Danes this year, for the first time, wintered here, in
the isle of Thanet, where their predecessors, on whose pos-
terity they were now, as it seemed, visiting the sins of their
fathers, had first established themselves. They were at-
tacked there by the Kentish men and the men of Surrey un-
der their ealderman Elchere and Huda: in this battle many
* Sax. Chron. 90, 91.
Sax. Chron. 92.
† Holinshed, i. 660.
§ Sax. Chron. 92, 93.
D 2
42
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
t
on both sides were slain or drowned, and both the Saxon
chiefs fell; but though the Danes were defeated, either the
remainder of their force, or a fresh body of invaders, wintered
in the isle of Shepey. There it was that Ethelwulph, with
the advice of his bishops and nobles, granted a charter of ec-
clesiastical immunities, which some have supposed to be the
original grant of tithes of all England, but of which the ex-
act meaning and extent cannot with any certainty be deter-
mined from the copies which have been preserved. The
grant was made as "a wholesome counsel of general reme-
dy,” “seeing,” said the king, "that perilous times are pres-
sing on us; that there are in our days hostile burnings and
plunderings of our wealth, a most cruel depredation by de-
vastating enemies, and many tribulations from barbarous and
pagan nations, threatening even our destruction."+
But Ethelwulph, though he thus fully understood the pe-
rilous state of his kingdoms, seems, when he granted this
charter, to have rested upon the merit of so good a work.
Taking advantage of a short intermission of invasion, he
went to Rome, and took with him his youngest son Alfred,
then in the seventh year of his age. There he remained a
year, and on his way homeward through France he married
Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald; a marriage which his
time of life rendered unseemly, and which gave Ethelbald,
his eldest son, a plea for forming a party to depose him.‡
The popular pretext was, that he had crowned her, and used
to seat her beside him on the throne or in a chair of state,
contrary to a law said to have been made in consequence of
the crimes of Offa's daughter Eadburga, forbidding, for her
sake, that the wife of a king should either be seated beside
him or called queen. But the real cause was a suspicion that
Alfred, child as he was, being the father's favourite, would
be appointed to succeed him; and Ethelbald had determined
to secure himself against such an act of injustice by dispos-
sessing the old king of his authority. There were loyal hearts
and hands enough to have supported the old man: but to have
engaged in what he rightly deemed a worse than civil war,
would ill have accorded with the lessons he had received in
his youth, and the gentle disposition with which God had
blessed him. He addressed the force which had assembled
to maintain his cause, in a mild, conciliatory speech, dis-
missed them in peace, and consented to a partition of
856.
his dominions; Ethelbald taking for himself the wes-
* Sax. Chron. 94.
† Turner's Anglo-Saxons, i. 509.
I William of Malmesbury, 123.
ETHELWULPH.
43
tern and better part, and relegating his father to those eastern
provinces which had been Æthelstan's portion.*
Ethelwulph soon died, and Ethelbald survived him only
two or three years; the next brother, Ethelbert, then suc-
ceeded to the whole of his father's dominions. Ethelwulph's
last exertions against the Northmen seem to have deterred
them a little while from repeating their invasions; but he had
expended, in costly presents to the pope, and in largesses to
the Roman clergy and to the people of Rome, treasures which
a more politic king would have employed in raising a naval
force for the protection of his country; and Ethelbert had not
reigned long before a large fleet of Vikingr came up the South-
ampton river, landed, and stormed the city of Winchester.
But the Hampshire and Berkshire men collected under 860.
the ealdermen Osric and Ethelwulph, advanced to
meet them, gave them battle, and put them to flight. The
pirates made for their ships, and coasting round, took up their
winter quarters once more in the isle of Thanet. Hitherto
there had been no want of courage in the Anglo-Saxons, nor
of that common sense by which, if there were no worthier
motives, brave men are induced to defend their country. A
want of both was first betrayed during this king's reign, and
by the men of Kent, who made a truce with these Danes,
gave them hostages, and promised money. The Danes
thought they could take for themselves more than the Kent-
ish men would give, and having deceived them by entering
into such a negotiation, they stole a night march from their
camp and over-ran the whole province eastward. But this
roused the Kentish men; they mustered in force, and drove
out the ravagers.†
The base example of purchasing a deceitful respite from
such invasions had been set the Kentish men by the grandson
of Charlemagne, Charles the Bald; it was soon followed by
some of their degenerate countrymen. Ethelbert followed
his brother to an early grave; and in the first year of
865.
Ethelred, the eldest of the two surviving brethren, a
large heathen force invaded the eastern coast, and wintered
in East Anglia, where the inhabitants made peace with them;
that is to say, submitted to them. Here the chroni-
866.
cle says they were horsed. To keep a firm seat
on horseback was among the accomplishments on which a
Scandinavian hero § prided himself; but that a whole host
* William of Malmesbury, 113. 122. Turner, i. 513–515.
Sax. Chron. 96, 97. William of Malmesbury, 127. 1 Sax. Chron. 97.
§ Complaint of Harold. Five Pieces of Runic Poetry, 78.
?.
44
NAVAL HISTORY OF England.
of sea rovers, trained, as it is certain that they were, from
childhood to the sea service, should be able to act on horse-
back like Cossacks or Pindarrees, and that, in a country so
wasted by invasions and by intestine wars, horses enough for
mounting them should be found, are facts which, though not
to be doubted, are not easily to be explained. The Danes,
we know, came at this time in large numbers; and the num-
ber of horses which could speedily be brought together upon
their requisition implies a greater population and a greater
state of agricultural prosperity than, from other circumstances,
might be supposed to have existed. The army crossed the
Humber and advanced towards York, then, as it had been in
the time of the Romans, a place of great importance. The
Northumbrian Anglo-Saxons,-for there were already Danes
established in that land,-had been consuming their strength
in a struggle between the rival royalets, Osbert and Ella by
name. On this emergency, there was enough sense in the
people and generosity in the chiefs to suspend their strife,
and unite against the common enemy. They met them at
York, and the city itself became the scene of battle. Whe-
ther the Danes were in possession there, and the Northum-
brians entered it by assault, or whether the latter, having
sustained a defeat, retreated into it as to a stronghold, is ren-
dered doubtful by contradictory statements:* but the result
was, that the city was burnt by the Danes; that both the
Northumbrian chiefs were slain; that the greater part of
their followers perished by the sword, or more miserably by
the flames; and that they who escaped death submitted to
the invaders.
Ethelred, like his elder brethren, was a man well suited
to his times; so bravely and so strenuously had they con-
tended for their country, that it is not imputable to them that
their valour did not succeed in its object. But the Danes were
masters of the four seas; they could land at will; they had
now countrymen established in various parts of the island,
tributaries or confederates in others; and when they were
defeated, they had nothing but lives to lose which the next
fleet replaced. To follow the series of their battles would
be to write the history of England during these ages. In
the last year of his short and restless reign Ethelred fought
nine general battles with them south of the Thames; the less
important actions in which he, and Alfred his brother, and
the ealdermen, and the thanes, were engaged, were so con-
tinual that the annalist forbore to note them. Some great and
*Sax. Chron. 98. William of Malmesbury, 129.
ETHELRED.
45
signal victories they obtained; one of the Danish kings fell
in battle, nine of their earls, and of the commonalty without
number; but the invaders had hope, and enterprise, and per-
severance on their side, while provincial jealousies distract-
ed the Anglo-Saxons. The Mercians purchased a separate
peace; the East Anglians, who had strived to throw off the
yoke, were compelled a second time to submit, after
871.
their brave king Edmund had been put to death, in
hatred as much of his religion as of his person. And when
Ethelred died, in the sixth year of his reign, and Alfred, the
only surviving son of Ethelwulph, succeeded, even the West
Saxons, who had till then shown themselves the bravest of
the land, submitted.
867.
The life of Alfred is the most beautiful part of English
history. There is no other name so justly canonized by the
love and reverence of succeeding ages for all that is admira-
ble in a sovereign, all that is amiable in an individual ;—his
struggles, his wisdom, his virtues, his sufferings;-all that
he did, and all that he attempted or designed to do. But it
is only the naval transactions of his reign that appertain to
the purpose of the present work, and these exhibit the com-
prehensiveness of mind which so eminently characterized
him. When his fortunes were almost at the lowest
ebb, he fitted out a few ships,* put to sea in them,
and encountered a squadron of seven vessels; one he captured,
the others escaped by flight. The elements gave him a far
greater advantage two years afterwards. The Danes had got
possession of Wareham, at that time a strong place; Alfred
was weak enough then in policy as well as in means to pur-
chase peace from them, and to think that he secured it by
exacting an oath from them upon their holy bracelet, which
it was thought they esteemed the most sacred of all pledges,
and which they had never plighted before; he swore them
also upon some relics. The Northmen regarded one as little
as the other; and while his forces trusted to the peace, they
surprised them by night, slew his cavalry, mounted their own
people on the horses which they had so treacherously obtain-
ed, hastened westward, and got possession of Exeter. A
large fleet, going with the intent of reinforcing them there,
was enveloped in a fog, and one hundred and twenty of their
ships were wrecked in Swanage Bay. The force at Exeter
then found it expedient to enter into a new negotiation; they
again swore that they would depart from the ki igdom, and
gave hostages for the performance of the engagement, which
* Sax. Chron. 103.
46
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
they observed as faithlessly as they had done all former ones;
for in the following year they over-ran the whole of Wessex,
took possession of it, drove many of the people over sea, and
hunted down others or reduced them to submission,* Alfred
being fain to conceal himself in the moors.
When Alfred, after those adventures, which impart to his
history a charm like that of romance, had re-appeared,
882. given the Danes, in Wessex, a signal defeat, compell-
ed Guthram their king to receive baptism,† and driven others
of them out of the land, he resumed his schemes of mari-
time defence, went again to sea, and, meeting with four pi-
rates, took them all; the whole crews of two being slain,
and a great part of the others before they surrendered. Hav-
885. ing expelled the Northmen from London,+ and from
Rochester, where they erected a fortress, he sent a
fleet from Kent to act against them on the East Anglian coast.
At the mouth of Harwich river the squadron engaged sixteen
Danish ships, took them all, and slew the whole of their
crews; but as they were returning with the booty they fell
in with a large fleet of Vikingr, and after a second engage-
ment were themselves defeated.§ Alfred now fortified Lon-
don. At this time the whole English nation, except those
who were held in subjection by the Danes, are said to have
acknowledged him as king; and by this something more
than a recognition of his superiority as Bretwalda seems to
be meant. The remaining states of the heptarchy which had
hitherto retained their own kings, probably felt that they
were better protected by being annexed to the kingdom of
Wessex; but, strengthened as he thus was, and high in re-
putation as he now stood, and skilful as he had become
in war both by sea and by land, all his efforts were required
against the most able and most enterprising man that had yet
appeared among the Vikingr, Hastings, whose name at this
day exists among us as the title of a noble family, probably, if
not with absolute certainty, derived from him. He is first
heard of as being so skilful a seaman that Regner Lodbrog
made choice of him to train up one of his sons as a sea rover.
The grandson of Charlemagne bought of him a precarious
peace for France; and he is then said to have sailed for Italy,
*Sax. Chron. 104. Turner's Anglo-Saxons, ii. 52, 53.
† Sax. Chron. 107.
"The Englishmen," says Holinshed, "that were inhabitants thereof,
gladly received him, rejoicing that there was such a prince bred of their na-
tion that was of power able to reduce them into liberty," i. 672.
§ Sax. Chron. 108.
Ibid. 110.
HASTINGS ENCAMPS IN KENT.
47
upon the bold hope of winning the city of Rome, and with it
the imperial dignity for his master. But so little was his
knowledge commensurate with his ambition, that he mistook
a city called Luna, for that which had so long been the seat
of empire, attacked it, took it, and returned when he had dis-
covered his mistake, and knew not how to proceed.
879.
After having again been for many years the scourge of
France, he made his first recorded attempt upon England,
and seated himself for about a year at Fulham; from whence
he made for the coast of Flanders, sailed up the Scheldt to
Ghent, and took an active part in those hostilities by which
that part of the continent was ravaged; but being defeated
at length by the imperial forces, he marched to Boulogne, con-
structed a large fleet there, and sailed once more to try 893.
his fortunes in England; hoping, it has been sup-
posed, if not to conquer that country, at least to divide it, and
make himself be chosen king of the Anglo-Danes, the North-
men having then no other chieftain of equal celebrity.
*
Alfred was evidently not prepared for such an invasion.
The Dane crossed from Boulogne with 250 ships, large
enough to bring his horses with him, landed at Hithe, the
Portus Lemanis of the Romans, then called Lemene,*
marched to Appledore, where he easily got possession of an
old fort, ill constructed, and not better defended; left part
of his force there in a winter camp, then sailing himself with
eighty ships up the Thames, he navigated them into the
East Swale, landed at Milton, and there intrenched another
camp, the vestiges of which remained for many ages. The
two camps were but about twenty miles asunder, and the
fertile parts of Kent† lay at their mercy, while the sea
* The Saxon Chronicle (p. 114.) makes him enter Lemene-mouth, which
is in East Kent, at the east end of the great wood called Andred; and says,
"that the Danes towed their ships up as far as the Weald, four miles from
the mouth of the river." This river has been supposed to be the Rother,
an opinion which Drayton follows. I have preferred the authority of Sel-
den, who, in his commentary upon this part of the Polyolbion, shows that
Rye cannot have been the Portus Lemanis; and that in the oldest authority
(Ethelwerd) "no river, but a port only, is spoken of; and that the ships
were left in the haven."-"The words of this Ethelwerd," he says, "I re-
spect much more than the latter stories, and I would advise my reader to
incline so with me."
† I know not whence Drayton derived his statement, that, in consequence
of this invasion, the natives began to clear and cultivate the great forest,
vestiges of which still remain in the Wealds of Kent and Sussex. They were
compelled to this, he says, by the Danes:-
“Old Andred's Weald at length doth take her time to tell,
The changes of the world that since her youth befell,
When yet upon her soil scarce human foot had trod;
A place where only then the Sylvans made abode,
Where, fearless of the hunt, the hart securely stood,
And every where walk'd free-a burgess of the wood;
48
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
covered the left of their position, and the river their right,
for the opposite coast of Essex was possessed by the East
Anglian Danes. They, as well as their Northumbrian coun-
trymen, had recently engaged themselves to Alfred by oath,
not to break their peace with him, and the East Anglians
had given him hostages: but they regarded the fate of their
hostages as little as the sanction of their oath; and Hastings
well knew that he was in no danger of molestation from
them at any time, and that whenever a favourably opportu-
nity occurred they would act as his confederates. He knew,
also, that as soon as it was bruited abroad in the north that
he had established himself in Kent, as Hengist and the first
invaders had done before him, he should continually be joined
by roving squadrons of his countrymen.*
The East Anglians presently manifested their wonted
contempt of treaties; but Alfred disregarding them, and
trusting London to its recent fortifications and its own
means of defence against them, he collected his forces, and
894. encamped between the two divisions of the Danes
at the nearest point where he could find a position
defended on the one flank by the wood, and by water on the
other, so that he might strike a blow against either army, if
they ventured to take the field against him. Hastings and
those who acted under the Vikingr's command were too
wary to afford him any such advantage: they confined them-
selves to marauding inroads wherever the land was defence-
less. But the bands who were thus employed were en-
countered by other bands appointed to this service, either
from the king's army, or from the towns, who were
night and day upon the alert, so that, although the Danes
collected much booty, it was not with impunity. In those
ages of desultory warfare, a campaign conducted with wa-
riness and patience on both sides is proof of extraordinary
ability in both; but the Vikingr was now a veteran com-
mander by land as well as sea; and Alfred, who had for-
merly been censured for temerity, had corrected this as well
Until those Danish routs, whom hunger starv'd at home,
Like wolves pursuing prey, about the world did roam;
And stemming the rude stream dividing us from France,
Into the spacious mouth of Rotter fell, by chance,
That Lemen then was named; when, with most irksome care
The heavy Danish yoke the servile English bare;
And when at last she found there was no way to leave
Those whom she had at first been forced to receive,
And by her great resort she was, through very need,
Constrained to provide her peopled towns to feed,
She learn'd the churlish axe, and twybill to prepare,
To steel the coulter's edge, and sharp the furrowing share."-Song 18.
* Turner ii. 106, 107.
HASTINGS IN THE ISLE OF MERSEY.
49
as all the other errors of his youth. Against such an enemy
as Hastings he prepared not for a sudden effort but for a
long war: mustering, therefore, a sufficient force, he divided
it into two parts, who relieved each other at stated times,
half being always in service, and half pursuing their cus-
tomary occupations at home. Hastings was at this time as
little master by water as by land, for he saw no other means
of securing his plunder than by conveying it into Essex,
and there meeting his ships upon the East Anglian coast;
but he had no means of crossing the Thames, except by
marching far up into the country, and to attempt this with
any good hope of success, it was necessary to deceive Al-
fred and unite his forces. In this he succeeded, by treating
with him and engaging to leave the country;* and in proof
of sincerity, he sent two of his sons to be baptized, and, if
Alfred thought fit, retained as hostages. Baptized they
were, Alfred taking the one child for his godson, and his
son-in-law, the ealderman Ethered, the other; the king then
gave them many presents, and with this generous treatment
sent them back to their father. While Alfred listened to
these proposals, the Danes broke up from their encampment
at Appledore, passed his army, leaving it far on their right,
and made for the Thames at some fordible place. Some
such perfidy on their part had been suspected, for Alfred was
close in pursuit; and his son Edward, with a force which
he had collected, moved upon the same point. They came
up with the invaders at Farnham, attacked and routed them,
recovered from them their spoils, and drove them as far as
the Thames, where they had no time to seek for a ford, but
swam it they who could: their chief, who was desperately
wounded, was carried over on horseback. These were men
who, even when defeated, lost neither their courage nor their
presence of mind: though flying before a victorious enemy
they kept together in force; and being pursued into Essex,
and across it, where they probably found countrymen to suc-
cour them, they got into the Isle of Mersey; a place so de-
fensible, that it has been said, it may be almost kept
against all the world."t The advanced part of Alfred's
army beset them there, and continued this sort of land block-
ade as long as they had food: but in the words of the Saxon
Chronicle, these besiegers "had their time set and their
meat noted;" and when the time expired, and their rations
failed, they broke up the siege, not waiting to communicate
with the king, who, as he advanced thither with other forces,
VOL. I.
“
* Turner ii. 108-110. Sax. Chron. 114, 115.
† Gibson's Camden, viii. 359.
E
50
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
Y
met them returning home. He, however, proceeded toward
the isle, from whence the Danes had made no attempt to
eft their escape, because their chief was not in a condition
to bear removal;* a fact which is proof of both honour and
humanity among themselves.
While Alfred was preparing to renew the blockade, he
received intelligence that the East Anglian and Northum-
brian Danes had made a powerful diversion in favour of their
countrymen. One fleet of forty sail, which went north about
(and possibly may have come directly from the Baltic),
reached the Bristol Channel, and then laid siege to some
strong place on the coast of Devonshire; while a hundred
sail, collected on the eastern coast, sailed to the south, went
down the Channel, and, disembarking on the south coast of
the same county, besieged Exeter. There was no part of
Alfred's dominions in which the Danes could fix themselves
with greater danger to him, nor with greater convenience to
themselves, that county being accessible by sea on two sides,
and having neighbours, both in Cornwall and on the oppo-
site coast of Wales, from whom good will, if not active as-
sistance, might be expected. Leaving, therefore, the siege
of Mersey island to be carried on by the forces of the
country, he hastened into Devonshire. The Danes in the
island sued for peace†, and promised to leave England; a
promise which, with whatever fidelity it might be observed,
it suited the English to accept, the alternative at this time
being whether they should choose to be duped or defeated.
For Hastings, when the other division of his army broke up
from Appledore, got out of the Swale, crossed the Thames,
and began to erect a fortification at South Benfleet, near
Canvey isle, on the Essex shore; where, regardless of their
engagement, the Danes from the Isle of Mersey joined him.
But while he was on an expedition from thence, harassing
the land, the eastern army, who had been fain to withdraw
from their blockade, were reinforced by the Londoners, and
by men from the west; and their united forces attacked the
works at Benfleet,‡ broke them down, and took all that was
therein; the women and children of the invaders, among
them Hastings's wife and her two sons, and the money and
other spoils which he had collected. They either took,
* Sax. Chron. 116.
† Turner, ii. 111, 112. Sax. Chron. 116.
I depart here, not without diffidence, from Mr. Turner's account of
these transactions. According to him it was the camp at Milton which
was thus attacked and taken; and the capture of the Benfleet fortress, in
which the wife and children were also taken, again to be restored, occurred
afterwards. But confused as the Saxon Chronicle is in these details, it dis-
tinctly authorises the statement in the text.
HIS FAMILY CAPTURED AND RESTORED.
51
burnt, or otherwise destroyed the ships which they found
there, carrying some of their prizes to London, some to
Rochester. The wife and children of Hastings they sent to
the king, and he sent them safely back to the Vikingr: the
Saxon Chronicler says that he did this because of the rela-
tionship which he had contracted toward them at their bap-
tism; but it is less likely that Alfred should have been in-
fluenced by that consideration, or by the vain hope that any
act of generosity could affect an enemy like Hastings, than
that he obeyed the impulse of a benevolent heart, obeying at
the same time the dictates of a religion which he believed
and loved.*
The Vikingr could not mistake this for an effect of fear,
but probably he ascribed it to superstition: courtesy, huma-
nity, and kindness towards an enemy were to him unintelli-
gible notions. Collecting his scattered parties, he took
possession of Sceobyrig, now the village of South Shobery,
near the south-eastern part of Essex, and there constructed
defensive works, the remains of which may still be traced.
There too the loss which he had sustained in ships and men
was more than replaced by the arrival of succours from East
Anglia and Northumbria. Thus reinforced, and thinking to
strike terror into the heart of England, as he had often done
into that of France, Hastings sailed up the Thames as far
as his vessels could ascend it, and sending them back to his
station on the eastern coast, entered Mercia, and, plundering
on all sides, proceeded toward the Severn, not improbably
expecting that the Welsh would join him when he approach-
ed their country. The ealdermen and the king's thanes sum-
moned against these invaders the men of every town from
the east of Pedredan, (now South Petherton, where Ina, the
greatest of Alfred's predecessors, had a palace,) and from
the west of Selwood, and from the parts east and north of
the Thames, and from the west of the Severn. This com-
prised the whole disposable force of Mercia and Wessex,
except those men of Wessex who were then serving in their
own country under the king: men were also summoned from
some part of North Wales, which at that time acknowledged
Alfred's authority. With this force they pursued the enemy,
overtook him at Buttington, on the Severn (near Welshpool),
and there beleaguered him. Hastings threw up works on
both sides of the river, but on both sides he was beset: be
had no vessels, neither had he any means of obtaining sup-
plies when his provisions began to fail. Some expectation
* Turner, ii. 112-114. Sax. Chron. 115-117.
52
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
.
of relief he must have entertained, for he remained there
many weeks, till they had eaten most of their horses, and
the others had died of hunger. He then made a desperate
effort to break through the blockading force on the eastern
side: many of the king's thanes fell, and many of the North-
men. The Saxon Chronicle claims a victory; but Hastings
effected his object; and it is evident that he was not pursued
with the same activity in his flight as on his advance, for he
reached his stronghold at Sceobyrig without farther molesta-
tion.*
There he found the ships which he had sent back from the
upper Thames, and there he probably found also the remains
of the larger fleet from Devonshire. For when Alfred ap-
proached Exeter, the Danes hastily broke up the siege, re-
embarked, and made sail up the Channel: they landed on
the coast of Sussex, and attacked Chichester; but the
townsmen made a brave defence, put them to flight, slew
many hundreds, pursued them to the water, and took some
of their ships; the rest proceeded toward the eastern coast.
A great change had now been wrought in the relative
strength of the contending parties: the Northmen, who
some years before had made this island the chief, if not the
only object of their ambition, were attracted now toward
France and the Mediterranean, where they found richer
countries, a better climate, and less resistance. The Eng-
lish, on the other hand, under the wise arrangements of
their king, had learnt order as well as confidence in them-
selves, and were ready as well to attack as to resist.
was only from the Anglo-Danes that Hastings received any
efficient aid: they seem, in full reliance upon his enterpris-
ing talents, to have supplied it zealously. With their as-
sistance he collected a great force before the winter came
on; and, committing the women, the ships, and the booty,
to the East Anglian Danes, he made a rapid movement
across the island, marching on the stretch, it is said, day
and night, to Chester. The English army followed, and
with good speed, but could not come up with him till he
was within the walls of that, even then, ancient city; but
they slew such of his men as they overtook, drove away all
the cattle from the vicinity as well as all that the marauders
* Turner, ii. 115-117. Sax. Chron. 118.
William of Malmesbury, 134.
† Ibid. 120.
It
§ Spelman has mistaken this for Leicester, as Mr. Turner (ii. 119.) has
shown. The Saxon Chronicle makes this certain,-"a western city in
Wirheal, which is called Lega-ceaster," p. 119. That part of Cheshire
which lies between the estuaries of the Dee and the Mersey is called the
Wirall.
HASTINGS MARCHES TO CHESTER.
53
had collected, and burnt the corn or trampled it down with
their horses. They did not persevere in besieging him; the
arrangement for supporting an army in the field was too im-
perfect for this; and Hastings, when the country was thus
laid waste around him, was as little able to establish him-
self there; which, if he could have done, the whole 895.
north of England would have been under the do-
minion of the Danes; and this was, probably, his object
now, and in his former expedition. Necessity compelled
him to abandon it: he made an inroad into Wales, swept it
of what he could collect there; but not attempting to hold
Chester, nor to march again through Mercia, where an ac-
tive enemy would have encountered him, he took a circuit-
ous course through Northumbria into East Anglia, and so to
the former quarters of his countrymen in the Isle of Mersey.*
Thus far the Vikingr had lost little in reputation, and he
had abated nothing of his hopes. Before the winter he
towed his ships from the Thames into the Lea, and erected
a fortress upon that river twenty miles above London,—it is
doubtful whether at Ware or at Hertford. A great body of
the Londoners, and of others whom they called to their as-
sistance, attacked these dangerous neighbours in their strong-
hold, but they were defeated in the attempt, and four
896.
of the king's thanes fell. This occurred during the
summer; and when harvest-time approached, Alfred deemed
it necessary to encamp in person near the city while the
people reaped their corn, that the Danes might not despoil
them of the crop. He then formed a plan, which if the fa-
vourable season did not suggest to him it enabled him to ac-
complish, that of digging three new channels for the waters
of the Lea, whereby he rendered it impossible for the Danes
to bring out their vessels; and to protect the men who were
employed in these cuts, he erected works on each side of
the river, and encamped in the vicinity. He succeeded in
his purpose; but the navigation of the river in that part was
obstructed till after about seven hundred years it was re-
stored to its old channel, chiefly by lord Burleigh's means.f
Not waiting then to be attacked by a stronger and better di-
rected force than that of the Londoners, the Danes sent their
women to the care of their countrymen in East Anglia, and
once more made their devastating way through the midland
counties to the Severn. Alfred pursued them, while the
citizens made spoil of the deserted ships. He found them
at Quatbridge (probably the present Bridgenorth,) and so
fortified, that he made no attempt to molest them in their in-
Sax. Chron. ì19, 120. Turner, ii. 118–120.
† Camden, 296.
E 2
54
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
trenchments: but they seem to have been confined there,
and the spirit, and perhaps the health, of his able enemy
was now broken; for in the ensuing summer his army dis-
persed, some going into Northumbria, some to East Anglia,
and those who had not enriched themselves with plunder
taking again to the seas. Hastings himself went to France,
obtained a grant of territories there from the king, and was
living there in peace when his countryman, Rollo, invaded
Normandy.*
The conclusion of this war against a maritime invader
connects it with an important circumstance in the naval his-
tory of England. The marauders, who had been driven
beyond the Humber and the Ouse, thought to revenge them-
selves by sea for the defeats and disappointments which they
had sustained on shore, and they harassed the south coast
of Wessex by frequent descents: these expeditions were
mostly made in certain vessels called æscs,† which they had
built many years before, and which seem to have been of a
different construction from those in common use, probably
longer and of greater burden. The Northmen were bolder
and better sailors than the Gauls and Britons; but their
vessels were of a ruder structure than those which Cæsar
encountered in his war with the Veneti: like them, they
were broad-bottomed ; but their keels were framed of light
timber, and the sides and upper works were of wicker, co-
vered with strong hides; coracles, in fact, upon a large scale,
and with a wooden keel. The ascs were superior, it seems,
not only to these, but to any of Alfred's ships; for he gave
orders that long ships should be built to act against them,
full nigh twice as long as those which they were to engage.
* Sax. Chron. 120, 121. Turner, ii. 120-125.
† Sax. Chron. 122. Whatever these vessels may have been, the sea-
rovers who were called Ascomanni may perhaps have derived their name
from them: this seems a more likely derivation than is given by Holberg,
who says they were so called because they carried their food with them in
chests, "æsker, en ny Sect af Soe-Rivere kalden Ascomanni, efterdi de forte
deres victualier med sig udo æsker," i. 101. This opinion of mine is con-
firmed by Ihre (sub voce Ask.) For the word æsc itself he gives various
etymologies; but inclines to think the simplest the most probable, that ves-
sels built of ash (ask) were so called, "ut apud poëtas Latinos abies et
pinus pro ipsis navigiis posita inveniuntur."
Gibbon, iv. 288. (8vo. edit.) Sidonius, there quoted, (in Panegyr. Avit.
369.), describes the Saxon pirate:-
-Cui pelle salum sulcare Britannum
Ludus et assuto glaucum mare findere lembo."
The Saxon Chronicle (p. 113.) says, that three Scots stole away from Ireland
in a boat without oars, made of two hides and a half. They fled their
country that they might live in a state of pilgrimage, they cared not where;
and they took only a week's provisions. Within the week they landed in
Cornwall, and were sent to Alfred.
ACTION WITH ALFRED'S GALLEYS.
55
"Some," says the Saxon annalist, "had sixty oars, some
more, and they were both swifter and less unsteady, and also
higher than the others. They were neither made after the
Frisian nor the Danish manner, but so as he himself thought
that they might be most serviceable."*
From this descrip-
tion, which is the only one that has been transmitted to us,
it is evident that they were galleys, such as were used in the
Mediterranean,† and of which a model might easily be ob-
tained. However little suited for general service in the
British seas, they were well adapted for defending the coast,
and for attacking squadrons of greater collected force, but
consisting of ships less manageable, under all circumstances,
and individually far inferior in size.
Nine of these galleys Alfred manned partly with Fries-
landers, always a brave and hardy people, and then so noted
for their maritime skill, that their ships were accounted
among the best in the north. He sent them in pursuit of six
of the Anglo-Danish vessels, which going first to the Isle of
Wight, and then to Devonshire, committed great ravages
every where on the coast. They found them at the mouth
of some river: three of their vessels were aground, having
been left by the tide, and the men had landed from them;
the other three, seeing that it was intended to prevent their
escape, stood boldly out and gave battle. Alfred had ordered
his people to take as many as they could alive; for he had
determined now upon treating the sea rovers not as enemies,
entitled to the laws of war, but as robbers punishable with
death. The kings of Denmark themselves had begun to
treat them thus, so intolerable had the system of piracy be-
come, even to the countries where it originated. But these
orders were either disregarded in the heat of fight, or the
Danes fought with a desperation which rendered it impossi-
ble to regard them: on board two of their ships every man
was killed, all but five in the third, and these were severely
wounded, yet they got off with their ship. There was either
a great error of judgment in Alfred's commanders, or the
galleys were ill navigated by men who, though excellent
sailors, were not accustomed to such vessels; for upon
making toward the bay where the other pirates were aground,
* Sax. Chron. 122. Selden, ii. 1314.
It is remarkable that Campbell, though he perceives this, should never-
theless say they were of a new construction, devised by Alfred himself.
Hist. of the Admirals, i. 36.
About the year 1540, Gustavus Vasa sent for Venetian shipwrights to
build for him, in the Swedish ports, galleys of two, three, and four banks of
oars, as the best vessels for acting against the Muscovite and Esthonian
pirates Olaus Magnus. Basiliæ, 1567. I. x. c. iii. p. 439.
+1
56
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
three of the galleys got aground near them, and were there
left by the tide, so that they could receive no support from
their comrades. The Danes, seizing the opportunity, at-
tacked them on the sand: in the severe conflict which
ensued 62 English and Frieslanders fell: among the latter
three were of sufficient eminence to have their names re-
corded; among the former were Lucumon, the king's Reeve,
and Ethelforth, the king's neat-herd. On the part of the
Danes 120 fell; they were inferior in numbers, but the ad-
vantage in skill was on their side; and the tide floated their
vessels before the galleys could be moved, so that they were
enabled to push out and endeavour to escape. As far as the
galleys were concerned they effected this; but they were so
weakened by their loss, and so many of the remaining crews
were wounded, that only one of them reached an East-An-
glian port; the others were driven ashore on the coast of
Sussex, because the men were unable to navigate them: the
crews were sent to the king at Winchester, and he ordered them
to be hanged. In the course of the year twenty Danish ships
were captured, and the men executed as pirates. After this
England enjoyed, for about three generations, a respite from
such hostilities.*
Alfred, then, was the first English king who established a
naval force; and as he went out with his first fleet himself,
he may, without impropriety, be considered as the first Eng-
lish admiral. He invited into his navy not Frieslanders
alone, who were probably at the time his allies, but adven-
turers of whatever nation who were willing to forsake a pi-
ratical course of life. But he well knew that though great
present advantage might be derived from their services, no
durable power could be established by such precarious means;
and that it is only by maritime commerce that maritime do-
minion can be supported. On this, as on all other subjects,
his views extended not only beyond those of his contempo-
raries, but it may almost be said, beyond the possibilities of
his age.
He sent an ambassador to India, to the Christians
in Malabar, and on the Coromandel coast, countries which
* Sax. Chron. 122-124. Turner, ii. 123–125. Campb. i. 36-38. Hen.
ii. 411. (Dublin edit.) Charnock's Hist. of Marine Architecture, i. 260—
262.
+"Impositisque piratis in illis, vias maris custodiendas commisit." Upon
these words of Cæsar, Selden observes, "Piratarum hic vocabulo (quemad-
modum alii illius ævi) usus est, non pro prædonibus, ut vulgo; sed pro iis
qui hostium classes arto navali adgrederentur, et marinum defenderent ter-
ritorium. De vocabuli etymo scholiastes vetus ad Sophoclis Ajacem: Пɛgx,
inquit Αττικώς δόλος τέχνη, οθεν και πειραται οι κατα θάλασσαν παπουργοι,
'Pira Attice denotat dolum seu artem, unde et Piratæ dicuntur qui mare in-
festant.'" ii. 1313.
ALFRED.
ย
no Englishman visited again till the 16th century; and whe-
ther the navigators made their voyage in his service* or not,
he obtained from Wulfstan an account of the manners and
political state of the countries towards the east of the Baltic;
and from Ohthere a description of the land as far as the
White Sea and the mouths of the Dwina; parts which Ri-
chard Chanceler, in the year 1553, was the first European
navigator who re-discovered.
Bede, Alfred, and Roger Bacon, are the three Englishmen
who attained all the knowledge that in their respective times
and stations it was possible for them to acquire, and who
made the best use of that knowledge for posterity. Bede
preserved for us the only materials which exist for no incon-
siderable nor unimportant portion of our national history.
Roger Bacon anticipated some of the most momentous che-
mical discoveries which were made in after ages: he had a
clear foresight of others; and it was in his then unpublished
writings that his namesake, the more celebrated, but not the
greater Bacon, found the principles of that experimental and
inductive philosophy † distinctly stated, which he produced
to the world as his own invention. No other sovereign ever
manifested so earnest a desire for improving the moral and
intellectual condition of his people as Alfred; no one ever
entertained wider or wiser views of national defence; and
modern legislation has nowhere yet attempted to institute a
system of policy for the prevention of offences, and the secu-
rity of persons and property, so efficacious as that which he
established throughout his kingdom.
* It has been said that Ohthere's voyage was made by the king's direction;
but the narrative, so far from confirming this, contains the sum of what he
had learned in many expeditions. On one occasion he says, "he wished to
find out how long that land stretched to the north, or whether any man
abode to the north of those wastes." Elsewhere he says, "he went chiefly
looking for the horse-whales (walrusses,) because they have very good bone
(ivory) in their teeth.” Turner, ii. 224, 225. It has also been said, not by
Mallet and Voltaire alone, from whom little research was to be expected,
but by Campbell (i. 39.,) on Spelman's alleged authority, that Ohthere's voy-
age was undertaken for the discovery of a north-east passage to India. It
is surprising that so plain a statement as Ohthere's can have been so egre-
giously misunderstood.
† For proof of this, the reader is referred to Mr. Foster's Mahommedanism
Unveiled (vol. ii. pp. 312-318.,) a work which will well repay an attentive
perusal.
58
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. II.
FROM THE DEATH OF ALFRED TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST.
904.
EVEN Alfred's far-sighted wisdom could not procure peace
for his country in an age of violence; but he procured for it
strength, and renown, and prosperity, during three genera-
tions. Upon his death the Anglo-Danes would soon have
made themselves lords of England, if his son Edward the
elder, whom he left to succeed him, had not inherited much
of his father's promptitude and vigour. They took up the
cause of Ethelwold, who, as son of one of Alfred's elder
brethren, claimed the succession: they received him
901. for their king, expecting thus to divide the English,
and subdue one part by help of the other; but they were
too rude or turbulent long to observe the respectful conduct
towards him by which alone such views could be success-
fully pursued; and Ethelwold gathering a piratical force put
to sea, and finding allies among the Northmen who had es-
tablished themselves in France, returned with a great fleet,
landed in Essex, which he subdued, persuaded the
East-Anglian Danes to join him; and after ravaging
part of Mercia and of Wessex, and being pursued by Edward
to the fens in Lincolnshire, fell in a well-contested
905. victory which he obtained over the rear of the king's
retreating army. The peace with the Anglo-Danes which
followed lasted only till they felt themselves strong enough to
break it; and Edward then collected a fleet* of about 100 sail,
with which to guard the south-eastern coast, probably against
any new invasion on that side. The Danes thought that he
had embarked the greatest part of his army in the fleet, and
that they might go plundering whither they would without
danger; but Edward, like his father, kept the land force of
the country always in readiness. He sent troops both from
Wessex and Mercia to pursue them, as they went on maraud-
ing from the Avon to the Severn: these troops inter-
cepted them on their return, and defeated them with
great slaughter; two of their kings, who were sons of Reg-
ner Lobrog, and ten other chiefs, of sufficient note to have
their names recorded,† falling in the battle.
911.
The next invasion was from Armorica; but it was by a
* Sax. Chron. 128. This authority does not justify Henry (who refers to
it) in asserting that Edward constantly kept up a fleet of 100 ships, with
which he protected the trade of his subjects and maintained the dominion
of the sea, ii. 413.
Sax. Chron. 125-129. Turner, ij. 314-317.
DANES DEFEATED AT WATCHET.
59
fleet of Northmen,* not of the Keltic and Christian inhabit-
ants of that country. They went west about, entered 918.
the British channel, wasted the Welsh coast, and land-
ing high up the Severn, entered Herefordshire in force, and
there made a British bishop, Camalac by name, prisoner:
the king ransomed him for forty pounds. He was taken in
a part of that country called Irchenfeld:† the men of that
district had by their bravery obtained the honourable privi-
lege,‡ that when the army was marching forward against
the enemy, they were to form the avauntward, and in the
return home the rereward." On this occasion they did not
belie their renown; and when the Northmen would have
pursued their devastating career, they, with the men of
Hereford (then, it is supposed, newly founded by Edward)
and of Gloucester, and of the nearest burghs or fortified
places, gave them battle, slew one of their leaders, and the
brother of the other, put them to flight, drove them into a
wood or park as it is called, and there beset them, till they
engaged to depart from the realm, and gave hostages for their
good faith. The king, who knew by his own experience
and his father's what that faith was worth, took care to
guard his side of the Bristol channel well, from the mouth of
the Somersetshire Avon downwards; nevertheless they land-
ed twice with the intent of revenging themselves for their
defeat,-once above Watchet, a second time in Porlock bay.
In both descents they were defeated with great slaughter;
and the field of slaughter near the former place is still mark-
ed by three funeral mounds called Grab barrows. The re-
mainder took refuge in one of the islands in the channel;||
and there they remained, probably confined there by stress of
weather; but many of them died for want of food. At length
they escaped to the Welsh coast,¶ far down the channel, and
in the autumn made their way from thence to Ireland.**
* Lidwiccum they are called in the Saxon Chronicle. Mr. Ingram bas
a note upon this word, explaining it: "the inhabitants of Armorica, now
Bretagne, so called because they abode day and night in their ships, from
liʊ a ship, and piccian, to watch or abide day and night." But the Ar-
moricans are not likely to have been designated by an appellation derived
from a Teutonic language; and the names of the two earls who command-
ed in this expedition are both Norse.
Archenfeld in Domesday.
† Ircinga-felda in the Sax. Chron.
Gibson's Camden, 575.
§ Beauties of England, xiii. 578.
One MS of the Saxon Chronicle says the Flat-holms, another the Steep;
the latter is most improbable and Lundy a more likely place of retreat
than the former.
¶ To Deomodum, or Deomedum, which Mr. Ingram englishes Dimmet.
Demetia is evidently meant,-the old appellation for what, in Camden's time,
was called West Wales; and comprehended the counties of Caermarthen,
Pembroke, and Cardigan.
** Sax. Chron. 131, 132. Turner, ii. 319.
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND,
i
921.
Once, during the latter part of Edward's reign, the Anglo-
Danes invited some Vikingr to their aid against him; but
they were defeated at Maldon, and the king curbed
them by a chain of fortresses, so judiciously placed,
that they soon became inhabited towns. Upon the
925. death of this able king, and of his eldest son, Ethel-
ward, who survived him only a few days, the witenagemot
chose his illegitimate son Athelstan, then thirty years of age,
to succeed him. He proved the most successful and the
most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kings: and not only an-
nexed Northumbria to his dominions, but compelled the
Welsh kings and Constantine king of the Scots to acknow-
ledge his supremacy. This was no willing submission on
their part, and upon the first opportunity that seemed favour-
able, Constantine threw off his vassalage; but Athelstan was
prepared both by sea and land, and while his army ra-
934.
vaged Scotland as far as Dunfoeder and Wertmore,*
his fleet laid waste the coast as far as Caithness. The Scot-
tish king again submitted, with as little intention of remain-
ing subject as before, and with an exasperated desire of ven-
geance, for which he formed a more extensive confederacy
than any that had ever before been brought into action upon
the same theatre. The Anglo-Danes of East Anglia and
Northumbria raised their Raven Standard against the Eng-
lish monarch. Eugenius, the royalet of Cumbria, joined
them by necessity or by choice, and the Welsh princes with
alacrity. Anlaf, the son of a Northumbrian king, came from
Ireland, where he had obtained a sovereignty, in the hope
of recovering what he looked upon as his inheritance: he
entered the Humber with a fleet, which is said to have con-
sisted of 615 ships, and which seems, therefore, to have in-
cluded the confederate forces from Norway and from the
Baltic. Athelstan, on his part, was assisted by the Vikingr,
with 300 companions, who were ready to serve on any side,
and Rollo sent him an auxiliary force from Normandy. He
defeated the confederates in the great battle of Bruna-
938. burgh, in which, according to the contemporary poet,
more bodies were left on the field for the yellow-footed
kite, and the eagle, and the grizzly wolf of the weald, than
had fallen under the edge of the sword in any battle since
the Angles and Saxons first came over the broad sea. Five
of the allied kings were slain, and seven of the northern
earls. Constantine was one among the slain; and Athelstan
* Both places are now unknown. Wertermere, it was conjectured by
Pinkerton, might be Westermere, the Western Sea, or Frith of Clyde. Pal-
grave's Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth, i. 473.
FIRST TREATY WITH FRANCE.
61
became the first undoubted monarch of England, for the
Anglo-Danes were completely subdued. This was a real
conquest; and he was even nominal lord of Wales and
Scotland.
The first treaty between France and England was made
in this king's reign, who engaged therein to assist his ne
phew, king Louis d'Outremer, with a fleet against his am-
bitious nobles and Otho the king of Germany. The fleet,
accordingly, appeared off the coast of Flanders as soon as
Otho passed the Rhine; it protected the maritime cities, and
made some descents for the sake of plunder upon the enemy's
territory. This expedition, although not otherwise worthy
of record, is remarkable as being the first instance in
which an English fleet put to sea for any purpose re- 939.
lating to the affairs of the Continent. Hitherto, since the re-
treat of the Romans, there had been no political relation be-
tween this island and any of the continental states, except
that its fugitive or exiled princes repaired, some of them to
France for an asylum, some to the Baltic for the aid of
those freebooters who were ready to engage in any enter-
prise wherein a prospect of plunder was held out. But Eng-
land had now made a great advance in power and in civiliza-
tion; and Athelstan, of whom it was said by the grateful
people, after the lapse of many generations, that a more just
or a more learned king had never governed the kingdom, en-
couraged commerce, like his illustrious grandfather Alfred,
as the only means of keeping up that naval force which the
country needed for its security and strength. With this view
he established mints in all the considerable towns of Kent
and Wessex, as well as in London, enjoining withal that
there should be only one coinage throughout his dominions.+
And in order to raise the mercantile character by making
commerce a way to honour as well as to wealth, one of his
laws enacted, that a merchant who made three voyages over
the high seas, with a ship and cargo of his own, should from
thenceforth enjoy the rank and privileges of a thane.§ The
king of Norway, Harold Harfagre, whose son, Haco the
* Turner ii. 329-343. Sax. Chron. 140-145. Annalis iv. Magistrorum
apud O'Conor, Rerum Hibern. Script. iii. 463.
† C'est le premier exemple que nous aïons dans notre histoire, non seule-
ment d'un ligue offensive entre la France et l'Angleterre, mais encore le
premier traité par lequel un de ces deux etats soit entré dans les intérêts de
Ï'autre. Jusque là les deux roïaumes s'étoient regardés l'un l'autre comme
deux mondes separés, qui n'avoient rien à démèler ensemble, excepté pour
le commerce, et qui n'étoient, pour ainsi dire, ni amis ni ennemis pour tout
le reste.”—P. Daniel, ii. 647. edit. 1729.
Canciani, Barbarorum Leges Antiquæ, iv. 262. Turner, ii. 606-614.
Henry, ii. 413
§ Canciani, iv. 268
VOL. I.
F
62
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
Good, was intrusted to Athelstan, that under his care he
might be educated in a more civilized country than his own,
sent the English king a ship with a golden beak and purple
sails, and fitted up with its defences of gilded shields all
round. In the selection of such a present, Harold probably
considered as much what was most likely to gratify Athel-
stan's inclinations, as what could most advantageously dis-
play the skill of the Norwegians.*
England had been greatly strengthened, and in a still
greater degree improved, during the reign of three succes-
sive kings, who were equally remarkable for the wisdom of
their measures, and for the vigour with which they pursued
the objects of their steadfast policy. One of those objects
they had effected: the English were no longer a divided
people; throughout the former kingdoms of the polyarchy,
wherever the population was English, the king of England
was now not the nominal merely, but the real sovereign.
But the Anglo-Danes occupied a large part of the land, and
they had been conquered too recently for any approximation
towards an union; there were little, if any, obstacles of lan-
guage: little, if any, of religion; a great one in manners; and
a greater in that cherished hatred and desire of vengeance
which the recent conversion of the more barbarous race had left
unmitigated as well as unsubdued. Athalstan's early
941.
death, and the accession of his brother Edmund the
Elder, at the inexperienced age of eighteen, afforded them the
opportunity for which they longed; and at their invitation,
Anlaf sailed a second time from Ireland with a great arma-
ment, and entered the Humber. The Vikingr possessed in
their habits and vocation surer means of raising and main-
taining a naval force than the English government had at its
command; the young king who was totally unprepared at sea,
found himself also inferior by land; and, after two defeats,
he submitted to a dishonourable peace, whereby he divided
his kingdom with Anlaf, resigning to him all the country
north of Watling Street, with the condition, that whoever
survived should become monarch of the whole. The great
disparity of age between them made this a favourable condi-
tion for Edmund; and Anlaf, who probably meant to keep
the treaty no longer than till he could find an inviting op-
portunity for breaking it, or, perhaps, like many kings, took
no care for any thing that might happen after his own time,
died in the ensuing year.
The Vikingr again invaded England in the following
* William of Malmesbury, 155.
Turner, ii. 366-368
EDWY THE ALL-FAIR.
63
reign. A son of Harold Harfagre, Eric by name, had, after
his father's death, been driven from Norway for his crimes,
having killed some of his brothers for the sake of their in-
heritance. The fratricide made for the Orkneys; collected,
as it was easy to do, a predatory force; and began to plun-
der along the coast of Scotland. This was during Athel-
stan's life; and that king, though he had assisted his pupil
Haco with a fleet which enabled him to expel Eric, sent,
nevertheless, a message to Eric, now, saying, that having
been in strict friendship with the father, he desired to prove
the sincerity of that friendship by showing kindness to the
son; he invited him, therefore, to reign as his vassal in Nor-
thumbria. Subjects who were too turbulent to live content-
edly under the government of Haco the Good, repaired
thither to join him; his inclination accorded well with theirs,
and he made it the amusement of his summer months to
pirate upon the coasts of Scotland, the Hebrides, Ireland,
and Wales. Having been expelled from Northumbria, either
by Edmund or by the people, he took to the seas again,
again found adventurers in the Orkneys, was joined also by
some Vikingr among the Hebrides, and, after some descents
upon Ireland and Wales, made again for England at the
commencement of Edred's reign, and was received once
more as their king by the restless Northumbrians. Edred,
like his brother Edmund, had succeeded to the throne in
youth, but no incapacity had yet appeared in the race of
Cerdic. The revolt of these Anglo-Danes exasper- 946.
ated him, for they had just before sworn fidelity to him
on his accession: he marched against them; and in the short
but destructive war which ensued,* Eric and five other sea-
kings met with the fate which they deserved. After this
victory, Northumbria was partitioned into baronies and
counties; and from this time it remained as inseparable a
part of the English monarchy as Kent or Mercia.
•
During the short reign of Edwy the All-Fair, whose tragic
story affords one of the finest subjects for an historical
drama, nothing relating to naval affairs has been recorded;
but in that of his brother and successor, Edgar, more
959.
than is true. A charter has been produced, in which
he boasts of having, by divine assistance, subjected to the
kingdom of England all the islands of the ocean, with their
ferocious kings, as far as Norway, and the greater part of
Ireland, and its noble city of Dublin:† but of these con-
* Turner, ii. 359. 370–376.
↑ Ibid. ii. 419. Dugdale, Monast. i. 140.
64
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
..
quests, this charter is the only evidence that exists; and its
own authenticity seems, therefore, thus to be satisfactorily
disproved. With equal exaggeration, and not on the inci-
dental falsehood of a forged instrument, but in credulous
history, he is said to have had three, and even four fleets, of
1200 ships each, stationed in the four seas, for the defence
of the whole island.* One ancient writer states the whole
force at 300; and even this would show a large increase in
the course of half a century. It has been related also, that
every year, as soon as the solemnities of Easter were over,
he ordered these ships to be collected at their respective
stations; cruised with the eastern fleet to the western part
of the island; and then, dismissing that, proceeded himself
with the eastern fleet to the north, and so again with the
northern fleet to the east,t-a parade of idle force, in which
there would have been as little policy, as there is likelihood
in the relation. It is also said of him, that he summoned
the king of the Scots, the king of Cumbria, Macchus the
archpirate, who was king of Anglesey and of the isles, and
five other British kings, to meet him at Chester, and there
do him homage: so far there is good authority for the state-
ment; and if Edgar's character were entitled to respect in
other points, we might hope that later writers have calumni-
ated him, when they added to this,§ that ordering them on
board his vessel, and taking his seat at the prow, he com-
pelled them to row him on the river Dee, in proud manifest-
ation of his superior power: "then," he is reported to have
said, "might his successors account themselves kings of
England, when they enjoyed such prerogative of high and
supreme honour."
Edgar is the hero of monastic writers, because he sup-
* Henry, ii. 414. Campbell, i. 47. Turner, ii. 424.
† William of Malmesbury, 185.
Sax. Chron. 160. Selden, ii. 1315. "Ego Edgarus totius Albionis Ba
sileus, necnon maritimorum seu insulanorum regum circumhabitantium,—
titulus ei solennis erat."-Ibid. ii. 1324.
Quin eodem ferme, usos hosce fuisse consilio videtur, in firmando tu-
tandoque tam oceani quam insulæ imperio, quod Germani veteres (quorum
pars et Saxones et Dani) in civitatibus suis mediterraneis tuendis adhibere
soliti. Apud eos enim maxima laus erat (quod scribit Cæsar) quam latis-
simas circum se vastatis finibus solitudines habere; hoc proprium virtutis
existimantes, expulsos agris finitimos cedere, neque quemquam prope se
audere consistere; simul hoc se fore tutiores arbitrantur, repentinæ incur.
siones timore sublato. Ita sane iis qui in Britannia rerum sunt tunc potiti,
visum est latissima circumambientis oceani spatia sua reddere, circum-
navigando, aliosque arcendo, veluti ab insulæ sive muro, sive pomario."—
Mare Clausum, Seld. Op. ii. 1326.
§ William of Malmesbury, 170. Holinshed, i. 694. Turner, ii. 420. Pal-
grave 249, 250.
CORRUPTION OF ENGLISH MANNERS.
966.
969.
980.
65
ported the monks in their usurpations upon the canons,
having indeed made a covenant with them, that they should
defend him against devils, and he would defend them against
men.*
It was said of him in prose and verse, that no king
of England, either of his own or former times, could be
compared with him; and that ever while he lived he dwelt
in peace, wielding all as pleased himself without resistance,
kings and earls bowing submissively to all his claims.† Yet
it appears that Westmoreland was ravaged during his
reign, apparently by the Anglo-Danes; and that
Thanet-land was ravaged by his own orders, perhaps
to punish the inhabitants for favouring the sea rovers.
Two years only after his death, a piratical squadron at-
tacked Southampton, slew or carried into captivity
most of the inhabitants, and laid waste the coast. In the same
year Thanet was over-run by the Vikingr, and the county of
Chester also; Devon, Cornwall, and the coast of Wales,
were infested in the following year; Dorsetshire in
982.
the next. A respite then occurs of five years, during
which the great murrain of cattle first appeared in this
island. The next invaders attacked Watchet; but here the
people seem to have inherited the spirit of their fathers, and
defeated them, though not without considerable loss, Goda,
the thane of Devonshire, falling in the battle.§ This was
the only instance in which the Danes were successfully
opposed, and almost the only one in which any vigour was
exerted in opposing them. For-though it was said that
nothing could be more holy than Edgar's life, bating certain
vices, and certain crimes (not of the lightest die) for which
he did penance and was absolved; and though after a con-
venient interval of time miracles were worked by his re-
mains, as if with a view to his canonization,-that king was
a voluptuary; and under his reign the English are said to
have become a corrupted nation, undoubtedly in great mea-
sure owing to his example, for a licentious court never fails
to make a licentious people. It is said that his intimate
intercourse with foreigners occasioned an importation of
foreign vices; and that the English, who till this time had
been a simple and a sober people, learnt drunkenness from the
Danes, effeminacy from the Flemings, and from the Saxons
what is denominated a disordered fierceness of mind.
* Turner, ii. 418. Spelman, Concil. 440.
† William of Malmesbury, 187. Sax. Chron. 151.
By Thored, the son of Gunner. Sax. Chron. 157.
§ Sax. Chron. 165–167.
William of Malmesbury, 171. Holinshed, i. 690.
These
-
F 2
66
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
vices are not incompatible; and for introducing the corruption
of manners in which they took root, it is admitted by his
panegyrist that Edgar has been justly accused. The splen-
dour of his kingdom died with him; the ostentatious strength
in which he gloried, proved to be but a pageant in the hour
of need; and one voluptuous reign undoing the good which
had been effected by Alfred, and the elder Edward and
Athelstan (three of the ablest monarchs that ever reigned in
succession)—the people losing, in the course of one genera-
tion, their discipline and their courage, together with those
habits in which their moral strength consisted, found them-
selves once more at the mercy of a maritime enemy.
"This,
by the way," says our old historian,* "is noteworthy; that
the Danes had an imperfect, or rather a lame or limping rule
in this land, so long as the governors were watchful, dili-
gent, politic at home, and warlike abroad; but when these
kind of kings discontinued, and that the reins of the regi-
ment fell into the hands of a pezzant, not a puissant prince,
a man evil qualified, dissolute, slack, and licentious, not
regarding the dignity of his own person, nor favouring the
good estate of his people, the Danes, who before were
coursed from coast to coast, and pursued from place to place,
as more willing to leave the land than desirous to tarry in
the same, took occasion of stomach and courage to re-enter
this isle; and waxing more bold and confident, more despe-
rate and venturous, spared no force, omitted no opportunity,
let slip no advantage that they might possibly take, to put
in practice, and fully to accomplish their long conceived
purpose.
99
But to suppose that the Danes had ever before this time
entertained any purpose of conquering England, or that at
this time they entertained it, is ascribing too much policy to
them and to the age. They had infested its coasts at the
beginning as roving freebooters; then, like the Angles and
Saxons before them, had seized upon portions of the land;
and kept what they had won, by main force at first, after-
wards by compact, as a people reduced to submission, bu
too numerous and perhaps too powerful to be expelled.
These Anglo-Danes, thus denizened, were now also natives,
differing in nothing from the Anglo-Saxons, or English as
they were then called, except in some difference of dialect,
which was rapidly lessening, and perhaps in retaining more
predilection for some of their heathenish customs. The
Danes, as a nation, had never yet engaged in a national war
* Holicshed, i. 702.
DEFEAT AND DEATH OF BRITHNOTH.
67
against the English ;* their own country was in too un-
settled a state; they were busied with nearer concerns; and
regarded England only as a land which drew off the Vikingr
of other countries from their coast, and afforded useful occu-
pation for their own Lacklands, who would have otherwise
been restless and dangerous at home. A great change in
these relations was now about to be effected.
A Danish force, in the year 991, plundered Ipswich, and
advanced to Malden. Brithnoth, then ealderman of Essex,
who is described as of commanding stature, eloquent, strong,
and always alert in time of danger, advanced to meet them
upon the first intelligence, and defeated them with great
slaughter. The few who escaped to their ships carried the
news of their loss to their own country, and excited so strong
a feeling among their countrymen, that a second and stronger
expedition was equipped, with which they sailed for Black-
water bay; and having landed near the scene of their former
defeat, sent a proud message to Brithnoth, saying they were
come to avenge it. Yet it seems that they were more desi-
rous of booty than of vengeance; for it is said, that when the
ealderman, collecting as many of his people as could hastily
be gathered together, marched against them with all speed,
lest the invaders should, owing to his delay, be enabled to
occupy a single foot's breadth of the country, they changed
their tone, seeing his host in battle array, and demanded
gold from him by a herald, asking why they should wage
war and slay each other, when he might buy off the danger
by delivering up his treasures? Brithnoth bravely answered,
that "his treasures were not so easily to be obtained, but
that point and edge must determine between them in the
grim game of war. But he attempted, with inferior num-
bers, to defend the passage of the estuary against them; and
fell, with most of his followers, in the attempt. The con-
querors mangled his body, and carried his head to Denmark,
there probably, to make a drinking cup of his skull; and
when the abbot of Ely removed the mutilated remains for
interment to his church, to which Brithnoth had been a dis-
tinguished benefactor, a waxen head was substituted.†
99
After this victory, the Danes so miserably harried the
* Holberg, i. 99, note (u).
† Conybeare's Illustrations of Anglo-Saxon Poetry, Ixxxviii-xcvi. The
contemporary poem on Brithnoth's death, a translation of which may be
found in Mr. Conybeare's most valuable volume, is one of the most precious
remains of Anglo-Saxon poetry. The Ely Chronicle, an extract from which
is there given in illustration of that poem, shows how it has happened that
Brithnoth's death is twice stated in the Saxon Chronicle (pp. 167. 169.) in
the same scenes and in different years.
•
68
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
defenceless land,-defenceless because of the imbecility of
the rulers and the corruption of the people,—that king
Ethelred the Unready was advised by his council to buy off
the invaders. The men of Kent had tried that disgraceful
experiment more than a century before, in Ethelbert's
reign,* when the negotiation had failed only because the
Danes preferred taking all they could find, to receiving what
the Kentish men were willing to give. Archbishop Siric is
said to have been the person who now proposed this misera-
ble expedient; which no one would have been base enough
to propose, if he had not known that the king and the wite-
nagemot would be pusillanimous enough to entertain, and the
nation so poor in spirit, so lost in character, as to approve it.f
Ten thousand pounds was the sum which was voted on this
occasion to the enemy, "for the great terror which they
brought upon the sea coast;" and this payment is noticed
by early writers as the beginning of direct taxation in this
country. The Danes took the money with the intention of
coming for more as soon as they might think proper; and,
in justice to those by whom the measure was advised, it
should be remembered that they considered themselves not
as having purchased peace, but a respite from war, and that
they employed that respite in planning vigorous measures,
and preparing for them. They collected all the serviceable
ships that could be gathered together at London, and
992.
raising a land force at the same time, intrusted the
command of it to an earl, two bishops, and Ælfric the eal-
derman. Nothing has been more clearly proved by expe-
rience in war, than that in the multitude of commanders
there is danger: in this instance, the evil arose not from
jarring opinions, but from treachery. The intention was to
surprise the enemy, who were again upon the coast, and to
surround them in some port, by land and water; and this
was likely to have succeeded, if Ælfric had not apprised the
Danes of their danger, and then deserted to them the night
before the attack was to have been made. They escaped,
therefore, with the loss of one ship's crew. The ships from
London and East Anglia met their fleet, and a fierce action
ensued, in which Elfric's vessel was taken, but he himself
escaped; and the king, with a cruelty which must be im-
puted in full as great a degree to his own cowardly nature
as to the barbarity of the age, took vengeance upon him by
* See p. 43.
Sax. Chron. 167. William of Malmesbury, 193. Turner, ii. 463.
Turner, ii. 464. Pontanus, 139.
EARLY HISTORY OF SWEYNE.
69
putting out the eyes of his son.* After this, Ælfric feigned
repentance, and was pardoned; and it is not surprising that
he then avenged himself by a second treason.
Treason, indeed, had now become common, as it ever will
in times of anarchy or misrule, and more especially where
national differences are still preserved in full force among the
people. Bebbanburh (now Bamborough) was plundered and
destroyed by the Vikingr: their fleet then entered the Hum-
ber, and ravaged the land on both sides; the people
993.
gathered together to defend themselves; but their
three commanders were of Danish blood, † and, at the mo-
ment of joining battle, they set the example of flight. At no
former time had England been so feebly defended nor so for-
midably attacked; for the king of Denmark, Svend-Otto of
the forked beard, the Sweyne of English history, who from
the commencement of his reign had encouraged the piratical
expeditions against this island, came now in person to take
part in them. In the course of his adventurous life he had
been driven from his kingdom by Eric of Sweden, and fled
hither as to a place of refuge; but Edgar had refused to har-
bour him, suspecting, it is said, that his flight was simulated,
and that his real purpose was to spy the weakness of the
land. The suspicion was false, though the faithless and
ambitious character of Sweyne might well give rise to it; he
then repaired to Scotland, where he was hospitably enter-
tained, till, upon Eric's death, he was enabled to return to
and to recover his kingdom. He had abjured Christianity
in his youth, that by the help of the heathen party he might
make war upon his father and dethrone him: during his
abode in Scotland he became again a Christian in profession,
perceiving that heathenism had become the weaker side; but
he had not forgotten his repulse at Edgar's court, and the
desire of revenging himself upon the people of England upon
that score, is said to have been the motive which induced
him first to encourage the Vikingr in their expeditions, and
now to join with them.‡
He was impelled, also, by a mixed motive of honour and
of barbarous piety. His father, Harald Blaatand, had fallen
in the war which Sweyne, with the aid of a heathen party,
waged against him; nevertheless, this son performed ob-
sequies to the parent whom he had dethroned and slain, and
the ceremonies are strikingly characteristic of Scandinavian
* Sax. Chron. 168.
† Sax. Chron. 169.
Pontanus, 138-140.
William of Malmesbury, 194.
Turner, ii. 466.
Holberg, i. 97.
70
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
:
manners and feelings. He invited to the feast,-for such t
was, the Jarl Sigvalld, and Bui the Thickset, and their bro
thers, of the newly founded republic of Jomsburg, that they
might make potations in honour of their father at the same
time. They came with the bravest of their people, in forty
ships from Vindland, and twenty from Scania. Great mul-
titudes assembled: on the first day of the solemnities,
Sweyne, before he ascended the throne, drank a capacious
cup of strong drink filled to the brim, to the sacred memory
of the late king his father; and then he made a vow, that be-
fore three years should have elapsed he would invade Eng-
land, and either slay king Ethelred, or dispossess him of the
throne, and drive him into exile. The guests who had been
invited pledged him in that same cup. A second then went
round in memory of our Lord and Saviour,-so awfully were
things sacred and profane blended!—and a third to the arch-
angel St. Michael. Jarl Sigvalld, next in order, drank to his
father's memory; and made, in like manner, a vow that
within three years he would invade Norway, and either slay
Jarl Haco, or expel him from the land. Thorkell the Tall
vowed that he would accompany his brother Sigvalld, and
never forsake him, in this adventure. But the Thickset
swore to the same effect; and Vagn Akason vowed that he
would go with them, and not return till he had slain Thor-
kell Leira, and taken his daughter Ingibiorga for a concubine,
without asking the consent of her kin. The Vikingr of Joms-
burg confessed, on the following morning, when they were
sober, that they had vowed greater things than were expedi-
ent; but they resolved that for that reason it was necessary
to undertake the performance without delay. The fulfilment
of Sweyne's vow was delayed much longer, but the time was
now at length come for carrying it into effect.*
The sea king, with whom he now united his forces, was
a Norwegian, Anlaf or Olaf by name. They sailed up the
Thames with ninety-four ships, and appeared before London
on the festival of the Virgin Mary's nativity; they made a
fierce attack upon the city, and endeavoured to set it
994.
on fire; "but they suffered," says the Chronicle,†
"more harm and ill than they ever thought any towns-peo-
ple could have done them; for the holy Mother of God, in
her mild-heartedness, on that day considered those towns-
people, and they rid themselves of their enemies." But the
protection of the tutelary Queen of Angels was vouchsafed
only on her own day, and extended only to that place! No
* Snorre, Antiq. Celto-Scand. 76–78.
↑ Sax. Chron. 170.
من
THE DANES LAND AT WATCHET.
71
ther people imitated the brave example of the Londoners
The fleet turned back, indeed, from London; but it was only
to "wreak the greatest ill that any host could do," in burning,
and plundering, and slaughtering, not only on the Kent and
Essex shores, but in Sussex and in Hampshire; and then
they took horse, scoured the country far and wide, and com-
mitted "unspeakable damage," till the king, with the ad
vice of his base counsellors, sent to offer them tribute and
provision for the winter, and to ask with what sum they
would be satisfied. They consented to accept sixteen thou-
sand pounds in money; and going to Southampton, took up
their winter quarters there, and were fed by the people of
Wessex. As their force is computed not to have exceeded
10,000 men, it has been suspected that there was more of
treachery than of cowardice in the king's council, and that
some, who were of Danish blood, had already formed a de-
sign of transferring the throne to a Danish dynasty. The
fact, that the whole burden of supporting these invaders was
thrown upon a part of the country where the people were
purely English, instead of requiring that they should quarter
themselves among the Anglo-Danes, may seem to corrobo-
rate this suspicion.*
Disgraceful as this transaction was, it was the means of
converting an active enemy into a friend. Olaf had, proba-
bly, manifested a wish to be instructed in the Christian re-
ligion; for bishop Elfeah and the ealderman Ethelwerd,
were sent to accompany him from Southampton to Andover,
where Ethelred then held his court, leaving hostages in the
fleet for his safe return. He was then baptized, the king
being his sponsor, thus adopting him as his son, according
to the usage of that age; and he promised that he never again
would come to England but as a friend, which promise, the
Chronicle observes, he kept,f-an observation that shows
how little reliance was placed on the word of a Northman.
But the money which had been paid to_king Sweyne pur-
chased only a respite of two years. The Danes then entered
the Bristol channel, plundering the coast on both sides;
landed once more at Watchet, and wreaked their old hatred
there with fire and sword; then, turning back, and rounding
the Land's End, they coasted the south of Cornwall to the
mouth of the Tamar, ascended that river, spoiled Lydford,
* Sax. Chron. 170, 171.
Turner, ii. 467.
† Sax. Chron. 171. Acta Sanctorum, Jul. vii. 93. Camden, therefore, is
wrong in stating that "this league of friendship was soon broke, for so
great a respect and honour could not restrain that barbarous foreigner from
bis usual rapines," (p. 117.)
72
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
997. burnt the minister at Tavistock, and returned with
a rich booty to their ships. In the ensuing year they
998. entered Poole harbour, and stationing their fleet at
the mouth of the Frome, ravaged Dorsetshire. Forces were
often collected to oppose them, but whenever they were
about to join battle, some irresolution appeared, whether
arising from the apprehension of treachery in their leaders,
distrust of their courage or conduct, or that fear which a suc-
cession of defeats may bring even upon brave men; and the
invaders were always victorious. Another time they made
the Isle of Wight their quarters, and purveyed for them-
selves in Hampshire and Sussex. The seas, which since
England became a great maritime power, have secured it
against all foreign enemies, served in those unhappy ages,
only to expose it on all sides to predatory invasion; and the
invaders having now learnt to despise a divided people, a
feeble government, and a pusillanimous king, sailed up the
rivers at their will, and penetrated into the country whither-
soever they would.*
Next year they came again into the Thames, enter-
999.
ed the Medway, and defeated the men of Kent near
Rochester, because the English had not the support which
they ought to have had. Then, taking horse, they overran
that country. The king and his council determined to act
against them now by sea and land; ships were collected and
manned, but the chiefs were neither so ready nor so faithful as
the men: from day to day some reason for delay was found
in the irresolution, the discordant opinions, or the treachery
of Ethrelred's wretched counsellors; and when they acted,
the enemy always received such timely intelligence, that
they were never to be found where they were sought. Thus,
says the Saxon chronicler, these sea-armaments and land-ar-
maments served for nothing but to harass the people and waste
their means, and strengthen their enemies. The treason by
which all the efforts of the people in their own defence were
frustrated, is explained by the great intermixture which by
this time had taken place both with "the Danes and Britons,
who were like enemies to the English ;"t there being few,
it is said, either of the nobles or commons who were not, in
some degree, connected with them. This, however, though
highly dangerous, could never have produced such general
evil, unless the misrule and consequent anarchy had been so
great that men felt themselves discharged from all responsi-
bility to such a government, and regarded only their own in-
* Sax. Chron. 172. Turner, ii. 468, 469.
† Holinshed, i. 708.
TEIGNTON BURNT.
73
1000.
terest or their own safety. A year's interval recurred;
the Vikingr, as if to leave England fallow for that
season, having directed their course against Normandy, and
Sweyne being engaged in war with the king of Norway.
Ethelred employed this interim, not in preparing against the
certain renewal of their hostilities, but in wasting Cumber-
land with an army, and the Isle of Man with a fleet.* The
enemy returned in the ensuing year, landed at Hampshire,
and advanced to Æthelinga-dene, now Alton, ravaging 1001.
all before them. There they were encountered by such
a local force as could hastily be brought together. On the
part of its leaders there could have been no treachery; for
Ethelward and Leofwin, who were two of the king's high
gerefas, fell, and three other persons of such distinction that
their names were recorded. But the people must either have
been wanting in numbers or in heart; for after losing little
more than fourscore men, they left the Danes in possession
of the field, though the conquerors, it is affirmed, had suffer-
ed much greater loss. The conquerors proceeded westward
without opposition, and on the Devonshire coast they were
joined by another fleet of freebooters, collected by Pallig†
(probably some Vikingr,) on whom Ethelred had bestowed
domains and gold and silver, for the sake of securing his ser-
vices, but who, with piratical contempt of faith, broke all the
promises and oaths which he had made.‡
They now burnt Teignton, and more goodly towns than
the chronicler could name; till the inhabitants, finding they
were not spared, because they offered no resistance, made
peace with them: which means, that they compounded for
their own safety, without any reference to their inefficient
government. Another force had now been employed under
two of the king's gerefas, but this was defeated and put to
flight at Pinhoe. The victorious Danes turned eastward then,
and, quartering themselves in the Isle of Wight, compelled
the people of the adjacent country, by fire and sword, to make
terms with them. When the counties were thus treat-
ing for themselves, the king and his council might 1002.
* Mænige, Sax. Chron. 172. Mr. Ingram interprets this Anglesea, but I
believe it, with Mr. Turner, to have been the other Mona, as the much
more likely place. Cressy also so interprets it; "for that island was es,
teeined by the Danes a secure nest, whither on all occasions they might
safely retire and lay up their spoils.”—Ch. Hist, of Eng. p. 904. And here
Cressy, as usual, follows F. Alford. Annales Eccl. Anglicanæ,tom. iii. p. 426.
† Perhaps this is the person whom William of Malmesbury calls Palling,
whose wife Gunhilda, the sister of Sweyne, came with him to England, and
by embracing Christianity made herself a pledge of the Danish peace; and
with her husband and his son was murdered in the massacre.
↑ Sax. Chron. 173, 174.
VOL. I.
G
74
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
easily make themselves believe that it would be not less a
prudent than a popular measure once more to purchase peace
for the nation. The ealderman Leofsige was the negotiator
on this occasion; and the Danes consented, on condition of
receiving 24,000l., and being moreover supplied with provi-
sions, to desist from their ravages. That the Danes would
soon have repeated their visits, their devastations and their
exactions is what the experience of such transactions renders
certain; but they were prevented now by an act of greater
perfidy and more atrocious wickedness than they themselves,
wicked and perfidious as they were, had ever committed or
imagined; for, upon a pretext that they intended to kill him
and his council, and make themselves masters of the king-
dom, Ethelred issued secret orders for the well known and
never to be forgotten massacre of all the Danes in England.*
The Saxon chronicler, in whose time this massacre occur-
red,† seems to accredit the plea that it was a preventive mea-
sure; and if any inference might here be drawn from the
silence of one who so briefly recorded passing events, it would
appear that he felt no shame for the baseness, no indignation
at the cowardly inhumanity, no horror for the guilt of such
an expedient. Even if that plea were not, as must be sus-
pected, a mere pretext,—even if the Danish chiefs had form-
ed the intention which was imputed to them, it would afford
no excuse for such means of prevention. It may be hoped,
and indeed believed, that the accursed circumstances which
Danish historians have repeated, are only such exaggerations
as the event was likely to occasion; but it is certain that
women and children were not spared, the intent being to ex-
tirpate the Danes in England. More than any other event
in English history this must be deemed a national sin, be-
cause it was so widely carried into execution that the greater
part of the nation were not only consenting to it, but actually
engaged in it. It was a national sin of the blackest character,
and, as such, it was punished by national judgments, the
heaviest of their kind for the then existing generations; yet
so directed by that almighty and all-merciful Providence,
which, in its omniscience, ordereth all things for the best, as
to produce great and abiding good for future times. In little
more than the course of threescore years the people who had
contracted this guilt were twice brought under the dominion
of a foreign king; their princes were driven into exile; their
*Sax. Chron. 174-176.
+ So Mr. Ingram infers from the text, in which, only seven years later, the
present tense is used.
SWEYNE INVADES ENGLAND.
75
nobles slain in the field, or put to death as subjects who had
rebelled against their liege lord; their churches were filled
with foreign prelates and monks; their land was divided
among the conquerors; their laws were enacted and admi-
nistered in a foreign tongue; and their very language was
disused, not in their laws alone, but in their religious cere-
monies, till, long after, it had, in process of time, melted into
a composite speech with that of their Norman masters.
The folly of this atrocious measure was as enormous as
its wickedness. For, if it had been carried into effect with
the most remorseless resolution, so large a part of the popu-
lation was at that time Danish, that, even in England, the
Danes must have been weakened in a much less degree than
they were exasperated; and their countrymen were a formi-
dable nation, masters of the sea, and with an able and active
sovereign at their head. Wherever the people ventured to
obey the execrable orders of their government, they seem
not to have shrunk from the crimes which were required at
their hands; but as no struggle is recorded, it must be in-
ferred that no attack was made in any part of the country
where resistance was to be expected. Sweyne was
1003.
soon upon the coast, thirsting now more for vengeance
than ever before for booty. His sister, Gunhilda, had been
put to death, with her husband and son, in the presence and
by command of Edric Streone, who has left the most infa-
mous name in Anglo-Saxon history. Brotherly feeling may
have had little influence upon one who had shown no sense of
filial duty; but no additional excitement was needed, or
could indeed be felt, incensed as he and his people justly
were to the highest degree. The first year he ravaged De-
vonshire, Dorsetshire, and Wiltshire without resistance; the
next he came with his ships to Norwich, and burnt
the town. Ulfkytel, who commanded in East Anglia,
agreed with the other chiefs, that seeing the enemy had come
upon them unawares, before he had had time to gather his
forces, it was better to purchase peace with them before they
did too much harm in the land. The Danes would now have
deserved more reproach for seriously listening to such a pro-
posal, than for entertaining it only with the view of taking
vengeance the more securely. While they amused him, as
they thought, with negotiating upon the terms, they made a
secret march upon Thetford; but he, too, was on the alert,
gathered his forces as secretly as he could, and sent orders
to destroy their ships. That attempt failed; for they had
not left them unprotected. Having plundered and burnt
Thetford (then a populons and famous place, but which has
1004.
76
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
never recovered its former prosperity,) after a night employ-
ed in havoc, the Danes set out in the morning to return to
their fleet. Ulfkytel intercepted them; and so brave a bat-
tle ensued, that, if his whole force had been collected, the
enemy would never have effected their retreat. They con-
fessed that they never had met with "worse hand-play” in
England than what Ulfkytel then brought them. But their
numbers gave them the victory, and many of his veteran
East Anglians fell.*
The next season brought with it a severe famine,
1005. which seems for that year to have rid the country of
the Danes. On the following they returned to pro-
1006. secute their just vengeance, landed at Sandwich, and
spoiled, burned, and slaughtered wherever they went. The
whole population of Wessex and Mercia were ordered out
to oppose them, and even lay under arms during the harvest:
but it is said that this availed as little as it had often done
before; that the enemy went whither they would; and that
the people suffered more from being kept in the field than
they would have done in battle. After Martinmas, the Danes
returned to their quarters in the Isle of Wight, providing
themselves by plunder: in winter they went into Berkshire,
as to their ready farm, says the chronicler; lighting, accord-
ing to custom, their camp beacons as they went; that is to
say, marking their way by flames. A force was brought
against them at Kennet, and defeated there; and they turned
back to their quarters with their booty. "Then might the
people of Winchester see them passing their gates, and
fetching their food and plunder over an extent of fifty miles
from the sea coast." Ethelred, who seems to have taken
shelter in the centre of the kingdom, as if the safest place
were that which was farthest from the sea, once more took
council with advisers who were as base as himself, and once
more they concluded that their only resource was once more
to offer tribute. The Danes accepted 36,000l., and the Eng-
lish were again compelled to feed them."+
That money purchased two years' respite. During the
first the government could exact nothing more from its
exhausted subjects: in the second, it called upon them to
build and present a ship from every 310 hides of land, and
from every eight hides to furnish a helmet and breast-plate.
* Sax. Chron. 176-178.
↑ Sax. Chron. 181. Turner, ii. 477. The printed Chronicle says, 30,000Z.
Manuscripts and most ancient authorities make it 36,000l. The smaller
sum, according to Mr. Palgrave (Hist. of England, i. 291.) was the worth of
720,000 acres of land.
ཟེ་
SHIP-MONEY.
gry
This is the remotest precedent that has been discovered for
the tax of ship-money: according to the best calculation, it
would have produced nearly 800 ships, and have armed more
than 30,000 men. In the third year they were ready; and
"the book tells us that never before were so many 1009.
ships gathered together in England in any king's
99
days. All were brought round to Sandwich, "that they
might lie there, and defend the land against any out-force."
If such were indeed the arrangement, and this whole formi-
dable fleet was collected at one point, instead of being sta-
tioned in different parts for the defence of a coast which was
every where attacked, the writers of that age might well
complain of treason in the king's councils. But, before
Sweyne could profit by this disposition, the naval prepara-
tions of the English had ended in bringing upon themselves
more confusion, loss, consternation, and disgrace. There
was a feud at this time between two chiefs, Brihtric, bro-
ther of the notorious traitor Edric, and Child Wulfnoth,
father of the not less notorious earl Godwin. The former
preferred an accusation against the latter; and Wulfnoth,
though he is said to have been unjustly accused, justified the
accusation by his conduct; for he deserted with twenty
ships, commenced pirate, plundered the south coast, and
though it was his own country, wrought every kind of mis-
chief there. Brihtric was despatched against him with
eighty sail, thinking to take him alive or dead. The fleet
was driven ashore by a tremendous storm; and Wulfnoth
soon came and burnt it, where it lay stranded. When this
news came to the king, he and his ealdermen and nobles are
said to have regarded all as lost, and to have forsaken the
remainder of the ships, which were then brought back to
London, and all thought of naval defence was abandoned.*
Thus lightly, says the chronicler, did they let the labour of
all the people go to waste!
Presently, as if they had waited only for this dispersion,
the Danes came to Sandwich. Thurkill was the commander
of this army, and it was known by his name. They would
have stormed Canterbury, if the people of East Kent had
not purchased a respite for 3000.; then they made for the
Isle of Wight, and from their old head-quarters ravaged
Hampshire, Berkshire, and Sussex. The whole country
was called upon to arm and act against them on all sides;
*Sax. Chron. 182. It may fairly be inferred from hence, that the assess-
ment had not produced the calculated number of ships; but that the 100
sail which were lost by desertion and by this destruction were a very con-
siderable part of the armament.
G 2
78
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
yet nowhere did they meet with any effectual resistance.
Once, when the king might, with a good force, have inter-
cepted them when laden with booty, the traitor Edric frus-
trated his purpose. At the fall of the leaf they stationed
themselves for the winter upon the Thames, and they often
attacked London; but the annalist, who perhaps had his
dwelling there, exclaims, "Glory be to God, that it yet
standeth firm, and they always meet with evil fare there!"
They crossed the Chiltern hills during the winter, burnt
Oxford, and plundered on both sides of the river downward
from thence to Staines. Then avoiding the force which the
Londoners had gathered against them, they continued their
destructive movement till the spring, when they
1010. returned into Kent, and there repaired their ships.
They sailed next for the eastern coast, entered the Orwell,
and, landing at Ipswich, went in search of Ulfkytel, to
revenge themselves for the victory over him, which had
cost them so dear. In this battle they had their revenge;
for the East Anglians soon fled; and though the men of
Cambridge stood firm, many good thanes and a multi-
tude of the people fell, and the invaders remained masters
of the field and of the country. They soon mounted them-
selves, so as to have East Anglia at their will; entered the
fens, slaying men and cattle, and burnt Thetford and Cam-
bridge. One part went southward, then toward the Thames ;
the others to their fleet. They are spoken of next as enter-
ing Oxfordshire, then Buckinghamshire, and so along the
Ouse to Bedford and Temisford, where at the confluence of
the Irwell and the Ouse, the vestiges of a camp* and the
remains of a castle long continued to mark their winter-
quarters. Meantime, whether imbecility, or cowardice, or
treachery prevailed in Ethelred's council, the effect was the
same: his levies were either disbanded at the time when
their services were most needed, or they were in the west
when the enemy was in the east, and when the enemy was
in the south they were in the north. All the king's coun-
sellors were summoned to advise how the country might be
defended; but no plan was persisted in longer than for a few
months, and at length, the annalist says, there was not a
chief who would collect a force; each fled as he could, and
no shire would stand by another.†
Under such circumstances, Ethelred and his Witan
1011. might easily persuade themselves that their only re-
source was to purchase another interval of rest, and that
* Camden, 288.
† Sax. Chron. 183–186.
CANTERBURY STORMED.
79
*
composition might be made upon better terms by the govern-
ment, than by each part of the kingdom compounding for
itself. At this time sixteen counties had been overrun.
"All these misfortunes," says the chronicler, "fell upon us
through ill counsel;" that they would neither offer tribute
in time, nor fight in time; but when most mischief had been
done, then they made terms with the enemy. And notwith-
standing these terms, and the promised peace and amity for
which the tribute was paid, the Danes went every where in
troops, plundering, and spoiling, and slaughtering our mise-
rable people.' Hitherto, the Danes had generally kept such
treaties faithfully;t and this was said to be their only vir-
tue; occasional infractions being rather imputed to indepen-
dent freebooters than to the nation. But they did not now
give the miserable English the measures of peace which
had been bargained and paid for: and with what decency
could a government that had plotted the massacre of the
Danes, and a people who had perpetrated it, complain of bad
faith? At this time they are said to have been instigated by
the traitor Edric. His brother (probably that Brihtric under
whose command the eighty ships were lost) had accused the
nobles of Kent before the king, and entered forcibly upon
their possessions. They, in return, surrounded him in one
of his houses, and set fire to the house; and he either pe-
rished in the flames, or was killed as he attempted to escape
from them. The manners of the nation, indeed, were such
as to deserve the evils which were brought upon them. In
revenge for his brother, Edric, who had always been in
secret communication with the Danes, is now charged with
proposing to them that they should drive Ethelred from the
throne, take the whole north of England for their own, and
leave him, as their friend and ally, in possession of the rest.
This agreement having been made, he urged them, for his
own purposes of vengeance, to begin with Canterbury.+
The citizens made a brave defence, being animated by the
presence and the exhortations of their Archbishop, Ælfeah, or
Elphege. They held out twenty days, till their provisions
were consumed; and then the prelate, who was eminent for
the holiness of his life, sent to the Danish chief, not to pro-
pose terms of surrender, but to entreat that he would spare
* "Deus bone!" says Father Alfred, "quot uno anno loca vastaverunt.
Ego certè si singula percurro manumquè ac pedem fatigabo."
t
"Hoc solum inerat boni promissam fidem nolle mentiri; et hoc in-
terdum."—Osbern, Vita S. Elphegi. Acta SS. April. t. ii. p. 636.
Osbern, ut supra, 637.
80
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
*
the innocent,* and take heed how he abused that power with
which, for the sins of his people, God had armed the Danes.
There seems reason to think that Thurkill was disposed to
grant the mercy that was thus supplicated; but he had little
authority in such things over his men, and still less over the
English, who formed part of his army, and who were
either the retainers of Edric, eager to avenge his quarrel, or
Anglo-Danes in whom the remembrance of the massacre
was burning. They began to storm the city; and, throwing
firebrands from the mounds and towers which they had con-
structed, set some of the dwellings on fire. A strong south
wind spread the conflagration; and at this crisis, when the
citizens were confounded, not knowing whether to abandon
the walls to the assailants, or their houses to the flames,
Elfmar, the archdeacon, whose life had been spared for
some former crime by Elphege, is charged with having
treacherously admitted the enemy:-if he did so, it was a
sin of supererogation; for the place at that moment was at
their mercy.
Unutterable cruelties were then committed
upon the inhabitants; and when rapine and cruelty were
satiated, it is affirmed that military execution followed, and
that the survivors were decimated,-not in the manner which
that word usually implies, but nine of every ten being put
to death, and only the tenth spared. Four of the clergy and
eight hundred of the people are said to have been all that
were left alive.
Canterbury having been thus laid waste, they carried
Elphege on board their fleet, expecting to exact a large ran-
som for him; and then sailed for Greenwich. The old sys-
tem of negotiation had been once more renewed, and the
sum of 48,000l. agreed upon as the tribute. Edric, and all
the elders of Witan, clergy or laymen, came to Lon-
1012.
don to see to the collection and the payment. Mean-
time Elphege attempted to escape by night. One monkish
biographer, who, like all such biographers, is never at a loss
for a miracle, says, that the Devil appeared to him in his pri-
son, but in the form of an angel of light; and, saying that
he was sent to deliver him, as St. Peter and St. Paul had
been delivered, led him into the midst of the marshes, then
vanished, and left him there in the darkness; that the arch-
* "Ut ab incepto desistat," Osbern says, and Capgrave and Alford follow
him. But Cressy drops this, as I have done, believing that the archbishop
would not have made so absurd a request.
"Nam illi ad impietatem procliviores extiterant."-Osbern, 638.
The Saxon Chronicle accuses bim. Osbern's silence does not invali-
date the charge, because he would be as ready to suppress any fact to the
discredit of his brethren, as to invent or propagate miracles in their honour.
ST. ELPHEGE.
81
bishop, perceiving then how he had been deceived, prayed
to our Lord, when an angel was sent to guide him back to
prison, and comfort him by the promise that on the morrow
he should be rewarded with a crown of glory for all his suf-
ferings; that, as he was about to re-enter his prison,* the
guards saw, caught him, and beat him cruelly before they
thrust him in; and that during the night, a celestial splendour
illumined the place, and he was refreshed with heavenly
odours, and many saints appeared to him singing hymns of
thanksgiving and of joy, among whom he recognised St.
Dunstan, who told him they were come to let him see the
blessed society which he should partake through all eternity,
if he would persevere only one day more in suffering pa-
tiently whatever God might for His glory permit his perse-
cutors to inflict upon him. On the morrow he was brought
before the Danish chiefs when they were assembled at a
66
* These fictions serve to confirm the account given by Ditmarus Merse-
pergius, who lived about that time, and whose informant, Sewald, had
probably been an eye-witness to the archbishop's death. Elphege," he
says, "having been tormneted in various ways to extort a ransom, pro-
mised at length a certain sum by a certain day; yielding, the writer says,
to human frailty, and thinking that if there should be none who would
raise the money for his deliverance, he should at least have time in the in-
terval to prepare for death. The day came; and when he was called upon
to fulfil his engagement, he presented himself, like a lamb for the slaughter,
saying, 'As to iny seeming a liar to you, it was not my own will, but ex-
tremity that made me so. The body, which I have loved but too well, I sur-
render to you as guilty: it is in your power to do with it what you please;
but my sinful soul, over which you have no power, I humbly commend to
the mercy of its Creator."" Sewald adds, that Thurkill endeavoured in vain
to save him, and offered his comrades all his own spoil, and every thing,
except his ship, which he possessed, if they would spare the archbishop's
life. Camden, 188.
This, which father Alford (t. iii. p. 461.) takes great pains to disprove, is no
doubt the truth. Elphege hoped that his ransom would make a part of the
treaty, or that it would be raised by his clergy; and waiting till the last
day in that hope, attempted then to make his escape, lost his way in the
marshes, and was brought back to prison. The miracles were invented less
for the purpose of excusing his flight, than of excusing the monks for not
raising his ransom; and it was the more necessary to devise some apo-
logy for them, inasmuch as the monkish writers censured the king for suf-
fering him to lie in prison, without affording him any help or assistance
They asserted, therefore, that the Danes demanded sixty talents of silver,
each of fifty pounds weight, for his own ransom, and required him to pledge
himself that the king should pay two hundred such talents as the price of
peace. Elphege, they say, replied, that this was neither possible, nor rea
sonable if it had been possible: not possible, because the land had been
ravaged and laid waste; "not reasonable that he should advise the king to
any thing,
“contra patriæ decus," against the honour of his country; nor
that he should consent to have the church despoiled of its possessions for
his own sake, propterea quod Christiani hominis non sit Christianorum
carnes paganis dentibus conterendas dare." In this, they say, he proposed
to himself to follow the example of St. Lawrence; and, as he suffered death
in consequence, he was for this declared to be a martyr, and canonized ac-
cordingly. (Osbern, 638.) “Pro justiesimâ causâ mortuus Elphegus sanctus
ét martyr appellatus."-Alford, iii. 461.
"
82
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
drunken feast, a cargo of wine having just been brought them
from the south.* They demanded the sum which they had
fixed for his ransom; and as he had it not to produce, and
could make no promise that it should be paid, they threw
their battle-axes at him, then the heads and bones of the
oxen which had been slaughtered for the feast, and then
stoned him, till some one whom he had formerly confirmed,
cleft his head in compassion with an axe.†
There are falsehoods which so truly characterize the man-
ners and the spirit of different ages, that they ought not to
be rejected from the history in which they occur.
It is re-
lated, that when the Danish chiefs, to whose drunken fury
Elphege had fallen a victim, ordered his body to be cast into
the river, the great multitude of their soldiers, whom he had
converted to the faith, refused to permit this; and, though
they had made no attempt to save him, took arms to prevent
such an indignity from being offered to his remains. A
council, however, was held by common consent, in which it
was agreed that trial should be made whether or not Elphege
had been a holy man; which, if he were proved to be, his
body was to be at the disposal of those who believed in him,
and they might inter it with what honour they would. The
proof was to be made by smearing an oar with his blood,
and planting it in the ground that night: if on the morrow
it remained barked and sapless, as they now beheld it, his
converts were to acknowledge themselves convinced of error;
but if, on the contrary, it should put forth leaves, the pagan
chiefs should then confess their fault. At daylight, accord-
ingly, the oar was found to have assumed the appearance of
a flourishing young ash. The body was then borne to the
tomb upon the shoulders of its humiliated and penitent mur-
derers, and innumerable miracles were immediately perform-
ed by it: there was a present cure for the lame, the blind,
the deaf, the dumb, the diseased; and all who refused still
to be converted were cut off by some speedy and dreadful
death. With such inventions, the monks adorned, as they
thought, the disgraceful fact, that the primate of England,
having been made prisoner in his own city, had been carried
by his captors to Greenwich, detained there in rigorous
* Sax. Chron. 183.
† Osbern, 638-640. Alford, iii 460. Cressy, book xxxiii. c. 27. Sax.
Chron. 188, 189. "Eo sceleratiùs factum," says the jesuit F. Alford, “quia
Swanus Danorum rex et primi inter eos Christiani fuerunt; quos oportuit
non Calvinistarum more, sanctos viros et infulà dignissimos, sed Christia-
no u more tractare." Probably he was thinking of Land's iniquitous fate
when be wrote this sentence.
Į Osbern, 640.
▼
PUBLIC HUMILIATION.
83
durance for seven months, while the great council of the
realm was sitting at London, and put to death, because there
was none to ransom him; and this not forty years after Ed-
gar had commanded the four seas!
*
Whatever may have been the reasons which withheld the
witan, or the clergy, from ransoming Elphege when his life
might have been saved, his body, after he had thus suffered,
was thought to be worth any price, and large offers were
immediately made for it. Having obtained it, the London-
ers conveyed it, with triumphant joy, to St. Paul's, and
there deposited it as a treasure. The whole of the tribute,
or Danegelt, by which name the humiliating impulse was
called, seems at this time to have been paid. The Danes
swore to keep the peace which had been purchased, and
then their force dispersed as widely as it had before been
collected. Thurkill, with five and forty ships, entered into
Ethelred's service,† and engaged to defend the land, on con-
dition that they should be fed and clothed. But the king-
dom was in a miserable state of exhaustion; and when the
wretched king assembled his witan once more, at a place
called Haba, they found themselves so helpless, so destitute
of all human resources, that almost the only business which
they performed was to order that an extraordinary fast should
be kept for the three days before St. Michael's day, on bread,
raw herbs, and water, on which days the poor were to be
provided with a meal by the more fortunate classes, but with-
out meat; that in every parish on these days processions
should be made barefoot; that every one should confess and
perform penance, every priest say thirty masses, and every in-
ferior clerk and monk thirty psalms for the king and the king-
dom, and that in every church the mass contra paganos should
be sung daily. Every servant was to be exempt from work
on these days, that he might the better perform the religious
duties which were required; but on his own account he was
at liberty to employ himself as he chose. Any one of the
servile class who should break this fast was to be punished
in person, as he could not in purse ; a poor freeman was to
be mulcted thirty pence for the same transgression; a king's
* "Sive gratiâ seu pretio," says Osbern; for to have admitted that the
Danes sold it, after such proof of his sanctity, would have thrown some
discredit upon the miraculous part of his story.
† Cressy (p. 920.) supposes this to have been a defensive treaty with the
Danes; whereas it appears to have been with an adventurer who made war
on his own account, and was ready at any time to engage on the side which
offered him most advantage. The view which Cressy takes is supported by
Pontanus (p. 143.) Mr. Pulgrave understands it as I have done
"Corio suo componat."
84
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
;
thane 120 shillings; and these fines were to be divided
among the poor. Robbery, selling men into foreign slavery,
and the abuse of justice for hatred, for favour, or for the lucre
of gain, were denounced as crying sins; and the people were
exhorted to serve God and obey the king, as their ancestors
had done, that so they might better defend the kingdom.* "All
these humiliations," says a church historian, †"being extort- .
ed by fear, did not produce that effect which otherwise they
would have done.” That they could not but fail might have
been expected, because they were performed in fear, as well
as extorted by it. Against the natural visitations which God
in the course of his providence, appoints, there is no other re-
source, no other refuge, than to Himself, in earnest and con-
tinued supplication; but when a people call upon Heaven to
aid them against their enemies, they must put up their pray-
ers in hope, and help themselves, if they would be holpen.
If Sweyne desired any other plea than his own will and
pleasure for renewing hostilities, he may have found it in
the king of England's engagement with Thurkill, who was
a Danish subject. The Danish party was in itself strong,
and was at this time increased by that numerous class of
persons who are always ready to forsake the loosing side.
While his own people urged Sweyne to invade England,
for the purpose of punishing Thurkill ‡ as a traitor who had
revolted from his allegiance, the Anglo-Danes, and those
who now made common cause with them, invited him to the
easy conquest of a fertile land; where the king, having aban-
doned himself to women and wine, was hated by his subjects,
and despised by other nations; where the chiefs were jealous
of each other, and the people prepared for defeat by their weak-
ness, their distrust, and their fears.§ Little persuasion was
needed by one whose power was commensurate with his am-
bition. He assembled a great fleet, and set sail, with a
display of splendour, as if his object had been rather
to take possession of a kingdom than to conquer one, so gaily
were his vessels adorned, and their prows crested with lions,
1013.
* Alford, iii. 464., where the laws are given from Spelman. Cressy, 920.
† Cressy. "Et sanè strictissima jejuniorum qualitas quæ in pane et aquâ
præcipitur, processis, nudis pedibus, orationum et eleëmosynarum frequen-
tia satis arguunt Anglorum res deploratas fuisse et pejora timeri."-Alford,
iii. 465.
Palgrave, 299.
§ William of Malmesbury, 213. He represents this advice as coming from
Thurkill; but in this the subsequent conduct of that chief proves that he
was mistaken; and, indeed, there is a confusion of time and circumstances
in this part of his history.
|| Palgrave, 299.
THE DANES REPELLED FROM LONDON.
85
eagles, dolphins, and dragons, emblematic alike of their
swiftness and their strength. First, he made for Sandwich;
but, making little tarriance there, as if the information which
he had there obtained induced him to change the scene of
his operations, he sailed for the mouth of the Humber, and,
entering the Trent, landed at Gainsborough.* The whole
country north of the Humber submitted to him, with its earl
Uhtred. This example was followed by the people of Lind-
sey, next by the Fifburhingam, or Fiveburgings, as the as-
sociated Danish inhabitants of Leicester, Lincoln, Notting-
ham, Stamford, and Derby were called,† and then by all the
military force north of Watling Street, every shire giving
him hostages. These hostages and the fleet he left in charge
with his son Canute; and having obtained provisions and
horses from his new subjects, he mounted his main force,
crossed Watling Street, and, in the words of the chronicle,
they wrought the greatest evil that any army could do.‡
Oxford and Winchester submitted with little or no resistance.
He carried away hostages from both cities, and then bent
his course towards London, proceeding with such eager
speed, that many of his people were lost in crossing the
Thames, because they would not make a circuit to reach a
bridge, nor patiently explore the places where the river
might be safely forded. By this rapidity he expected to get
possession of London; but Ethelred was there, and, un-
worthy as he was, the Londoners nobly thought, that, if
they deserted their king, who had thus committed himself
to their fidelity, they should commit a sin which ought never
to be forgiven. Thurkill also, who proved faithful to his
engagement, was with him, and the auxiliary fleet was in
the river. The invader employed artifice and force alike in
vain: the citizens rejected his overtures and repelled his as-
saults; and, if the same courage and the same loyalty had
been found in other parts of the kingdom, England would
not have been subdued by the Danes.
***So famous," says Camden (472.,) “for being the harbour of the Danish
ships."
† Gibson, note to Camden, 865. York and Chester afterwards joined the
association, and they were then called the Sevenburgings. Alford, speaking
of those who submitted to the Danish conqueror at this time, calls them
Populus servitutis impatiens, ideo ad nova imperia promptus, quia omne
imperium fugiebat,” iii. 465. But the motive for their submission is to be
found in their blood, rather than in their impatience of government.
66
↑ "Oppressi cives, trucidati coloni, vastati agri, exustæ domus, luci et
pomeria succisa, spoliatæ ecclesiæ, nec parcitum imbelli sexui, sed obvium
quodcunque aut jugulatum aut reservatum libidini.”—Pontanus, 143.
§ William of Malmesbury, 214.
Sax. Chron. 180, 181. Alford, iii. 465, 466. Pontanus, 143.
VOL. I.
H
86
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
But this brave example was lost upon the nation. Sweyne
marched into the west after his repulse, and halted with his
army at Bath, whither Ethelmar, the ealdermam, and all the
western thanes, came to make their submission, and give
hostages. He then returned northward to his ships, the
people, whithersoever he went, now acknowledging him as
king. The Londoners, themselves, finding that they were
unsupported, persisted no longer in their resistance. He had
threatened, if he took the city, to pluck out their eyes, and
lop off their hands and feet: they knew that this threat was
made with the intention of fulfilling it; and they now sub-
mitted in despair, satisfied in having so done their duty, that
they were the last to yield. This it is affirmed they would
not have done, if the king had not withdrawn from them,
either in cowardice or in distrust; for, says the monkish his-
torian, "they were men deserving of all praise, whom Mars
himself would not have disdained to encounter, if they had
had a worthy leader. Even with only the shadow of one to
support them, they braved all dangers of battle, and with-
stood a siege of several months." But Ethelred, who took
refuge first in Thurkill's fleet, with his family, and afterwards
in the Isle of Wight, accused his chiefs and his people, and
took no shame to himself. He represented to those abbots
and bishops who still adhered to him in his adversity, that,
through the treachery of those in whom he had confided, he
was now, to the disgrace of the English, who had deserted
him, an outcast and a fugitive and they who had thus
faithfully followed his fortunes were now in such straits,
that many of them wanted clothing, and all found it difficult
to procure food. The country was completely subdued, the
coast closely watched; and perhaps at this time there was
more danger from their countrymen, he said, than from their
enemies. Nothing remained but a doubtful hope that the
duke of Normandy might take them under his protection.
This he would ascertain, by sending over the queen and her
children. If the duke, her brother, received them as per-
sons who were so near to him in blood, that kindness would
be a pledge of his own security; otherwise he should not
want resolution to die where he was, with honour, rather
than to live with ignominy any where! The queen's recep-
tion was such as he desired; and having waited some
months in the Isle of Wight, without perceiving any fa
vourable change in the state of affairs, Ethelred followed
them himself, leaving Sweyne king of England in full pos-
session, but by the yet insecure right of conquest.*
*Sax. Chron. 191. William of Malmesbury, 214–216:
ETHELRED RETURNS TO ENGLAND.
87
He held it but a few weeks after the dethroned king 1014.
had retired to Normandy.* The fleet immediately
obeyed his son Canute as his successor; but the witan
assembled, and advised that Ethelred should be invited back;
for no lord, they said, could be dearer to them than their
natural one, if he would govern them better than he had
done before. Gladly did Ethelred receive such an invita-
tion; and he sent over his son Edmund the Atheling, with
the messenger, who had orders to salute all his people,
saying that he would be their good lord, would amend all
those things of which they all complained, and would for-
give all that had been said or done against him, provided
they submitted to him with sincerity. Then, says the chro-
nicle, was full friendship established, in word, and in deed,
and in compact, on either side. "In this remarkable tran-
sanction," says Mr. Palgrave,t "we may discern the germ
of Magna Charta, and of all the subsequent compacts be-
tween the king and people of England." "Every Danish king,
it was now declared, was to be held for ever as an outlaw
in England; a declaration which shows with how deep a
* His opportune death was ascribed to the vengeance of king St. Edmund,
upon whose abbey he had imposed a grievous tribute. There was a monk
of that abbey, Egelwin by name, who, according to the legend, was called
St. Edmund's privy chamberlain, and not undeservedly; for he used, at
certain times, to open the saint's sepulchre, wash him, and comb his hair,
taking for his reward such hairs as came off in combing, which he pre-
served as relics. At such times he used in his affectionate devotion, to
speak to him in a familiar manner, as if to a living person; and "which
was wonderful," the dead saint sometimes answered him. Egelwin very
naturally complained to him of the oppressions under which the nation
groaned, and more especially of the tax which was levied upon his church,
and the insolent terms in which Sweyne had defied the saint himself. Upon
this St. Edmund appeared to him in a dream, and bade him in his name
go to king Sweyne, and admonish him to desist from oppressing his people,
if he would avoid the divine vengeance which was impending over him.
As might be supposed, the messenger was disregarded, and thought himself
fortunate to escape with life. But whether St. Edmund, in a vision on the
following night, struck the Danish king on the head, of which blow he
died the following day, or whether he approached him in armour in the
midst of his army, and with a spear inflicted upon him an invisible but
mortal wound, is diversely reported. All the various relations are given
by father Alford (iii. 467, 468). Cressy contents himself with Capgrave's
story (922). Baron Holberg supposes that some good English patriot acted
the part of the saint, and delivered his country from a great tyrant (i. 100).
But the Saxon Chronicle simply records his death; this silence sufficiently
shows that he died in course of nature, and that the circumstances (in
imitation of the legend of St. Marcial, who has the credit of having killed
Julian) were after inventions, for the honour of St. Edmnnnd and the
profit of his monastery.
Turner, Hist. of the Anglo-Saxons, 303. "With the full acknowledg-
ment of hereditary right, the nation stipulated that the king should not
abuse his power. They imposed terms upon Ethelred; they vindicated
their national liberty, at the same time that they respected the sanctity of
the crown."
88
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
hatred the Danes were regarded. Ethelred then returned
from the continent, and was received with that joy which
always accompanies a restoration. He lost no time in send-
ing agents to all parts where mercenaries could be engaged;
and great numbers flocked to him accordingly. Among
them came a certain king Olaf (perhaps the same who had
been baptized in this country): he brought with him a
strong fleet; and with the aid of these Scandinavian ships,
the king of England resolved upon attempting to retake
London from the Danes.
The fleet was of little use, unless it could pass the bridge.
But this, which was of wood, wide enough for the commo-
dious passage of two carriages, and supported upon trestles,
had been strongly fortified with towers, and a parapet breast
high; and at its south end it was defended by a military
work, placed on what the Icelandic historian calls the great
emporium of Southwark. This fortress was of great strength,
built of wood and stone, with a deep and wide ditch, and
ramparts of earth. A first attack upon the bridge failed; for
the Danes had manned it well, and defended it bravely.
Grieved at his repulse, Ethelred held a council of war, to
deliberate in what manner they might hope to destroy the
bridge and Olaf undertook to make the attempt with some
of his ships, if the other leaders would join in the assault.
Causing, therefore, some deserted houses to be pulled down,
he employed the beams and planks in constructing projec-
tions from the sides of the ships, under cover of which, when
they were laid alongside the bridge, the assault might be
made; a contrivance intended to serve the same purpose as
those machines which, under the names of "cats" and
sows, were used in sieges. He expected that the roof-
ing would be strong enough to resist the weight of any
stones which might be thrown upon it; but in this expecta-
tion he had calculated too much upon the solidity of his
materials, and too little upon the exertions and activity of
the defendants; and when, with the advantage of the flow-
ing tide, the ships had taken their station, stones of such
magnitude were let fall upon them, that the cover was beaten
in: shields and helmets afforded no protection; the ships
themselves were shaken and greatly injured, and many of
them sheered off. Olaf, however, persisted in his enter-
prise. Under cover of such a bulwark, he succeeded in
fastening some strong cables or chains to the trestles which
supported the bridge; and, when the tide had turned, his
rowers, aided by the returning stream, tore away the middle
of it, many of the enemy being precipitated into the river.
""
ETHELRED AND CANUTE.
89
The others fled into the city, or into Southwark; and the
Thames was thus opened to the fleet. The south work was
then attacked and carried; and the Danes were no longer
able to prevent the Londoners from opening their gates, and
joyfully receiving their king.*
Ethelred then moved against Canute, who, since his fa-
ther's death, had remained with his fleet at Gainsborough,
and had just now agreed with the people of Lindsey that
they should supply him with horses, and make a joint expe-
dition with him for the sake of plunder. But so little did
Ethelred deserve the reproach of unreadiness at this time,
that he arrived in Lindsey with his army before they were
in the field; and Canute, unable to protect his Anglo-Danish
subjects, took to his ships, and sailed out of the Humber,
leaving them to his mercy. Little did they find at Ethel-
red's hands. He "plundered, and burnt, and slew all the
men he could take;" while Canute, with equal inhumanity,
making for Sandwich, landed the hostages there who had
been given to his father, cut off their ears and noses and
hands, and then repaired to Denmark; either deeming it
necessary to secure his succession in his native country, or
because he found that a stronger spirit† had manifested it-
self against him in England than he was able at that time to
contend with. For a little while the English were delivered
from their foreign enemies; but money was now to be raised
for the payment of their foreign friends; and when 21,000.
were levied for that purpose, they felt more aggrieved by
the impost, than grateful for services which had been bravely
*I owe my first knowledge of this interesting fact in English and naval
history to Mr. Rickman's Statement of Progress under the Population
Act of 1830, where the Latin translation of Snorre's narrative is given in a
note (16, 17). The original Icelandic may be found in Johnstone's Anti-
quitates Celto-Scandicæ, 89, 90. This is the earliest mention of a bridge
over the Thames at London.
† According to the Danish historian Hvitfeld, he suffered a great defeat,
and was driven out of England (Holberg, i. 125.) There is no intimation
of this in our writers, by whom it was not likely to have been overlooked;
but Snorre mentions a great victory gained by Ethelred, with Olaf's assist-
ance, in the spring, after the recovery of London, in the lands of Ulfkell,
which he calls Hringmaraheide. Antiq. Celto-Scand. 93.
† Mr. Palgrave (p. 303.) thinks this sum was paid to the Danes who “con-
tinued in undiminished strength and hostility." I never differ from Mr.
Palgrave upon a point of history without some distrust of myself; but in
this instance Greenwich is mentioned as a place where the army, to
which the payment was made, was stationed; and it is there that Olaf and
his people might be expected to be found. Part of the money may, indeed,
probably have been paid to Thurkill, who, “choosing rather to remain in a
region replenished with all riches, than to return home to his own country
that wanted such commodities as were here to be had, compounded with
the English, and was retained by king Ethelred with forty ships, and the
flower of all the Danes that were men of war.”—Holinshed, i. 718.
H 2
90
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
}
as well as faithfully performed. The miseries of the people
were increased by a great sea-flood, on the eve of St. Mi-
chael's day, such as had never been heard of before; many
towns were destroyed, and innumerable lives. Early
1015.
in the ensuing year the witan was held at Oxford, and
marked by an act of characteristic treachery on the part of
Edric Streone, a man as conspicuous in those miserable
times for the skill with which he conducted his political in-
trigues as for his crimes. Sigforth and Morcar, who were
Anglo-Danes, and chiefs of the seven burghs, were inveigled
by him to a feast; and when they had been made so drunk
as to be incapable of defending themselves, they were killed
by his people: their retainers took refuge in the tower of
St. Frideswide's, now Christchurch cathedral; but against
this miscreant no sanctuary was secure: it was set on fire
by his orders, and they perished in the flames. Whether
Ethelred consented to these murders before or after the per-
petration, matters little to his guilt in the transaction, or to
his general character. If he did not order or authorise the
crime, he endeavoured to profit by it, and sent to seize their
possessions, and to secure the widow of Sigferth,-a lady
famed for her rank and beauty, and who might perhaps, soon
have found a second husband, able and willing to have
taken vengeance for the one of whom she had thus villanously
been bereaved. She was carried prisoner to Malmesbury.
Edmund the Atheling went secretly to see her there, and the
interview led to a marriage, which was kept secret from the
king: for Ethelred is said to have been regarded with as
little respect by his own family as by foreigners.*
The Danes at this time, as well as the English, had mer-
cenaries in their service;† a proof that society was beginning
to settle into something like regularity in the most barbarous
- parts of Christendom. During Canute's absence, these ad-
venturers held many places for him, if he should return, or
for themselves, as the course of events might determine.
Olaf recovered Canterbury from them; wasting that city a
second time with fire: after which Ethelred employed him
in collecting, doubtless for their joint use, the imposts, which
nothing but force could have made the people pay. It would
not be surprising if this mode of collection excited more
discontent than the tax, the burden of which, assuredly, it
was not likely to diminish. The Anglo-Danes, on their
part, could not but resent the treachery which had been
*Sax. Chron. 193, 194. William of Malmesbury, 219, 220.
↑ Snorre, Antiq. Celto-Scand. 103.
91
CANUTE RAVAGES DORSET, SOMERSET, ETC.
practised upon two of their chiefs; and that resentment was
inflamed when they saw that Edmund the Atheling, well
known, for his prodigious strength, by the name of Ironside,
having married the widow of the one, seized upon the pos-
sessions of both. Edric, who, perhaps, had designed those
possessions for himself, was at this time plotting the destruc-
tion of that prince; and some of those mercenaries who, upon
Canute's departure, had passed over to the service of Ethel-
red, opened now a secret communication with the Danish
king, and invited him to return, assuring him of their sup-
port. Canute soon got together a fleet of 200 ships, "royally
decked, furnished and appointed, both for brave show and
necessary furniture of all manner of weapons, arms, and
munition."*
He sailed first for Sandwich, which seems
now to have been the favourite port of the Danes, then to
Poole harbour; the whole coast of England being in those
days better known to its enemies than to its own sailors;
and, making Wareham his naval station, he ravaged the
three counties of Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire. Ethelred,
whose long and disgraceful reign was now drawing towards
its close, was lying sick at Corsham, where Edric, who still
possessed the confidence of that weak king, collected an
army, and Edmund hastened to join him with a force which
he had assembled in the north. But when they should have
marched against the enemy, Ironside discovered that Edric's
intention was to betray him; and found it necessary to re-
turn, with those troops who were faithful, to a place where
he might feel himself in safety. The traitor then once more
revolted, and went over to the enemy with forty ships,
which, as they are said to have been manned by Danes,
seem to have been a mercenary's fleet. Wessex then sub-
mitted, gave hostages, and supplied the invader with horses,
-to be employed against their own countrymen.†
With these miserable circumstances the year closed. Early
in the ensuing one, Canute, and Edric with him, ad-
1016.
vanced into the heart of the country: they crossed
the Thames at Cricklade, and, proceeding into Warwick-
* "So," says Holinshed (i. 718.) "as it is strange to consider that which
is written by them that lived in those days, and took in hand to register
the doings of that time." I have not met with the descriptions which are
here alluded to; but, in the age of piracy, the same sort of pride seems to
have been displayed in decorating ships, as in embellishing armour in the
age of chivalry.
† Sax. Chron. 194, 195. William of Malmesbury, 221.
"With 160 ships," says the Saxon Chronicle, as if the neet had co-
operated in this expedition: perhaps it ascended the Severn. The Danish
ships seem to have navigated any river that is navigable for a coal barge;
but at this time they could not pass London Bridge.
92
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
shire, passed the remaining part of the winter in laying all
waste around them with fire and sword. Edmund raised an
army in Mercia to oppose them. When he had raised it, the
men could not act, it is said, unless the king were with them,
and unless they had the assistance of the burgesses of Lon-
don:* and, as these conditions were not complied with, the
army dispersed, giving another proof of the dissolution of
government in England. Nevertheless, another effort of
authority was made, and Ethelred ordered a general array,
requiring every man to take the field, under pain of the
highest penalties which the laws appointed for neglect of
duty. He himself was the defaulter; for when the force
which had thus been brought together sent to him in Lon-
don, and besought him to join them with all the aid he could
collect, he came, indeed, but it was only to receive a warn-
ing that he must take heed unto himself, and in anywise
beware how he gave battle, because those persons on whom
he relied meant to betray him. This he believed, as one
who had too much cause for believing it; and, forsaking the
army, he went back to London. Canute, meantime, was
gaining over towns and villages to his party, and, with in-
defatigable policy, never unemployed, holding councils by
night and fighting by day:† and Edmund, finding that no
successful stand was to be made in Wessex or Mercia, united
himself with Uhtred, a Northumbrian earl: but when it was
supposed that they would march against the invader, they
employed themselves in laying waste the counties of Staf
fordshire, Shropshire, and Cheshire, in punishment for their
submission to the Danes. Edmund Ironside was inferior in
courage to no man; but he was as cruel as his competitor,
and far inferior to him in ability. While he was thus inflict-
ing additional evils upon his miserable and helpless country-
men, Canute, as a means of counter-policy, but in the same
spirit, doing like hurt in all places where he came, went
through Buckingham, Bedford, and Huntingdon shires, and
so into Northamptonshire, along the fens, to Stamford; then
into Lincoln and Nottinghamshire, and on towards York,
"not sparing to do what mischief might be devised wherever
he went." This had the effect of recalling Uhtred from his
marauding career. He hastened northward, "and submitted
* Sax. Chron. 195. William of Malmesbury says, the Mercians repeat-
edly assembled and stood forward to resist :-" Would but the king come
and command whither they were to march, and bring with him the leading
men of London, they were ready to shed their blood for their country."
(221.) This seems as if, like the Danes, they were stipulating to be paid and
fed.
† William of Malmesbury, 221.
"
BATTLE OF SCEORSTANE.
93
for need, and all the Northumbrians with him ;" but, though
he gave hostages, he was put to death by Edric's advice;
and Canute gave Northumbria to his own kinsman and ally,
earl Eric, one of the most distinguished of the northern
chiefs.
Edmund, when this last expedition had terminated as ill
as it deserved, went back to London to his father, who ended
his unhappy life there on St. George's day. The chiefs who
were at that time there agreed with the Londoners in choosing
Edmund for their king, overlooking, as in the case of Athel-
stan, his illegitimate birth for the sake of his personal quali-
ties, and because his legitimate brothers were all too young.
In his courage, in his surpassing bodily strength, and in his
popular qualities, Edmund Ironside resembled Richard Cœur
de Lion; he resembled him also in the prodigality with
which his courage was exerted, and in the ill fortune that
attended it. His first business was to reduce Wessex to
obedience. While he thus was engaged, Canute, who,
marching back from the north, had collected all his force at
his fleet, moved with his ships to the Thames, and stationed
them at Greenwich. London bridge had been so well re-
paired, that he did not deem it advisable to repeat the ha-
zardous way of assault by which Olaf had forced a passage
there; he therefore dug a canal round the Southwark for-
tress, and brought his fleet through this channel, to the west-
ern side of the bridge.* This, which implies extraordinary
foresight and perseverance for those times, enabled him to
invest London on all sides; so that no one could go in or
out. But the citizens, relying upon their heroic king, with-
stood him, and resisted all his attacks. Edmund hastened
from the west to give him battle. An action was fought at
Peonnan,† a second at a place called Sceorstane; and this
* Sax. Chron. 197.
t
↑ "Near Gillingham," says the Saxon Chronicle (197.) which is near
Chatham; and here the Annals of St. Augustine mention, that a sharp
battle was fought between Edmund and Canute. (Beauties of England and
Wales, viii. 681.) But, according to Camden, the scene of this battle was at
Pen, a little village near the source of that stream which gives name to
Bruton. (62, 63.)
† Gibson supposes this to be Sherstone in Wiltshire, because it is near
Pen, because several barrows thereabouts put it beyond all dispute that
there has been a battle there, and because the inhabitants have a tradition
that it was against the Danes. (Camd. 101) Camden (253.) seems rather to
think that the battle was near the Shire stone, which divides four counties,
near the village of Long Compton, where, in the circle of stones (complete
in his time) called Rolle-nil Stones, he found a monument of some great vic-
tory. But L believe such circles were not sepulchral, and the little distance
between Sherstone and Pen, renders Gibson's conjecture much more pro-
bable.
94
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
the northern historians represent as one of the most famous
battles in those times. It lasted two days. On the second,
Edmund encountered the Danish king, and aimed a blow at
him with his sword. Canute interposed his shield, so as to
save himself; but the stroke was given with such force,
that it cleft the shield and the neck of the horse. The
Danes rushed in, to protect their king from his terrible ad-
versary; and the traitor, Edric, is said at this crisis to have
thrown the English into confusion, by hoisting a head upon
a spear, and calling upon the Dorset and Devonshire men to
flee, for it was that of their Edmund, who was slain. That
brave king could not make the deceit known in time, nor, by
his greatest exertions, restore confidence to an army who
thought that in losing him they had lost all hopes of victory.
He kept the field, however, till night put an end to the con-
test; and during the night the Danes decamped, not ventur-
ing to renew it against one who would have been invincible
if personal prowess could have insured success.*
It is said that Edmund, seeing Edric's treason in the bat-
tle, threw a spear at him. The traitor escaped by starting
aside; but the weapon was hurled with such force, that it
transfixed two soldiers. Yet, so easily was the king de-
ceived, or so accomplished was Edric in all the arts of de-
ceit, that a reconciliation between them was presently
brought about. Edmund's credulity may, in some degree,
be explained by the early ascendency which Edric, under
whom, as a foster-father, he had been bred up, had obtained
over him; but there was no correspondent feeling on the
other part, for it was in concert with Canute that the traitor
now acted, in order to impede the progress of one whom it
was more easy to circumvent than to resist in the field. The
last battle had the effect of encouraging the West Saxons,
who were before divided, to throw off the Danish yoke, and
acknowledge their native king; and Edmund was then
strong enough to advance to London, and relieve the citizens
from their state of siege, driving the enemy toward their
ships, which were farther up the river. He pursued; forded
the Thames at Brentford, and defeated them with great
slaughter: but many of his own people, who went before
the army with the hope of plundering, were, through their
own folly, drowned; and, while Edmund found it necessary
to go into the west for the purpose of recruiting his forces,
Canute returned to London, and beset it, and fought strongly
against it both by water and land. Weary of the resolute
* Sax. Chron. 197. William of Malmesbury, 222. Turner, ii. 485–488.
Antiq. Celt. Scand. 129, 130.
BATTLE OF ASSANDun.
95
resistance which he found in the citizens, he left the Thames,
sailed for the East Anglian coast, entered the Orwell, and,
laying Mercia waste with fire and sword, made a destructive
circuit to the Medway. By this time Edmund had collected
so large a force, that the chronicler calls it all the English
nation. He proceeded into Kent, drove the Danes out of the
Isle of Shepey; and it is said that he might have then to-
tally defeated Canute, if Edric had not withheld him from
pursuing his advantage. His army could not be kept to-
gether; and therefore it was to be re-collected, while the
enemy were again ravaging Mercia. Once more Edmund led
"the English nation" against their invaders, and a battle was
fought at Assandun* in Essex. No former battle ever
proved so disastrous to the people of this island; and ex-
cept the battle of Hastings, no latter one. For, when Ed-
mund inspiring his men with his own intrepidity, was on
the point of obtaining a great and decisive victory, Edric,
with all the force under his command, took flight, leaving
him thus to contend against an overpowering superiority of
numbers. The bravest chiefs, Ulfkytel was among them,
would not survive the overthrow of the nation; they gathered
their faithful followers, and, forming a compact body, fought
till they perished to a man; the Saxon Chronicle says that
all the nobility of the English nation were then cut off.
Bishops and abbots, as well as ealdermen, sacrificed them-
selves in brave despair; but Edmund Ironside, with a braver
hope, fled from the field almost alone; not to seek an asy-
lum, but to collect, if possible, another army, and fall upon
the Danes while they were exulting over their recent suc-
cess in the confidence of vain security.†
Canute, acting with equal promptitude, hastened against
hiin as soon as he heard where he was; but such was Ed-
mund's popularity, that, when the Danes entered Gloucester-
shire, an army had been raised, and of such force as would
have rendered the issue of a battle doubtful where there
was no traitor to turn the scale. It is said that, when every
thing was ready for a general action, Edmund challenged
his adversary to a single combat, that the conqueror might
enjoy the kingdom as the reward of his own prowess, and
all farther effusion of blood on either side be spared. The
Dane is said to have declined the unequal adventure, being
* What is supposed to have been the Danish camp may still be traced at
Canewdon, which adjoins Ashingdon on the east. It includes about six
acres.
↑ Sax. Chron. 197-199. William of Malmesbury, 223, 224. Antiq. Celt.-
Scand. 137.
96
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
himself below the mean standard;* whereas Ironside, in
strength and stature, so greatly exceeded most men, that the
challenge,† under such circumstances, could be regarded as
no proof of gallantry; and it is added, that he proposed a
division of the kingdom between them, on the plea that, as
each of their fathers had possessed it, each had equal preten-
sions. The proposal, with whomsoever it may have ori-
ginated, was supported by Edric, a man whose abilities
were as remarkable as his baseness; by all the members of
the witan, who were then assembled; and by the general
cry of the land for peace. A conference, accordingly, was
held at an island called Alney, which the Severn forms
close to Gloucester. There was little difficulty concerning
terms, when the English had submitted to treat. Edmund
consented to what he had no means of opposing, and retain-
ed only the old kingdom of Wessex; while Canute took to
himself Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria, as the lion's
share. The two kings now became allies and sworn brothers.
On the one part it was such a brotherhood as Cain's: they
exchanged arms and garments; they confirmed the treaty with
pledges and with oaths; and they settled the pay of the army;
words which can only imply that the Dane insisted upon a
payment of money, as well as this large cession of territory.
The money was to be levied upon that part of the kingdom
only which Edmund was permitted to retain. The Danes
went to their ships with the spoils which they had gathered;
they made the Londoners purchase peace at the price of
10,500.; they then brought their ships to London, and pro-
vided for themselves winter-quarters; and before the winter
set in, Canute was rid of his sworn brother by death. The
contemporary chronicler barely states that Edmund died,
and was buried with his grandfather, Edgar, at Glaston-
bury; but the northern historians assert that he perished by
Canute's orders, and by the agency of Edric Strecne.‡
* This cannot be true, because, in the Knytlinga Saga, Canute is de-
scribed as being of great stature and strength. Antiq Celt.-Scand. p. 148.
Holberg, however, (i. 130.) follows Malmesbury's account.
† It is not mentioned by the Saxon Chronicler, nor by the author of the
Krytlinga Saga. Both may have omitted the circumstance (if it really
occurred,) as not honourable to Canute; for this part of the Chronicle was
probably written under the Danish dynasty. William of Malmesbury is, I
believe, the oldest author on whose authority it rests; and Henry Hun-
tingdon adds to his account, that the combat took place, and that Canute,
finding himself likely to be defeated, proposed terins. The story may be
suspected to have had its origin in some lay composed when Edmund Iron-
side was fresh in remembrance as a popular hero.
† Sax. Chron. 199, 200. William of Malmesbury, 224, 225. Antiq. Celt.-
Scand. 139. Holinshed (i. 726.) inclines to the opinion that Edmund died a
natural death: the Encomium Emmæ is his authority, where it is said that
CANUTE KING OF ENGLAND.
97
1017.
This event put an end to the long struggle between
the English and the Danes,-a struggle in which the
Danes prevailed because of their naval power. Canute
found no difficulty now in taking to himself the whole
government. He deemed it expedient at first to give Mercia
to Edric as the price of his manifold treasons, and to reward
his confederates Thurkill and Eric with East Anglia and
Northumbria; retaining only Wessex to himself, but with
the supreme authority. He soon, however, found means of
putting Edric to death; and afterwards an opportunity
occurred of expelling the two northern adventurers; for
Canute was not scrupulous as to any means whereby his
power might be extended or secured. A half-brother of
Edmund's, then but a child, was put to death as soon as he
could get him into his hands; and the two infants whom
Edmund had left would have shared the same fate, if he had
not been warned not to provoke the English, by whom the
memory of this brave and unfortunate king was long and
affectionately cherished. He sent them, upon this, into
Sweden, with the intention that they should there be de-
stroyed; but the king of that country preserved them by
sending them into Hungary, where they found a generous
protector in king Salomon. The two sons whom Ethelred
had left by Emma were safe under their uncle's protection
in Normandy. Canute secured himself against any danger
from that quarter by seeking and obtaining their mother in
marriage; and when he found himself really as well as
nominally king of England, he began to act as if he had the
interest of the country at heart. It was necessary to relieve
it from the burden of those troops by whose services the
conquest had been obtained; but the payment, which,
? 1013.
by the treaty with Edmund, was to have been raised
upon Wessex alone, and which amounted to the then enor-
mous sum of 72,000l., besides what the Londoners had
paid, was levied upon the whole of England, all now being
equally his subjects. He then sent the greater part of his
army to Denmark, retaining only forty ships. The next
proof of his wisdom was, that he made the Danes consent to
live under the laws of the land, as they had been established
by Edgar. In most respects, the conquest by Canute proved
beneficial to England, because from that time forth the
Anglo-Saxons and Anglo-Danes became one people; ulti-
'God, being mindful of his old doctrine, that every kingdom divided in
itself cannot long stand, shortly after took Edmund out of this life, and by
such means seemed to take pity upon the English kingdom; lest, if both
the kings should have continued in life together, they should both have
lived in great danger, and the land in trouble.”
1
Vol. I.
•
-
•
*
98
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
mately it was not less so to Denmark, though that kingdom
seemed at first to become an appendage to the wealthier and
more civilized one which it had subdued.* That countries
so remote from each other should be united under one go-
vernment can seldom be convenient; that they should long
continue so is never likely, and was in that age impossible.
This Canute seems well to have understood; and preferring
England for his abode, and giving it the first place in his
titles, he took every possible means for introducing English
civilization into Denmark. There was no money in that
country, except what was introduced by piracy, till Canute's
coinage; his were the first written laws in Denmark, and
he derived them from English sources; he was the first
northern king who encouraged commerce,-the sole trade, if
such it may be called, which had existed till then being
such piratical partnerships+ as exist at this day among the
Barbary states, and cannot be said to be wholly extinct in
Christian countries, so long as privateering is sanctioned
by the laws. And though he did not live to the age of forty,
he yet reigned long enough to see the seeds of improvement
take root and flourish in Denmark; to know that the system
of piracy, by aid of which he had established his own so-
vereignty, was so materially curbed, that it could no longer
affect the fate of kingdoms; and to re-establish the strength
of England and its naval power, wherein its strength and
its best means of defence essentially consisted.
No anecdote is better known and more frequently repeat-
ed than that of Canute taking his seat upon the sea-shore,
and as the Lord of Ocean, forbidding the rising waves to
approach and wet his feet; not in the insane supposition
that the sea would hear and obey his voice, but that he
might read a moral lessons to those who were about his
person. The story is in character with a stage of society
in which symbolical actions were found necessary for im-
pressing the minds of men; and with the personage him-
self;-for prosperity had softened, not corrupted him, and
he is one of the few conquerors whose greater and better
qualities were developed in peace. But although that
scene was designed for the purpose of making the declara-
tion of his devotional feelings more striking; the power
which he possessed authorized his assertion, that the seas
† Ibid. 151.
+ Ibid. 116.
* Holberg, i. 133. 149.
§ According to Selden (ii. 1325.) a political one as well:-" Ipsum se
interea maris dominatorem æque ac insulæ, esse, palam est hic professus."
The character of this great king has never been more justly appreciated
than by Mr. Turner, ii. 504-513.
CANUTE.
*
09
belonged to his dominion. No other king, either Scandi-
navian or British, has ruled over such extensive possessions
in Europe: he was king of England, Denmark, Norway,
and part of Sweden; and Scotland and Cambria might
have been added to his titles, for it was not an empty boast
that the Basileus, as he styled himself, of the Anglo-Saxons,
ruled over six nations. He was called Canute the Rich, as
well as Canute the Great. It is more remarkable, that,
though he was but in his twentieth year at the time of his
father's death, and reigned only twenty-one years, he should
also have been called Canute the Old;† but this was be-
cause, among his turbulent countrymen, few kings had
reigned so long, and they measured his life by his reign. It
was long enough for those great purposes which were effect-
ed in the order of Providence through his instrumentality.
The struggle between the Danes and Anglo-Saxons, which
had continued more than 200 years, was finally ended by
his accession; and fifty years of comparative tranquillity
after his decease completed the healing work which he had
begun, and united the two nations by the close and indis-
soluble ties of blood, language, and religion.
How greatly the commerce, and consequently the naval
strength of England, had improved under his reign, appears
by the remarkable fact, that the seamen of London are said
to have borne a great part in determining the succession,
and choosing an elder son of Canute's, Harold Hare-
1035.
foot by name, instead of Hardicanute, whom earl
Godwin and the people of Wessex would have preferred,
because queen Emma, a favourite with the English, was his
mother. It was not in any tumultuous assembly that their
voice was heard, but in the Witenagemot, the great council
of the realm, held at Oxford; and the persons who repre-
sented the merchants of London were, no doubt,§ such mer-
chants themselves as having fulfilled the condition required
* Holinshed, i. 730. Holberg, i. 117.
† Holberg, i. 148. note. The name which was variously written Knutr.
Knud, Cnut, and Chnut, was extended into Canutus by the pope, who, in
the twelfth century, canonized the royal saint so called. (Ibid. i. 197.) I
suppose the history of Abraham served as a precedent; though the vowel
was evidently inserted euphoniæ gratiá, and instead of altering the mean-
ing of the name honoris causa, deprived it of its meaning. The first to
whom the name is said to have been given, was exposed in the woods im-
mediately after his birth, and was so called from the knot (knut) of a silken
handkerchief which was bound round his head, and in which some gold was
tied up. Ihre gives this account from the History of Olaf Trygguson. But
he adds, that cnut, or cnaut, signifies in Anglo-Saxon, bald, Latino-barbarè,
Canutus: and this is the more likely etymology, an obvious meaning being
more to be trusted than a romantic tale.
† Sax. Chron. 207.
§ Henry, ii. 418.
100
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
by Athelstane, had advanced themselves to the rank of
thanes. Canute, at his death, had wisely divided an empire,
consisting of dominioins so extensive and so far apart, that
they could not be kept together by any hand less vigorous
than his own. A division of England, which he had not intend-
ed, had nearly been made now; for Godwin held Wessex
in Hardicanute's name, while London and all north of the
Thames acknowledged Harold; but as Hardicanute offended
his party by lingering in Denmark, Harold was "chosen
king over all." During his short reign, the navy was main-
tained upon the same establishment as in the latter
1040.
years of his father, sixteen ships, and in the same
manner. * When Hardicanute was sent for to succeed him,
he came with a fleet of sixty sail to take possession, and
soon lost the good will, not only of the nation but of his own
partisans, by exacting ship-money for sixty-two ships at the
old rate of assessment. 21,0997. was the sum raised: and in
the year ensuing half that sum for thirty-two ships. The
persons who collected this tax at Worcester were killed by
the people, though they sought shelter in the cathedral; in
vengeance for which, that city was burnt, the citizens' pro-
perty given over as a spoil to those who were sent to punish
them, and great part of the county laid waste. This drew
upon the king the curses of the people, which were probably
more due to his counsellors than to him; for though he in-
herited few of his father's virtues, and none of his great
qualities, he was of an easy, affable, and generous temper.
He gave way, indeed, to an abominable impulse of revenge
when he ordered Harold's body to be disinterred, beheaded,
and cast into the Thames, from whence it was dragged out
in a fisherman's net, and buried in the cemetery of the
Danes; but the shame of advising this has been cast upon
Alphric, the archbishop of York; and in Hardicanute the
* On his dagum man, geald xvi ƒcipan æt æicepe hamulan viii maɲc.
(Sax. Chron. 211.) "At the rate of eight marks for each steersman," Mr.
Ingram renders this. Henry (ii. 419.) says, "Each mariner was allowed
eight mancusses, and each commander twelve mancusses a year for pay and
provisions, which was a very liberal allowance for those times." This dili
gent and most respectable historian (who follows Holinshed here) is certain-
ly wrong; and the ratio which he has given between the allowances ought
to have made him suspect this. Hamn is explained by Ihre as denoting the
certain number of persons who, from a certain portion of land, were taken
for the sea service, forty-two such hamnas, according to one authority,con-
stituting a ship's company: but this must have depended on the size of the
ship. The word in the Saxon Chronicle has, in all likelihood, the same
meaning, as well as the same origin.
William of Malinesbury says, that this "rigid and intolerable tribute"
was exacted in order that the king might pay twenty marks, according to
his promise, to every soldier in his fleet.
THE DEATH OF HARDICANUTE.
101
excess of hatred had its cause in strong natural affection, his
brother Alfred having been most cruelly and treacherously
put to death by that king's orders.
Toward the living persons who were implicated in that
tragedy he was more placable; from the bishop of Crediton
he was satisfied with a pecuniary atonement; and he allowed
earl Godwin to exculpate himself by oath. That powerful
earl presented him with a ship splendidly equipped and
manned; its stern was covered with gilding, and there were
eighty soldiers on board, each having two bracelets on either
arm, weighing sixteen ounces of gold; their helmets were
gilt, they were armed in gilt habergeons, and each bore a
Danish axe on his left shoulder and a spear in his right
hand, both arms and armour being inlaid with silver and
gold, and all so adorned, says an early historian, as that
splendour, vying with terror, might conceal the iron beneath
the gold. The gift, doubtless, was chosen as that which
would be most acceptable to a maritime prince; and the
splendour of the equipment marks the increasing refinement
of the age. When the sister of this king was given in
marriage to the emperor Henry III., the solemnity of her
espousals was rendered so imposing, and so great were the
pomp and pageantry with which she was conducted to the
place of embarkation, that 100 years afterwards ballads,
describing it, used to be sung about the streets,*
These
things show the wealth of the country; they show also how
rapidly it had recovered from its losses, and prospered under
a strong government, which secured it against invaders, and
maintained order at home.
Hardicanute died of apoplexy in the second year of his
reign, at a feast, and in the act of drinking; and the people
of London immediately chose his half brother, Edward, the
only surviving son of Ethelred, to succeed him. The king-
doms of England and Denmark were thus separated. Nor-
way had previously been recovered from its Danish king by
Magnus, the son of king St. Olaf; and Magnus and Hardi-
canute had made an agreement, to the observance of which
twelve of the chief persons in each kingdom had sworn, that
the survivor should inherit the other's dominions. The
object of this agreement was to secure the perpetual and
peaceful union of Norway with Denmark; but on Hardica-
nute's death, when Magnus had succeeded to the Danish
throne, he laid claim to that of England also, by virtue of
this agreement, and sent an embassy thither to make his
* William of Malmesbury, 239.
I 2
102
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
·
pretensions known; intimating, that if his right were not
willingly acknowledged, he would come with a Danish and
Norwegian fleet, and recover the possessions of his prede-
cessor. On this occasion, Edward, cold and feeble as he
was, replied to the ambassadors with English spirit." Ca-
nute, my step-father," said he, " kept the kingdom from me,
and his sons took it to themselves after him. God has now
been pleased to restore it me, and I will defend it to the last
drop of my blood." When this reply was repeated to Mag-
nus, he made answer, " King Edward may keep his father's
kingdom in peace for me; and I will content myself with
those which God has given me."* The Confessor, as he
was afterwards called, placed little reliance upon this decla-
ration; and one of the few acts of vigour which he ever per-
formed was to embark on board the fleet, and take his station
with it at Sandwich, to guard against the invasion which he
expected; but Magnus had no intention of invading him.
Soon afterwards, Sweyne, who contended for the crown of
Denmark, proposed to Edward to assist him with fifty ships
but it is said that all the people thought this unwise; and it
was prevented, because Magnus had a large navy, and ex-
pelled his competitor.‡
After the death of Magnus, Sweyne again solicited the aid
of a fleet, and it was again resisted by the people. The
motive of their resistance perhaps was, that, since the death
of Canute, the seas were again infested by pirates. Two sea
rovers, Lothen and Irling by name, came to Sandwich with
five-and-twenty ships, and carried off a great booty in
1047. gold and silver, and prisoners. They then attempted
to plunder the Isle of Thanet, but the inhabitants withstood
them both by land and sea, and drove them from that coast.
Upon this they made for the opposite coast of Essex, and
there made spoil of whatever they could find; prisoners
being especially valued, for the slave-trade in which such
merchants dealt. They found a market for their booty in the
ports of Baldwin, earl of Flanders; and having there dis-
posed of it, they returned eastward to their own country.
Sandwich was again plundered in the ensuing year,
1048. and the Isle of Wight, where the best inhabitants
were slain in defending themselves. Edward and his chiefs
* Pontanus, 173. Holberg, i. 155, 162.
The Saxon Chronicle says, that Magnus was prevented from coming
hither by his contests with Sweyne in Denmark; but the Danish his-
torians give Magnus the Good credit for the sincerity as well as the
moderation of his reply, and notice it as one of the best acts of his illus-
trious life.
↑ Sax. Chron. 212–216.
GODWIN RAVACES THE COAST.
103
put to sea in quest of the enemy, without overtaking them.
Naval aid was now requested of him by the emperor, who
was about to lead an army against earl Baldwin, and wished
Edward to cut off the escape of his enemy by sea. This the
people seemed to have considered as a national concern, be-
cause of the harbour which Baldwin afforded to the sea
rovers; and Edward accordingly lay at Sandwich with a
large fleet, till the emperor had reduced that earl to submis-
sion. For awhile this seems to have checked the reviving
spirit of piracy; and though earl Sweyne, one of Godwin's
turbulent sons, at one time infested the coast, and at another
a fleet of six-and-thirty ships from Ireland, with the aid of
the Welsh king, Edward ventured to diminish his naval
force, retaining only fourteen ships, which he reduced the
same year to four, and the next laid them up also. He then
abolished the danegelt, which had continued thirty-nine
years from its first imposition by Ethelred: this was a great
relief to the people, for it was always exacted before any
other impost; and they were vexed with many."
*
England might now have been at rest, if the prospect of
an uncertain succession to the crown had not offered tempting
opportunities for ambition and intrigues. The king vacil-
lated between his habitual fear of earl Godwin's formidable
family, and his inclination for the Normans, among whom
he had grown up; when the latter feeling prevailed, God-
win and his sons were exiled; they found an asylum with
Baldwin at Bruges, and from thence returned, "after the
manner of rovers," to infest their own country. Forces were
assembled by sea and land to oppose them; the wea- 1051.
ther, which baffled the exiles in their first attempt,
wrought eventually in their favour; for the men on board
the king's fleet, weary of waiting for the invaders, and per-
haps unwilling to act against a family who had a
strong party in the country, and, with all their faults,
were popular, forsook their ships, and went each his way.
Godwin then found the coast at his mercy. He made first
for the Isle of Wight, plundered it, proceeded to Portland,
and there, in the brief but expressive language of the Chro-
nicle, he and his people did harm as much as they could do.
At the same time Harold, the most illustrious of his sons,
entered the Bristol channel with nine ships from Ireland,
landed in Porlock bay, so often the beautiful scene of pira-
tical invasion, and there routed the land forces which from
Devon and Somerset were mustered against him, with the
* Sax. Chron. 216–225.
1052.
104
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
slaughter of more than thirty good thanes. Returning then to
the mouth of the channel, he rounded the Land's End. He
landed there, and seized cattle, men, money, and whatever he
could; joined his father on the southern coast, and proceed-
ed to the Isle of Wight, thence to glean what Godwin had
left from the harvest of his spoil. Yet these exiles, merci-
lessly as they acted towards their own countrymen, were po-
pular, so little do the people judge of men according to their
deeds! They were joined as they advanced by all the ships
at Pevensey, Romney, Hithe, and Folkstone. Godwin had
already won over to him "all the Kentish men, and the boat-
men from Hastings, and every where about by the sea coast,
and all the men of Essex, and Sussex, and Surrey, and many
others who declared that they would live or die with him."
From Dover and from Sandwich they took as many ships
and hostages as they chose, then made sail for London; but
some of their people on the way landed on the Isle of She-
pey, and ravaged it, and burnt Milton to the ground.
Edward was awaiting them at London, with the earls of
his party, fifty ships, and a great land force. When Godwin
and Harold approached, they sent to the king, and required
the restoration of their estates and dignitaries; alleging, that
they had been wrongfully deprived of them. On which side
the right lay, it is now not possible to determine; probably
both had been so much in the wrong, that a strong plea
might be made out on either part-as in parties, and factions,
and civil wars, is commonly the case. Godwin saw that
public opinion had begun to declare itself in his favour; and
when upon the king's resisting his demands, his followers
became clamorous for immediate action, he represt their ar-
dour. Edward summoned more forces to his support from
the interior. Godwin, on his part, held secret communica-
tion with the citizens, and succeeded in winning them over
wholly to his will, while he lay with his fleet before London,
waiting for the flood. When his arrangements were com-
plete, and the tide served, the fleet weighed anchor and pass-
ed the bridge, keeping the south side of the river; his land
forces advanced at the same time, and drew up on the Strand,
which was then, as its name implies, an open shore-taking
a position which seemed as if they meant, with the aid of
their ships, to surround the king's fleet. Edward would have
been strong enough to have given them battle both by land
and water, if there had been the same temper in his party, as
in that of the exiles; but there were few foreigners on either
side, and while Godwin's men were eager to right (as they be-
lieved) their leader by force of arms, there was a great unwil-
RELIANCE UPON NAVAL FORCES.
105
lingness in the king's people to fight with their own country-
men. They had not, like their opponents, any thing to gain by
victory; and woful experience had taught them that the effect
of such contests was to render their land an easy prey for fo-
reign enemies. "Wise men," therefore, as they are called, were
appointed on both sides to negotiate; hostages were exchang-
ed, a general council was immediately convened, and peace
was presently concluded; the king believing, or of necessity
seeming to believe, the protestations of fidelity made by God-
win and Harold, and submitting to have his Norman* friends
outlawed by the now ascendant party.
In all the wars with which this unhappy age of English
history abounds, more reliance seems to have been placed
upon the fleets than upon the land forces; no doubt because
great part of the country was covered with woods. If an
army did not find its means of subsistence wherever it
moved, it was almost impossible to transport them otherwise
than by water. When earl Siward defeated and slew Mac-
beth, and brought back from Scotland "such spoil as
1054.
no man had before obtained," he had a fleet† to co-
operate with him. The English had been compelled to learn
seamanship by their long struggle with the Danes; they
had not yet learnt from the same enemy to be good horse-
soldiers; and in opposing an army of Welsh and Irish at
Hereford, they suffered a shameful defeat, because their
leader had brought them into the field contrary to their cus-
tom, on horseback, and they took to flight before a spear was
thrown. The Welsh king Griffith had taken advan-
tage of the feuds by which England was disturbed,
frequently to infest the English borders; he was an enter-
prising prince, and he had the stronger motive of revenging
his brother's fate, who, because of his celebrity as a ma-
rauder, had been put to death by Edward's command; his
head, like that of a criminal, being brought to Gloucester.
Sometimes with the aid of the exiled earl Algar, sometimes
with Irish adventurers, and once with an auxiliary fleet from
Normandy, he obtained successes enough to bring at last a
formidable invasion upon his country, and destruction upon
himself. Harold marched against him in the winter from
Gloucester to Rhuddlan, where he had a palace or
castle, and where his fleet lay; he burnt the strong-
+
1055.
1062.
* The Saxon Chronicle calls them French, and the other Frenchmen it calls
Franks. Taking part with the triumphant party here, it says that “the
French had instituted bad laws, and judged unrighteous judgment, and
brought bad councils into the land," p. 239,
↑ Sax. Chron. 242.
+
+
106
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
2
hold, and the ships, and all the stores belonging to them.
Griffith escaped; but in the spring Harold sailed with a
naval force from Bristol to the coast of North Wales, while
his brother Tostig led an army into that country; the in-
habitants submitted, and Griffith was slain by one of his
own people; his head was sent to the king, with the head
and rigging of his ship also; trophies which would not have
been selected, unless this brave prince had made himself
conspicuous as a maritime foe.*
It is related, that when the minds of the English were
turned with fearful hope, during the Danish dynasty, to-
wards Edward, a monk of Glastonbury saw in a dream St.
Peter anoint him king. The monk ventured to ask who
should be his successor? and the apostle answered, "Have
thou no care for that? for the kingdom of England is God's
kingdom. —“ Which, surely," says old Ralph Holinshed,†
"in good earnest may appear by many great arguments to
be full true, unto such as shall well consider the state of this
realm from time to time, how there hath been ever governors
raised up to maintain the majesty of the kingdom, and to
reduce the same to its former dignity, when by any unfortu-
nate mishap it hath been brought in danger." If what is
called the philosophy of history is not set forth by writers
of his stamp, something which springs from a deeper root is
sometimes found in its stead. "It would make a diligent
and marking reader," he says, "both muse and mourn, to
see how variable the state of this kingdom hath been; and
thereby to fall into a consideration of the frailty and uncer-
tainty of this mortal life, which is no more free from insecu-
rity than a ship on the sea in tempestuous weather. For as
the casualties, wherewith our life is inclosed and beset with
round about, are manifold, so also are they miserable, so also
are they sudden, so also are they unavoidable. And true it
is that the life of man is in the hands of God, and the state
of kingdoms doth also belong unto him, either to continue
or discontinue." It had been too surely foreseen that Ed-
ward's death would draw after it the evils of a disputed suc-
cession. Edward himself foresaw this; but the right of
hereditary descent was so little recognized, when it was not
supported by personal desert, or by a strong party, that he
disregarded what otherwise would have been the undoubted
claim of Edgar Atheling, and designated his friend and kins-
man, William of Normandy, to succeed him. But it is said,
also, that the general corruption of manners made a deep
* Sax. Chron. 240. 244. 251, 252.
† Vol. I. 738.
1 Vol. I. 726.
:
APPEARANCE OF A COMET.
107
impression on his religious mind, and that because of the
sins of the nation he apprehended some national visitation.
Such an apprehension was general; and the appearance of a
comet* at this time confirmed it. "Thou art come," a monk
of Malmesbury is said to have exclaimed, with prophetic
feeling, on beholding the blazing star, "thou art come, to
be lamented of many a mother! Long since I saw thee; but
I behold thee now far more terrible, threatening destruction
to this country!" That the comet was thus regarded is cer-
tain; and that, as portending change, it raised the hopes of
those who were preparing to invade England, as much as it
alarmed the English. But when legendary writers relate
how the soul of a beatified monk appeared to Edward in his
last sickness, while he lay in a trance, and told him, that the
chiefs of England, as well the clergy as the laity, were not
the ministers of God but of the devil, and that therefore,
after his death, God would deliver over the kingdom to the
Enemy; and when thay say that, in another dream, the
king beheld the Seven Sleepers turn in their sleep, as if dis-
turbed, and knew thereby that dreadful calamities were at
hand; the one tale is an example of monkish invention,
the other a proof of the general corruption which rendered
the nation ripe for vengeance. The justice of the visitation
which ensued was acknowledged by the sufferers themselves;
and the merciful purpose with which it was dispensed is
now not less apparent to those who contemplate the provi-
dential course of history. Such miseries as the Jutes, Sax-
ons, and Angles had brought upon the Romanized Britons,
such miseries were, in their turn, inflicted upon them by the
Danes; and now when the kindred though hostile tribes had
been, as it were, welded into one people, the recent con-
querors were to feel the misery of being conquered.
The Saxon line, which had continued five centuries and a
half, from the time of Cerdic the first king of Wessex, ended
in Edward the Confessor; Harold, who succeeded
1066.
him, having no pretension by his blood, but taking
the crown either by election, or by his own act and deed, as
one who thought himself able to maintain it. He knew that
he must contend for it against the duke of Normandy, who
had great power and great personal ability wherewith to
enforce a claim, more plausible though less popular than his
own. But his first danger was from his brother Tostig, one
of the most atrocious barbarians in that barbarous age, yet
who was not without that magnanimity which is compatible
* Sax. Chron. 257. William of Malmesbury, 288.
1
7
A
108
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
with the fiercer vices, and who possessed, in an eminent de-
gree, the good as well as the evil qualities whereby his family
were distinguished. After an act of monstrous wickedness,
which might be deemed incredible, if parallels to it were
not found in the early history of other nations, he had taken
refuge in count Baldwin's territories, then the common asy-
lum of all outlaws and freebooters. From thence he repaired
to Denmark, and solicited his kinsman, king Svend Estrid-
sen, to undertake the conquest of England, encouraging him
by the example of Canute his uncle. But Svend replied,
that it had been an enterprise of great hazard and uncertainty
for Canute, though he had undisputed possession both of
Denmark and Norway at that time; whereas he himself
could with difficulty_maintain himself in Denmark against
the Norwegians. It behoved him, therefore, to limit his
ambition by his means, and not attempt what he could not
reasonably hope to accomplish. Tostig upon this left him
angrily, saying, he should perhaps find a king who would
not be deterred by the apprehension of danger from under-
taking great things. Accordingly he went to Norway, and
succeeded in persuading king Harold Hardrada to the ad-
venture an unhappy hour for both. Returning forthwith
to Flanders, he collected there as large a fleet as he was
able to equip; and finding followers among those adventurers
who were the pests of Europe, he sailed for the Isle of
Wight, where he obtained money and provisions, and then
ravaged the coast till he came to Sandwich. Harold
gathered, meantime, in preparation both against him and
William, a larger force, both by sea and land, than any
king before him had collected in this island. Tostig did
not venture to encounter him: but pressing seamen from
Sandwich into his service, sailed with threescore ships for
the Humber, landed in Lindsey, and "there slew many good
men."
This brought upon him the earls Edwin and Morcar,
great but unfortunate names in the history of their times.
They drove him from the land, the seamen took advantage of
this reverse to make their escape, and he fled to Scotland,
with only twelve small vessels in his company, there to
expect the coming of his Norwegian allies.
Harold Hardrada, confident in his own fortunes not less
than in his personal prowess and military talents, on both
which he might well rely, had summoned half the military
and naval force of Norway for the expedition. The Nor-
wegians had great confidence in their king; but there were
many who thought he was engaging in a most arduous
enterprise, where he would have to contend with a warlike
HAROLD HARDRADA'S INVASION.
109
people, and with a force of well-trained soldiers,* selected
for their strength. A great fleet was equipped, consisting
of about 200 sail, besides store-ships, and vessels of smaller
size, to the number of 500 in all, the most powerful arma-
ment that had ever sailed from Norway. Before he departed,
he caused the shrine wherein the body of his half-brother,
king St. Olaf, was deposited to be opened, and cut the nails
and the hair of his holy corpse to take with him as relics,
after which he is said to have relocked the shrine, and
thrown the keys into the river Nid, in order that it might
never again be violated even with so pious an intent. But
an ominous dream disturbed the confidence which he might
have placed in these supposed amulets: he himself, it was
reported, saw St. Olaf in a vision, and heard from him
mournful anticipations of his defeat and death. One of his
chiefs dreamt that eagles and carrion crows alighted upon
every ship, and that a woman of dreadful countenance and
gigantic form, who stood upon an island, holding a crooked
sword in one hand, and in the other a huge vessel, called
upon these birds of the battle-field, and bade them rejoice in
expectation of the banquet which was prepared for them.
Another chief beheld, in a vision, the Norwegian army
drawn up in battle array, and the English in array against
them; but before the English host there went forth a giantess
as if leading them to victory. She rode a wolf of size pro-
portionate to her own stature, and fed him with human
bodies as fast as he could devour them. These popular
fables show how deep an impression was made in the North
by the issue of this great expedition, the last hostile one
from Scandinavia that ever reached the English shores in
any formidable strength.f
The fleet touched at the Orkneys, where Harold left his
queen Ellisif, with his daughters Maria and Ingegerdi, and
from whence he brought away a large reinforcement of
adventurers. Making then for England, and entering the
mouth of the Tees, he landed in the district then called Klif-
* Snorre (Antiq. Celto-Scand. 197.) represents the Norwegians as saying,
that the soldiers called Thingamanna consisted of such men, that one of
them was worth more than two of the best of Harold Hardrada's army.
This may have been said after the event, to lessen the mortification of their
overthrow. The Thingamanna were mercenaries, and this the name (if
I am not mistaken in its derivation) implies: they were in that age what
the Brabanzons were in Cœur-de-Lion's, and the Swiss in that of Francis I.,
except that they were not of any one nation, but adventurers, outlaws, and
ruffians from all. Their power seems to have been greatest in Sweyne's
time; shortly after his death, a great body of them were massacred in
Eleswic. (Ibid. 101–103.)
Antiq. Celto-Scand. 193–200.
VOL. 1.
K
པ་ ་
1
110
land,* where the inhabitants submitted without resistance.
The first opposition which he found was at Scarborough;
and here he had recourse to a mode of attack which had long
before been practised upon that coast, and is characteris-
tic of warfare in its rudest state: a huge pile of wood was
erected close to the walls or ramparts, and over-topping them,
and when the flames were at their height, the burning mate-
rials were, by means of long poles, thrust down into the
town till some of the houses were set on fire; the place was
then taken, and plundered. The inhabitants of the surround-
ing country then submitted to his mercy, and he advanced
with his fleet to the Humber. Thus far all had proceeded
prosperously with Tostig and his ally. The Anglo-Saxon
king, more apprehensive of a descent from Normandy than
from Norway, had assembled both his sea and land forces
upon the southern coast, taking his own station in the Isle
of Wight. There he had remained all the summer, and till
the nativity of the Virgin Mary (September 8th), at which
time it was then usual for the people to lay in their provision
for the winter; and then, says the Saxon Chronicle, “no man
could keep them there any longer." They were, therefore,
necessarily disbanded, and many of their ships were wrecked
on their way to London. Harold had hastened thither by
land in consequence of tidings that the Norwegian fleet had
entered the Humber, and were ascending the Ŏuse towards
York. Upon this hastily collecting an army, he marched
northward with all the speed that the exigency required.
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
Meantime earls Edwin and Morcar, who had baffled Tostig
in his first adventure, brought together all the force of the
adjacent country, and prepared to attack the invaders. Ha-
rold Hardrada drew up his army to give them battle, on the
right bank of the Ouse, not far from York, and to the south
of that city. One wing rested upon the river, the other
upon a ditch, and a wide marsh which was at that time
covered with water; the line on that side was designedly,
as it appears, left weak, the strength of his host being in the
right wing, where he had planted his banner, known by the
barbarous name of Landeyda, the waster of land. As he
* "Upon this part of the coast," says Camden (752), "when the winds
are laid, and the sea in a still calm, the waters thereof being spread into a
flat plain, very often a hideous groaning is suddenly heard here, and then the
fishermen are afraid to go to sea; who, according to their poor sense of things,
believe the ocean to be a huge monster, which is then hungry, and eager to
glut itself with men's bodies."
An instance of it, upon which one of St. Aidan's miracles was grafted,
is related by Bede, lib. iii. c. xvi. It is noticed in my Letters to Mr. Butler,
vindicating the Book of the Church, p. 197.
$
HAROLD ARRIVES AT YORK.
111
had expected, the earls attacked and forced the weaker
flank: so doing, they exposed themselves to a decisive
charge from his main force, and were overthrown with great
slaughter. Many were drowned in the ditch, and so many
perished in the marsh, that the Norwegians are said to have
The earls,
traversed it upon the bodies of their enemies.*
and as many as escaped, took shelter in York; but when
Harold Hardrada approached the city, and encamped near
Stamford Bridge to besiege it, the inhabitants for Tostig
had partisans among them, opened their gates, and submitted
to his mercy. An assembly was convened without the city,
in which they performed homage to him, as their king by
right of conquest; and after the assembly he returned to
his ships in the joy of victory. This was on Sunday, the
24th of September; the battle had been fought on the pre-
ceding Wednesday, being the eve of St. Matthias; and a
meeting had been appointed for the Monday within the city,
at which the Norwegian conqueror was to appoint officers,
give laws, and distribute lands. The citizens gave hostages
and supplied provisions, and peace had been proclaimed to
all who would go southward with Tostig and the king, and
serve them in completing the conquest of the realm.†
While they were rejoicing at their ships, Harold, who
had hastened day and night, reached York, with the van-
guard of his army, on the Sunday evening. The great body
of the inhabitants hated Tostig because of his cruelties: he
was therefore joyfully received, and the gates were shut and
the walls guarded, that no information might be carried to
the invaders. On the morrow, Hardrada, little deeming that
such an enemy was at hand, prepared for his advance, ap-
pointing one third of his people to remain with the fleet
under Õlaf, his son, two earls of the Orkneys, Paul and
Erlendr by name, and his especial favourite Eysteinn Orri,
the most distinguished of the Norwegian chiefs, to whom
his daughter Maria had been promised in marriage. The
morning was unusually bright and hot; and the Norwegians
expecting to be engaged that day in nothing but civil occu-
pations and ceremonies, left their hauberks on board, wear-
ing no other defensive armour than the shield and helmet;
they had their usual weapons, for these were never laid
aside, and some were armed as archers, but all were high in
spirits, and in the hope of speedily effecting the easy con-
* Antiq. Celto-Scand. 201-203. The Icelandic author erroneously sup-
poses Morcar to have fallen in this action; in other points, his account is
confirmed by the Saxon Chronicle.
Antiq. Celto-Scand. 204, 205. Sax. Chron. 359-361.
<
ま
112
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
4
quest of a great and rich kingdom. As they approached
they discovered a great body of men advancing to meet
them, and through the dust which arose from the trampling
of their horses, the glittering of shields and breastplates
was perceived. Hardrada halted his men, and sent for
Tostig to inquire of him who these might be. Tostig re-
plied, that verily it looked like a hostile army; yet, possibly,
it might prove to be his own friends and kinsmen coming to
solicit pardon, and offer their services, and plight their faith.
A few minutes' delay made it evident that the host which
advanced came prepared for battle; and Tostig then advised
that they should return with all speed to the ships, there to
arm themselves, and bring their whole force into the field,
or to have the protection of the ships if it should be thought
best not to encounter the enemy's cavalry. This advice was
rejected by Haidrada, either from a high sense of honour,
unseasonably indulged; or because he thought that a preci-
pitate retreat might dishearten his own people, and afford
opportunity of advantage to the enemy. He ordered Frirekr,
his standard-bearer, to set up his standard-the Waster of
Lands; sent three messengers at full speed to summon the
remainder of his army from the ships; and determined up-
on giving the English battle, in a brave confidence that
he could keep his ground till the reinforcement should be
brought up.
Having so resolved, he drew up his men in a long but not
a dense line, and bending both wings back till they met,
formed ther into a close circle, every where of equal depth,
shield touching shield, presenting thus a rampart of bucklers.
The Landeyda was planted in the centre, and by it the king
and his chosen companions were to have their station, in
readiness to face the danger on any side. This array was
chosen as the best means of defence against a far superior
cavalry, accustomed to charge in a great body, and if it were
repulsed, to wheel round, and repeat its attack upon any
point that appeared least guarded. The first line was in-
structed to present a circle of spears to the enemy, holding
them obliquely at a great elevation, and resting their ends
upon the earth; this required that they should place one
knee to the ground. The second line stood erect, holding
their spears in readiness to pierce the breasts of the horses
who should break through the first row. The archers also
were stationed to assist them. If Hardrada acted imprudent-
ly in waiting for the enemy, his dispositions were made with
equal promptitude and skill. Having thus arranged his men,
he rode round the circle, inspecting it, and was thus engaged
INTERVIEW WITH TOSTIG.
118
when the English army drew near enough for Harold to
distinguish him, and inquire who he was; for he was ren-
dered conspicuous by his splendid helmet, his sky-blue
mantle, and the black horse, with a white star on the fore-
head, which he rode. The horse stumbled and threw him,
but without hurt: he sprung lightly upon his feet, and said
that such a fall omened good success in his expedition; but
Harold gave a different interpretation to the accident, and
said, the king of Norway is a strong and comely person, but
augur that fortune has forsaken him.
I
*
Presently twenty horsemen, men and horse in complete
mail, approached from the English army, as if to parley, and
one of them asked if earl Tostig were in the field. Tostig
answered for himself, saying, "You know he is to be found
here!" The horseman then, in the name of his brother, king
Harold, offered him peace and the whole of Northumbria;
or, if that were too little, the third part of the kingdom.
"This is different indeed," replied the earl, "from the enmity,
the war, and the contumely with which no longer ago than
in the winter I was treated: had this offer been made then,
many who have perished might have been now among the
living, and far happier had been the condition of England!
But if I should accept these conditions, what compensation
for his expedition shall I offer to king Harold Hardrada, the
son of Sigurd ?" The horseman replied, "Seven feet of Eng-
lish ground,—or a little more, seeing that he exceeds other
men in stature!" Tostig made answer to that stern reply,
Go, bid king Harold make ready for battle! When the
Northmen relate the history of this day, they shall never say
that earl Tostig, when the fight was about to begin, forsook
king Harold Hardrada, the son of Sigurd, and joined his ene-
mies. We have one mind and one determination, either to die
an honourable death, or to possess England by the right of con-
quest." Here the conference ended, the horsemen returned to
their own army; and Hardrada then inquired of Tostig if he
knew who the man was who had spoken so proudly. Tostig,
replied, it was Harold himself, the king, earl Godwin's son.
Upon this, Hardrada observed this had been concealed too
long, for they had approached so near that Harold might ne-
ver have returned to relate of their slaughter. Right," re-
plied Tostig; “he acted with an incautiousness unworthy
of so great a prince, for what thou sayest might easily have
happenned. But when I saw that he offered me peace and
an ample kingdom, and that if I betrayed him I should be
* Antiq. Celto-Scand. 207-209.
66
L
K 2
114
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
7
guilty of his death, I chose rather, if such must be the alter-
native, that he should slay me, than that I should, in such a
manner, slay him."* Whether this be historically true, or
whether the northern historian thought it allowable to em-
bellish his narrative with fiction as well as with verse, the
circumstance is equally in the spirit of the times; and such
circumstances are of the highest value. They are as conso-
latory to a thoughtful and religious mind, as they are de-
lightful to a poetical imagination, for they exhibit that heroic
dignity and sense of honour which were the redeeming vir-
tues of those ages; when their place is not supplied by Chris-
tian principle, it may well be doubted whether modern civi-
lization has either left or substituted any thing so good.
:
When the battle began, the English horsemen could make
no impression upon the close circle of their enemies, till they
feigned to be disheartened and to fly, and then turned success-
fully upon the incautious Norwegians, who had been tempted
to break their order. Hardrada exerted himself to encourage
his people he was armed in a coat of mail, called after the
name of some favourite lady, Emma. It reached half way
down the leg, but it seems to have left the neck unprotected,
and there he was pierced by an arrow, which instantly killed
him. Most of those who fought beside him fell: his banner,
however, was born back to its station; and Tostig succeed-
ed to the command. Harold then sent to offer peace and se-
curity both to his brother and to all the Norwegians who
were left; but, indignant at the loss of their king, and burn-
ing for vengeance, they replied that they would perish to the
last man rather than accept of terms from the English. It
was, indeed, on their part, a fight of madness and despair.
Eysteinn Orri came up at this time from their ships, leading
the reinforcement; they had hastened so that they arrived
breathless, and almost spent with heat and exertion. But
upon hearing of Hardrada's death, as if devoting themselves
to revenge and follow him, they made such an attack upon
the victorious army, that it was spoken of in after times by
the appellation of Orrahrid, Orri's tempest. Fatigue, and
heat, and madness, made many of them drop their shields,
and throw off their breastplates; and some of those who did
not thus expose themselves to the well-armed enemy, fell
and died of exhaustion without a wound. The greater part
of the Norwegians perished, and all their chiefs. Tostig
was among the slain. Hardrada's son Olaf had been left at
the ships, and thither they who left the field endeavoured to
* Antiq. Celto-Scand. 209, 210.
HARDRADA AND TOSTIG SLAIN.
115
seek shelter. The conquerors pursued to complete their victo-
ry; but one brave Norwegian, like Horatius Cocles in the
romantic history of Rome, took his post upon a bridge, and
singly, by his great strength and prodigious exertions, im-
peded the pursuit, till one who was more astute than gene-
rous, and perhaps than brave, got under the bridge, and
thrust a spear into him under his coat of mail. The passage
being then no longer defended, the fugitives and the fleet
were at Harold's mercy, but he spared them; and Olaf and
the bishop, who was in the expedition, and one of the Ork-
ney earls, upon swearing that they would for ever maintain
faith and friendship to this land, were allowed to depart with
all the survivors in twenty-four ships.* That day's tragedy
produced a salutary effect upon the heart of Olaf;† and the
Norwegians enjoyed five-and-twenty years of tranquil pros-
perity under his peaceful and beneficent reign.
It is said that no bloodier battle had ever before been
fought on English ground; certainly never was one more
bravely contested. But, decisive as the victory was, Harold
obtained by it only a short respite from his fate: for only
three days after the defeat and death of Hardrada and Tos-
tig, William of Normandy landed on the coast of Sussex to
claim the crown, with the pretext of a lawful title, and, to
enforce that title, at the head of a formidable army.
Of all the northern hosts who established themselves in
other countries by conquest, those who gave their name to
Normandy are they who most rapidly advanced in civili-
zation. They seem immediately to have grafted them-
selves upon the old Romano-Gallic stock, and adopting the
language of the people whom they subdued, thus to have
qualified their children, in the first generation, for receiving
the religion, manners, and arts of Christendom. They seem
also, like the Jutes, Saxons, and Angles, who fixed them-
selves in Britain, to have disregarded maritime concerns
when they had won a country for themselves. When Wil-
liam resolved upon claiming the English crown, by virtue
of Edward the Confessor's testament, the ships for trans-
porting his army were to be built. His chiefs were far from
unanimous in advising him to the adventure; but when his
resolution had been taken, both they and the clergy contri-
* Antiq. Celto-Scand. 212-216. Sax. Chron. 261, 262.
† Hardrada's daughter died in the Orkneys, on the day of the battle in
which her betrothed husband fell. Two sons of Tostig wer? taken to Nor-
way by Olaf, where they were honourably educated, and lived in strict
friendship with the king. They became eminent and excellent men, and
both left a flourishing posterity
116
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
j
buted largely to the outfit, supplying money toward the cost
and liquor for the workmen. The number of ships has been
variously stated, from 696 to 3000; the latter number, as in-
cluding the smaller barks, would not be too great for the
largest fleet of which any memory in those times was pre-
served, and that the ships were generally of no considerable
burthen may be inferred from the unquestionable authority
of the Bayeux tapestry, where the process of ship-building
is represented, and men are seen drawing them to the sea by
ropes. This most curious relic of antiquity, which is still
preserved, is believed to have been the work of William's
queen, Mathilda, and her women. That queen presented her
husband with the ship in which he was to lead the van,
and which was distinguished by its splendid decorations in
the day, and in the darkness by the light at its topmast. Its
vanes were gilded; its sails were crimson; and at its head
was the figure of a child, armed with a bow and arrow, and
ready to let fly. In the same ship the white banner was
hoisted which pope Alexander II. had consecrated and bless-
ed for the expedition. By engaging to make the English
once more acknowledge that authority in the church of
Rome which Harold, like all the more vigorous of his pre-
decessors, was little disposed to regard; and by promising
that the annual tribute of St. Peter's pence should duly be
collected and paid, William's able agents had induced the
pope to pronounce a sentence in favour of William's title,—
acting thus as supreme judge, though Harold neither re-
cognised in him any right to decide, nor conferred it by re-
ferring the matter to his decision. With the banner the pope
sent him a bull, not more in furtherance of William's views,
than of the papal policy; and one of St. Peter's hairs, set in
a precious ring. The confirmation of his title, which Wil-
liam thought it expedient to obtain, would be of no little
weight in disposing the English clergy to acknowledge it;
and the nation, in consequence, to submit to him as their
lawful king. But he knew the temper and the ability of
his opponent, and, therefore, omitted no exertions for drawing
succours from far and near. Adventurers came at his invi-
tation from Britany and from Poitou, from Maine and Anjou,
from Aquitaine, from Piedmont, from Burgundy, and from
the banks of the Rhine. His father-in-law, Baldwin, earl of
Flanders, aided him largely with men, ships, and stores;
and though the French king, Philip I., refused him any as-
sistance, he made no attempt to impede the expedition, and
allowed as many of his subjects as were disposed to join it;
probably he expected that a formidable neighbour might
ST. VALERY BORNE IN PROCESSIÓN.
117
either be engaged at a distance during the remainder of
his life by the success of the expedition, or weakened by
its failure.* Another motive, undoubtedly, for which the
neighbouring princes encouraged William in his attempt,
was, that their own states might be relieved by it from the
growth of that restless and turbulent class whose only oc-
cupation was war, and who had to make their fortunes by
the sword.†
The fleet assembled in the month of August, at the mouth
of the river Dive, which enters the sea between the Seine
and the Orne. The wind was adverse, and continued so for
a whole month; but by this delay, unfavourable as it seem-
ed, the success of the enterprise was materially promoted.
For Harold had stationed his fleet off the Isle of Wight, to
watch the southern shores, and had encamped an army near.
This guard was vigilantly kept during the whole summer;
but, in September, their provisions were exhausted, and the
ships dispersed in consequence. The coast was thus left
unguarded, and at the same time the land force was called off
to oppose the Norwegian invasion. At this favourable junc-
ture the wind came round to the southward, and carried the
fleet to St. Valery, near Dieppe, the nearest port between
Normandy and England; but then the weather changed. It
became necessary to cast anchor and wait there for several
days, and during that time a gale came on, and several ships
were lost with all their crews. The hope with which men
engage in such expeditions sickens when it is long deferred;
and though William sought to conceal the extent of the dis-
aster from his men, or at least to remove all vestiges of it,
by causing the bodies of the shipwrecked to be privately
buried as soon as they were found; and though he en-
deavoured to keep his people in heart by increasing their
rations both of food and of cheering liquor; there were
many who abandoned the enterprise, and more who began to
think that Providence had declared against it. That man
was mad, they said, who sought to take possession of an-
other's country. God was displeased at such designs, and
manifested his displeasure now by withholding the wind
* L Although in these advancements and turns of princes," says Daniel,
"there is a concurrency of dispositions, and a state of times prepared for it,
yet is it strange, that so many mighty men of the French nation would ad-
venture their lives and fortunes to add England to Normandy to make it
more than France, and so great a crown to a duke, who was too great for
them already. But where mutations are destined, the counsels of men
must be corrupted, and there will fall out all advantages to serve that busi-
ness." p. 35.
†Turner, ii. 563-565. Palgrave, 365-369. Thierry, Hist. de la Conquête
- l'Angleterre par les Normands, i. 279–280.
118
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
they wanted. But William had spiritual counsellors at
hand, who knew as well how to encourage men under such
circumstances, as he himself did in the day of battle. By
their advice the body of St. Valery, the patron of that place,
where a town had grown over his cell, was taken from his
shrine, and carried in procession through the camp, the sol-
diers devoutly kneeling as it passed, and praying for his in-
tercession. In the ensuing night the wind again veered, and
to the great glory of St. Valery, blew fair for England.
No time was then lost; they embarked with all speed,
and, to ensure order when they should reach the hostile
coast, William enjoined all the ships to anchor round his at
night, and not recommence their way till the beacon on his
topmast should be lighted as a signal, and the trumpet blow.
Yet, leading the van himself, he outsailed the whole fleet,
as if in his impatience forgetful at the time of his own in-
structions; and when night closed not a vessel was in sight.
In the morning nothing was to be seen from the mast but
sea and sky. He then anchored, and had a sumptuous
breakfast served, with spiced wines, that his crew, by good
cheer, might be kept in good heart. The second time the
sailor went aloft he descried four ships in the distance; and
on mounting again he exclaimed, "I see a forest of masts!"
They landed, without opposition, on the 28th of September,
between Pevensey and Hastings, at a place called Bulver-
hithe. William occupied the Roman castle at Pevensey;
erected three wooden forts, the materials of which he had
brought with him ready for construction; threw up works
to protect part of his fleet, and burnt, it is said, the rest, or
otherwise rendered them unserviceable. Harold was at
York, sitting at dinner, and still rejoicing over his recent
victory, when the messenger arrived with the news of Wil-
liam's landing. He lost no time in repairing to London;
but he is said to have lost many of his best soldiers by
taking to himself the whole spoil of Hardrada's army, in-
stead of dividing it among them. For this he has been
hastily censured, as if an ill-timed and unwonted covetous-
ness had been his motive: he may have acted unwisely, but
not in this spirit. The men who deserted him in disgust
were his own subjects, on whose service he relied, because
both by duty and by their common interest they were bound
to serve him; his mercenaries remained faithful, and as they
could only have been rendered so by the pay for which they
served, it may fairly be inferred that all spoils were in part
immediately appropriated, and in part reserved for their pay-
ment. When he reached London he manned seven hundred
BATTLE OF HASTINGS.
119
ships, and sent them round to hinder William's escape; for
this also he has been censured, as weakening thereby his
land forces by so large a draught from them. But Harold
had no distrust either of his own or of the nation's strength,
and looking for a second victory, he had determined that it
should be as decisive as the first. The contest indeed was
brought to as speedy a termination, and as decisive, but with
far other issue than the Anglo-Saxon king had, in the pride
of his heart, anticipated.
The battle of Hastings belongs not to the subject of this
work. "Then," says Daniel, "was tried, by the great as-
size of God's judgment in battle, the right of power between
the English and Norman nations; a battle, the most memo-
rable of all others, and howsoever miserably lost, yet most
nobly fought on the part of England." But it should ever
be the proper object of an historian to show both how evil in
its just consequences produces evil, and how all-wise Provi-
dence eventually educes good from it. The Norman conquest
is the most momentous event in English history, perhaps the
most momentous in the middle ages. So severe a chastise-
ment was never, except in the case of the Wisigoths, in-
flicted upon any nation, which was not destroyed by it.
One of the exhortations which William addressed to his
men before the battle was, that they should take vengeance
for the massacre of the Danes, their kinsmen. More than
threescore years had elapsed since the perpetration of that
great national crime: the Danes themselves had taken speedy
and signal vengeance for their murdered countrymen; and
they had subsequently, by the effects of conquest, compact,
and intermarriages, become one people with the Anglo-
Saxons, to whom they were as nearly allied in race as to
the Normans, and with whom they had always been con-
nected by the bond of language; whereas the Normans had
rejected the speech of the country from whence they still
derived their name. In William's mouth, therefore, this
was a mere pretext; he would not have advanced it if, in-
stead of contending with the conqueror of Hardrada, his con-
test had been with the Norwegians. In that case he would
probably have presented himself to the southern Anglo-
Saxons as their avenger and deliverer. But, in using it
against Harold, he no doubt appealed to a prevalent feeling
among the various people of whom his army was composed,
—a feeling that the reproach and the burden of a national
crime lay upon the Anglo-Saxons; for there had been no
* Turner, i. 574–584. Palgrave, 369. 378. Thierry, i. 289–292.
120
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
*
manifestation, no visible sign of national repentance. The
government which, as a government,-the nation, which, as
a nation, had inherited this unatoned offence, were to be, the
one for ever overthrown, the other subjugated, oppressed,
and finally, by a slow and severe process, regenerated. But
this was not all. During the intervening years between the
massacre and the conquest, the state of manners had been
greatly corrupted. The Danes who settled in England had
brought a fresh infusion of barbarous manners and barba-
rous vices to a people who, like all others, were more apt to
retrograde towards barbarism than to advance in civilization;
and the nation had never been so thoroughly depraved as at
this time, when it was punished for its sins by a foreign
conquest. Pride and sensuality had hardened the hearts of
the great. The means for supplying their riotous expendi-
ture were procured either by rapine or by the sale of their
servile vassals, and of those who, either by the law of war
or by lawless violence, were in their power. The mother
of earl Godwin was a regular dealer in slaves, buying and
selling them, and selecting assortments of beautiful girls for
exportation to Denmark. This woman was struck dead by
lightning, and her death was regarded as an infliction of Di-
vine vengeance: not that the traffic itself excited any sense of
iniquity; it had become too common for this, apart from any
consideration of its origin as a mitigation of barbarous war-
fare; but the peculiar branch in which she had become no-
torious occasioned indignation when carried on by one of her
sex; and station. In those ages parents exposed their chil-
dren for sale in the market-place like cattle. Revolting as
this is to human nature, we may be consoled by believing
that it was the poverty of the parents in most cases that
consented, not the will; for it is less painful to contemplate
distress than depravity; and we may be humbled by the
certainty that the condition of the children thus consigned
to bondage was far, far happier than that of those who, in
our own days, are not sold indeed, but bound to a chim-
ney sweeper or a cotton mill. One yet more odious feature
belongs to the slave trade of the Anglo-Saxons: their chiefs
are charged with selling for prostitution, when they were
tired of them, the women whom, by an abuse of legal power,
they had made their concubines; and of selling at the same
their own unborn offspring. With the utter pravity which
such impieties indicate, impiety of another kind kept pace.
Our great and good and glorious Alfred had raised up a
* Thierry, 320.
SINS OF THE NATION.
izi
learned clergy in his dominions, of whose scriptural belief
and scriptural labours there are proofs still extant. That
belief had been corrupted, by the system of fraudulent su-
perstition which Dunstan and his associates had superin-
duced. Amid the general dissolution of manners learning
was almost extinguished; while heathen practices, continu-
ally revived by the influx of semi-pagans from the Baltic,
obtained among the people. The outward observances of
Christianity were performed by the nobles with an insolent
irreverence, which evinced but too surely how entirely the
spirit was wanting. We know that this depravity was not
universal, because there are some always in all ages whom
their own happy nature, with the assistance of God's grace,
preserves from the contagion of surrounding wickedness.
Were it not for these, who are the salt of the earth, the
whole human race would be swept away as at the deluge.
But it was general enough to be national, and to deserve and
draw on at last a national judgment. That judgment, se-
vere as it was, was dispensed in mercy. A race of conquer-
ors was introduced, who, though not less ferocious than the
former masters of the land, possessed in an eminent degree
the generous qualities and heroic virtues which are connect-
ed with the martial spirit when a sense of honour ennobles
it. They had wider views of policy, and they were pro-
gressive in civilization. By the time that they became one
people with those whom they had subdued, the language of
the whole nation had been changed by gradual interfusion,
and that change has, even more than our insular situation,
contributed to make the English a peculiar people. But,
though the Anglo-Saxon throne was subverted, the nation
conquered, the name lost, and the language fused into a
composite speech, the line of Alfred was restored, his spirit
still survives in his institutions, and the navy which he
founded is still the pride and strength of England.
CHAP. III.
FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO THE ACCESSION OF
KING JOHN.
A. D. 10661199.
By one hard-fought and decisive battle William obtained
the throne; the legitimate heir, Edgar Atheling, though
popular both for his descent and his personal qualities in
VOL. I.
L
122
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
.
3
other respects, had been previously set aside for want of the
ability and vigour of character necessary in such times; and
as the conqueror's claim to the crown was quite as valid as
that of the slain king, the chiefs, seeing no present means
of resistance, and having no alternative, invited him to ac-
cept the crown which he had won. Any national struggle
was not to be apprehended, and by a system of policy as
efficient as it was remorseless, he was prepared to prevent
or punish partial insurrections. But danger might still be
expected from Norway, in revenge for Hardrada's death;
from Denmark, in support of its own right of conquest; and
from the sons of Harold, who had carried off the greater
part of the English naval force. William had no fleet
wherewith to guard against their invasions; the ships which
his allies and associates had supplied, had returned to their
own ports as soon as their service was performed; and
those which he had built for the passage had not been con-
structed for other service, so that if they were destroyed
upon his landing, he made little sacrifice in destroying them.
Godwin and Edmund, the sons of Harold, had fled to
1067. Ireland after their father's fall; they returned from
thence in the ensuing year with threescore sail, ascended the
Bristol Channel, and debarking at the mouth of the Avon
plundered that fertile country; then made an attack on Bristol,
but were bravely resisted and repulsed. With whatever pre-
text they came, or whatever claim of right they might ad-
vance, they acted as common enemies; insomuch, that when
having laden their ships with booty; they made a descent on
their return upon the Somersetshire coast, William did not
think it necessary to send a Norman force against them, but
left them to be opposed by their own countrymen, under Ed-
noth, who had distinguished himself in their father's service.
He gave them battle, and fell; the loss was considerable on
either side, but the invaders were so roughly handled, that
they took to their ships and made again for Ireland. They re-
turned about the following midsummer, with a fleet of
1068.
nearly the same force, and landed in the Tavy, expect-
ing, probably, to be joined by the Western Britons, and appa-
rently not knowing that Exeter, where Harold's mother had
taken refuge, and where the inhabitants had risen for her
sake, had been reduced by a Norman force. Earl Breon,
with that force, came suddenly upon them, and defeated
them with such slaughter in two battles on the same day,
that of those who arrived with more than sixty ships, there
escaped scarcely men enough for manning two.
So severe
a loss deterred the Irish from affording any further assistance
EXPEDITION AGAINST THE NORMANS.
123
to the sons of Harold; and the exiles repaired to Denmark,
hoping there to meet with allies more persevering as well as
more powerful.*
Norway had sent forth so large a proportion of its strength
in Hardrada's fatal expedition, that it was in no condition to
repeat the effort. Harold had bound the son of that king by
an oath to maintain faith and friendship towards England for
evermore. That obligation, it might be thought, was an-
nulled by the Norman conquest, and Olaf could hardly have
been bound by any scruple on that score from assisting the
sons of Harold in their attempts against the Norman con-
queror; but he had obtained the name of Kyrri, that is to
say, the quiet, for his peaceful temper, which, happily for
himself and his people, suited the circumstances wherein he
was placed. It was otherwise with Denmark; that kingdom
had lost none of its strength, nor abated any of its preten-
sions, and its king, Svend Estridsen, believed that the right
of inheritance to the crown of Englandt had vested in him
upon Edward's death, though Harold had intruded by fraud,
and the duke of Normandy afterwards by force. His claim
was likely to meet with support from the Anglo-Danish part
of the people, and, indeed, from the whole nation, who from
habits of old licence had passed under so severe an order,
that it might well be called oppressive; and William en-
gaged Adelbert, the archbishop of Bremen, to use his en-
deavours for averting the danger by persuasion, or even by
money. The archbishop, it is said, was induced by gifts‡
to undertake this negotiation. Whether the sort of Dane-
gelt, which it was not impolitic thus to offer, was accepted,
is not known. Adelbert's intervention was not without
some effect, but only for a time. The solicitations of the
emigrants were more effectual, and in the third year after the
conquest, Svend sent a fleet of two hundred and forty sail
to act in conjunction with the king of Scotland and the
Northumbrians, who it was known were ready for revolt.
His two sons, Harold and Canute, embarked in the expedi-
tion, which was under the command of their uncle Osbern;
and Poles, Saxons, and Frisians enlisted in it, tempted by
the hope of plunder. They entered the Humber about the
middle of August, landed in force, and immediately advanced
upon York, wasting, with wonted barbarity, the country as
* Sax. Chron. 267-270. William of Malmesbury, 328. Turner's Middle
Ages of England, i. 98. Campbell, i. 77.
† Holberg (i. 181.) says, it is remarkable that most of the Danish writers
style him king of Denmark, Norway, and England.
↑ Pontanus, 189.
"
.
124
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
ST
they went. Edgar Atheling, and the exiles who had taken
refuge in Scotland, presently joined them.
York was occupied by a Norman garrison under William
Malet: they were strong enough to maintain internal peace,
but not to encounter a Danish army acting in a popular
cause, and with the support of the people. Upon the news
of their approach, the archbishop Aldred is said to have died
of "very grief and anguish of mind," for the inevitable
horrors which he foresaw. Malet distrusted the citizens;
and he set fire to the suburb, lest they should take advan-
tage of it to act against him. This precaution proved fatal
both to the Normans and the city. A strong wind suddenly
rising carried the flames within the walls; the minster,
with its famous library, and great part of the city was con-
sumed. The Normans were driven out by the fire which
they had kindled: in this confusion they came unexpect-
edly upon the enemy, and were attacked, under all the dis-
advantages of disorder, by a far superior force. Three
thousand of them were slain,-a greater loss than any other
which they sustained after the battle of Hastings. Malet
and his wife and children were spared for the sake of their
ransom ;-and this mercy would not have been shown
toward the Norman chief, unless he had used his own
power mercifully. The whole of Northumbria rejoicing
in this event, eagerly threw off the Norman yoke; and,
if a severe winter had not set in unusually early, the
conquerors would have marched towards London without
delay. The Danes wintered between the Ouse and
1070. the Trent. With the earliest spring William was
in the field. On the first tidings of the revolt, he had sworn
a dreadful oath that he would lay Northumbria waste, and
extirpate its inhabitants. One part of that oath was ob-
served with atrocious fidelity; and if the other was not in
like manner literally performed, it was for no want of wicked
will in the oppressor. Marching first to the confluence of
the Trent and the Ouse, he there pitched his camp, and, in
the only attempt which was made to meet him in the field,
directed his efforts more against the Northumbrians than the
Danes. The issue was, that the former were routed with
great slaughter, Edgar Atheling and a few of his companions
flying again into Scotland; and that the latter retreated
among the marshes of Lindsey, where they could not be
attacked, and from whence they had, at any time, the means
of removal in their ships; for William had no naval force
with which to intercept their retreat. He treated, therefore,
with Osbern; gratified his cupidity with a large sum of
NORTHERN ARMAMENT.
125
money, in addition to the spoils wherewith his fleet was
laden, and permitted, or rather invited, him to plunder the
northern sea-coast, on his way back to Denmark. Thus, in
ridding himself of these enemies, William made them instru-
mental to his own purposes of vengeance. While the Danes
devastated the whole seaboard, his army laid the interior of
the province waste with fire and sword. Not a single habi-
tation, it is said, was left between York and Durham; and
that whole tract of country, which had been full of towns
and cultivated fields, remained desolate for a century after-
wards. Above an hundred thousand persons are said to
have suffered in this indiscriminating havoc, which, more
than any other of the conqueror's actions, has fixed upon
his great name an indelible reproach.†
The Danish fleet suffered so much from storms on its re-
turn, that but little of the plunder reached Denmark; and
Svend signified his displeasure at the corrupt and faithless
conduct of the commander by banishing him. He assembled
a second fleet for the assistance of his confederates, who, in
the fastnesses of the fens, maintained a fierce independence.
But William, seeing the necessity of providing a maritime
force, had, by that time, collected ships; and when Svend's
son Canute came with two hundred sail, he could neither
relieve his brave but unfortunate allies nor venture to land,
though he entered the mouth of the Thames. No farther
invasion was attempted till after the death of Svend, and of
Harold his son and successor. Canute, known after-
1080.
wards by the appellations of Saint and King, re-
sumed the intention, stung to it, as it seemed, by the re-
membrance of his former failure and of his forefathers' ex-
ploits. For this purpose he had an interview with the Nor-
wegian king, Olaf the Quiet, upon the river Gotalf, or Go-
tha-Elf, near Konungahella (or Konghell,) which was then
the capital of Norway. Canute represented that they both
had hereditary wrongs to revenge upon England; and he pro-
* Among these were the treasures of Peterborough minster, for to this
expedition no doubt the account in the Saxon Chronicle relates (pp. 273-
275). The author of this portion, who, in Mr. English's careful dissection
of this Chronicle, is supposed to have been Hugo Candidus, is mistaken in
saying that Svend was with the Danes in person. Campbell (i. 76.) repre-
sents it as a second invasion.
† Sax. Chron. 281. Holinshed, ii. 10-12. Pontanus, 189. Holberg, i. 181.
Turner, i. 102.
"Nec enim contentus initia imperii sui orientalibus illustrasse victoriis,
etiam Angliam, infelicitate amissam, hæreditario jure repetendam existi-
mavit. Recolebat nimirum bellicam majorum gloriam, cumque opibus im-
perii fines, longe ex insulæ unius titulis, quam ex omnibus orientis spoliis
exstitisse illustriores latiusque propagatos."-Pontanus, 197.
}
L2
ہر
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
126
"
posed that Olaf should either take the command of an arma-
ment, to which Denmark would contribute sixty ships, or
send the same number to his aid, if he preferred leaving the
command to him. Olaf replied, that he was not wanting in
inclination for such an enterprise, but that Norway had ex-
hausted her strength in Hardrada's fatal expedition. She
could no longer raise such an army; nor was he himself
such a leader as his father had been,-but conscious of his
own inferiority, and of his incapacity for so weighty a com-
mand. Denmark might, with more confidence, rely upon
the good fortune which had attended its wars with England.
He, therefore, would supply the appointed proportion of
ships, and leave the command and the glory to Canute.
Norway accordingly supplied threescore large ships, well
manned and stored; and Canute's father-in-law, Robert le
Frison, earl of Flanders, who took an eager interest in the
expedition, engaged to join it with six hundred, the greater
part, no doubt, of far inferior burden. The united armament
would have amounted to a thousand sail. The Liimfiord
was the place of rendezvous for the Norwegian and Danish
fleets: the entrance to that deep inland gulf was then navi-
gable for great ships, though, in later times, it has been im-
peded by an accumulation of sand. All was ready, and the
day for sailing appointed, when Canute discovered that his
brother Olaf, governor of Sleswic, who was to have accom-
panied him, had secretly withdrawn to his government,
meaning to take advantage of his absence and seize the
throne. He was apprehended and sent in chains to Flanders,
there to be kept in safe prison by the earl; but the disaffec-
tion which he had excited broke up the expedition. His
partisans reported, that, because of the delay thus occasion-
ed, the provisions for the voyage would be found insuffi-
cient; and desertion, in consequence, took place to such an
extent, that Canute was left with only the Norwegian fleet.
This he, of necessity, dismissed, sending large presents to
the king, and granting to the Norwegians the freedom of all
his marts and ports in reward for their fidelity. And thus
the last invasion was frustrated with which England was
threatened by those enemies who, during three centuries, had
been its scourge.*
The bruit of this intended expedition kept William in a
state of anxious preparation for some two years, and brought
fresh burdens upon his unfortunate subjects. He revived the
danegelt upon this occasion; and because many lands which
* Snorre, Antiq. Celto-Scand. 226-228. Pontanus, 197, 198. Holberg, i.
188, 189.
WILLIAM RUFUS.
127
had been charged with it under the Anglo-Saxon kings were
exempted from this tax when he granted them to his nobles,
he compensated the deficiency by raising it upon the others
to six shillings a hide.* He did not, however, revive it as an
annual supply; but regarded it as originally intended, as an
impost to be levied upon extraordinary occasions. In the first
year of his reign he could trust the English-even those who
had been most attached to Harold-so well, as to employ
them in defending him against the first invaders; but after
resentment, distrust, and anger had caused him to rule over
them, not as a king who regarded their welfare as his own,
but as a conqueror who, for his own security, must break
their spirits to the yoke,-it was only upon the Normans
that he could rely, and upon the mercenaries, whom, on this
occasion, he collected from all countries on this side the
Alps. They were mostly foot soldiers and archers; and it
was, indeed, chiefly by archers that the battle of Hastings
had been won, the bow not having been used in warf by the
Anglo-Saxons or Danes. So many were now brought over,
that their numbers oppressed the kingdom; for he quartered
them throughout the country, to be paid as well as support-
ed. Men, says the Saxon annalist, wondered that the land
could feed all that force. One of the bands which he en-
gaged at this time belonged to Hugues, brother to the king
of France; for when the common interest of all nations,
aided by the influence of Christianity, had put an end to
the sea kings and the system of sea roving, the same class
of men who had formerly been so disposed of employing
themselves now in the land service, little regarding whom
they served, or in what cause. Still further to guard against
the apprehended invasion, he ordered the land about the sea
coast to be laid waste, that if the Danes landed they might
find no ready supply of food.§
The conqueror had felt the want of a naval force; and,
knowing that it could only be supported by commerce,
he invited foreigners to frequent his ports, and promised
that they and their property should be perfectly secure.
His successor had recourse to a readier means for raising
ships. When his elder brother was preparing an armament
in Normandy, for the purpose of asserting his right to the
English crown, the Red King permitted his subjects to fit
* Lyttelton, iii. 69, 70.
↑ Holinshed, ii. 26. "As John Rous testifieth." Hardrada, however, had
archers with him, and was killed by an arrow.
‡ William of Malmesbury, 336. Holinshed, ii. 23.
§ Sax. Chron. 288.
Henry, iii. 502.
L
!
128
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
7
out cruisers; and these adventurers, who seem to have been
the first that may be called privateers, rendered him good
service; for the Normans, knowing that there was no navy
to oppose them, and that when they landed they were more
likely to be received by their friends and confederates than
to be attacked before they were collected in sufficient num-
bers for defence, began to cross the Channel, each at their
own convenience, without concert, or any regard to mutual
support; and so many of them were intercepted and destroy-
ed by these cruisers, that the attempt at invasion was, in
consequence, abandoned.* The remainder of Rufus's reign,
short as it was, sufficed, through his own vigorous policy
and the carelessness of his antagonist, for him to acquire a
superiority at sea, which enabled him, at any time, to in-
vade Normandy.
Once when he was hunting, a messenger from beyond sea
brought him news that the city of Mans, which he had added
to his dominions, was besieged. He instantly turned his
horse, and set off for the nearest port. The nobles who
were in his company reminded him that it was necessary to
call out troops, and wait for them. "I shall see who will
follow me, 99
was his reply; "and, if I understand the
temper of the youth of this kingdom, I shall have people
enough." Waiting for nothing, he reached the port almost
unattended, and embarked immediately, although it blew a
storm. The sailors entreated him to have patience till the
weather should abate, and the wind become more favourable.
But he made answer, "I never heard of a king that was
shipwrecked. Weigh anchor, and you will see that the
winds will be with us!" He has been extolled for this
act of characteristic impatience and resolution, because the
event happened to be fortunate: celerity was of great im-
portance; and the news of his landing, as it was concluded
that he came in force, sufficed for raising the siege. It
was not in him a bravado in imitation of Cæsar: that well-
known story was known to very few in those ages, the Red
King had neither inclination nor leisure for learning; and it
was even more in character with him than with Cæsar, the
act itself being of more daring and less reasonable hardi-
hood. On the other hand, he has been condemned, and
with more justice, as manifesting here a spirit of audacious
impiety, for which, among his other vices, he was peculiarly
noted; and there are writers who, falling into an opposite
* I follow Dr. Campbell's statement in this (i. 81, 82,) though I have not
happened to meet with his authorities.
↑ William of Malmesbury, 390.
SHIPWRECK OF PRINCE HENRY.
129
extreme, have presumed to say that this special sin was
visited by a special judgment upon the person of his nephew,
prince Henry, the pride and hope of his father, and, in-
deed, of the English nation, who saw in him the represent-
ative, by his mother's side, of the old Anglo-Saxon line.
William's bravado would, no doubt, be remembered after
that catastrophe with poignant feelings by the bereaved
father; but Henry Beauclerc had in his own conscience an
unerring witness that his own sins of ambition had too
surely deserved such a chastisement. The shipwreck of
this young prince is the next event in the maritime history
of England. Many shipwrecks have been attended with
far greater loss of lives, and with far more dreadful circum-
stances; but none can ever have produced so general an
emotion in this country, nor has any single event ever been
the occasion here of so much national suffering, as this,
which opened the way for Stephen's usurpation.
1120.
After a successful campaign in France, happily
concluded through the pope's mediation by a peace,
Henry embarked from Barfleur for England, with this his
only legitimate son, then recently married, and in his seven-
teenth year.
One of the finest vessels in the fleet was a
galley of fifty oars, called "The White Ship," and com-
manded by a certain Thomas Fitzstephens, whose grand-
father had carried over the Conqueror when he invaded the
kingdom which he won. Upon this ground Fitzstephens
solicited the honour of now conveying the king, upon an
occasion as much more joyful as it was less momentous.
Henry was pleased with a request preferred for such a
motive; and, though having chosen a vessel for himself, he
did not think proper to alter his own arrangements, he left
prince William, with the rest of his family, and their friends
and attendants, to take their passage in the White Ship; and
embarking towards evening on the 25th of November, in
fair weather, he sailed for England. There were with the
prince his natural brother Richard, and their sister the lady
Marie* countess of Perch, Richard earl of Chester with his
wife, who was the king's niece, and her brother the prince's
governor, and the flower of the young nobility both of Nor-
mandy† and England, 140 in number, eighteen being women
of the first rank: these and their retinues amounting, with
* The Countess Notha, Fabyan calls her, apparently mistaking for her
real name a word that denotes her illegitimacy.
"Pene tota propago omnium nobilium Normannorum," are the abbot of
Coggeshale's words in his Chronicle. Martene et Durand, Vet. Script.
Ampleg. Coll. tom. v. 205.
4
130
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
the crew, to about 300 persons. The prince, being detained
a little after his father, imprudently ordered three casks of
wine to be distributed among the men; and the captain, as
well as the sailors, drank, in the joy of his heart, too freely,
and promised to overtake every ship that had sailed before
them. Accordingly he hoisted all sail, and plied all oars.
The evening had closed before they started, but it was bright
moonlight; the men exerted themselves under all the excite-
ment of hilarity and pride and emulation, dreaming of no
danger; the captain and the helmsman, under the same
excitement, were unmindful of any; and when the ship was
going through the water with all the stress of oars and sails,
she struck upon a rock, called the Catte-raze, with such
violence, that several planks were started, and she instantly
began to fill. A boat was immediately lowered, and the
prince was escaping in it,-which he might easily have
done, for the shore was at no great distance,-when his
sister, whom there had been no time to take off, or who in
the horror of the moment had been forgotten, shrieked out to
him to save her. It was better to die than turn a deaf ear to
that call: he ordered the boat to put back and take her in;
but such numbers leapt into it at the same time, that the
boat was swamped, and all perished.* The ship also pre-
sently went down with all on board: only two persons, the
one a young noble, son of Gilbert de Aquila, the other a
butcher of Rouen, saved themselves; by climbing the mast,
and clinging to the top, they kept their heads above water.
Fitzstephens rose after the vessel had sunk, and might have
taken the same chance of preservation; but calling to mind,
after the first instinctive effort, that he had been the unhappy
occasion of this great calamity, and dreading the reproaches,
and perhaps the punishment that awaited him, he preferred
present death as the least evil. The youth became exhausted
during the night; and commending his poor companion to
God's mercy with his last words, he lost his hold and sunk.
The butcher held on till morning, when he was seen from the
shore and saved; and from him, being the only survivor, the
circumstances of the tragedy were learnt. The tidings reached
*"Which sudden clap of God's judgment, coming in a calm of glory,
when all these bustlings seemed past over, might make a conscience shrink
with terror, to see oppression and supplantation repaid with the extinction
of that for which so much had been wrought; and the line masculine of
Normandy expired in the third inheritor, as if to begin the fate laid on all
the future succession hitherunto, wherein the third heir in a right descent
seldom or never enjoyed the crown of England; but that, either by usurpa.
tion or extinction of the male blood, it received an alteration: which may
teach princes to observe the ways of righteousness, and let men alone with
their rights, and God with his providence."—Daniel, 65,
USAGE OF WRECKERS.
131
England in the course of that day; but no one would com-
municate it to the king: no one, not even those who had lost
dear connexions of their own by the same awful event, could
bear to witness the first emotions of his grief. Three days
they persisted in thus concealing it, till the king's anxiety
being at length well nigh as painful as the certainty could
be, a little boy was then sent in, who weeping bitterly, with
no counterfeited passion, fell at his feet, and told him, that
the White Ship, with all on board, was lost. The king,
strong as he was in body and in mind, and in heart also, faint-
ed at the shock; and though he survived it many years, he
was never afterwards seen to smile.*
It had been the custom of England till this king's reign,
that when a vessel was wrecked on the coast, both ship and
cargo became the property of the lord of the manor, unless
they who escaped from it appeared within a limited time.
The usage was probably more barbarous than the law that
licensed it; and it was mitigated by a decree of Henry's,
that if one man escaped alive the lord should have no claim.†
But even in far later and more civilized ages it has not been
found easy to suppress the practice of wrecking among
men who impiously persuade themselves that they exercise
in it a natural right. During Stephen's turbulent
1174.
usurpation the decree was disregarded, and the men
who escaped from shipwreck found their fellow-creatures as
merciless as the elements. Henry II. therefore revived his
grandfather's law; and enacted also, that even if no per-
son survived the wreck, but any live animal escaped from it,
or was found alive on board, the ship and cargo should be
kept for the owners, if they appeared within three
1181.
months. A jealous regard for the maritime strength
of the nation was manifested by the same king, in his in-
junction to the justices itinerant, that in every county they
should strictly prohibit any one, as he valued life and for-
tune, from buying or selling any ship to be carried out of
* William of Malmesbury, 518. Holinshed, ii 70. Lyttelton, Henry II.
(8vo.) i. 198. Henry, iii. 48-50. Turner, i. 188–191.
† Campbell, i. 88. Henry, iii. 503.
↑ So late as the last years of George II's reign, lord Lyttelton says, "I
am very sorry to observe, that notwithstanding this law, made so many
ages ago, and other statutes enacted since, with a view to restrain this
most inhuman barbarity, it still remains a foul reproach and disgrace to
our nation." Methodism has since done much towards putting an end to
it in that part of the country which was most infamous for this practice.
But I am sorry to say, that in a most mournful instance, which is fresh in
my own memory, boats hovered about a wreck to pick up the spoils, and
left the sufferers to perish.
§ Henry, iii. 504.
1
"
#
小
132
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
A
England, or from sending or causing to be sent any mariner
into a foreign service.*
Piracy and commerce had grown up together in the north-
ern seas, as among the Phoenicians and Greeks in ancient
times. Or, perhaps, commerce may more properly be said
to have originated from piracy, the civilizing consequence
of a barbarous cause. They flourished together; and, after
piracy had been forbidden by the kings of the North (for this
was one of the first beneficent effects of Christianity,) the
pagan and piratical state of Julin, or Jomsberg (the Algiers
of the Baltic,) which about this time was conquered by the
Danish king Waldemar the Great, was one of the largest
cities in Europe, and, Constantinople alone excepted, the
most frequented port. But as maritime commerce had
been produced by piracy, so was it both directly and inci-
dentally rendered honourable by the same cause; directly,
when carried on by the proud sea-rovers themselves, who
gloried in the display and disposal of their spoils; incidentally,
because they who would otherwise have been peaceable tra-
ders, were compelled to sail in armed vessels for their own
security; and thus they obtained, in public opinion, a de-
gree of consideration which would not have been conceded
in those days to mere wealth, nor to the humble pursuit of
gain. The Anglo-Saxon laws conferred rank upon the mer-
chants who thus traversed the seas in defiance of all ene-
mies; but the Normans looked at them only in their mer-
cantile capacity; and there is a curious passage in the history
of the Conqueror, by his chaplain, William of Poictou,‡
which indicates both the extent of their dealings and the
contempt with which not only the soldiers but the chaplain
himself regarded them. "The English merchants," said
he, "add to the opulence of their country, rich in its own fer-
tility, still greater riches and more valuable treasures by im-
portation. These imported treasures, which were consider-
able both for their quantity and quality, were either to have
been hoarded up for the gratification of their avarice, or to
have been dissipated for the indulgence of their luxurious
inclinations. But William seized them, and bestowed part
on his victorious army, part on churches and monasteries,
and to the pope and the church of Rome he sent an incredi-
ble mass of money in gold, silver, and many ornaments that
would have been admired even at Constantinople."
* Henry, iii. 504.
†Turner, i. 37. Holberg, i. 236. The different nations who bordered
upon the Baltic had their respective quarters in the town.
Quoted in Henry, iii. 484.
COMMERCIAL PROSPERITY.
133
The rain which was thus brought upon the great mer-
chants afforded an opening to the Jews; and so many of
that nation came from other countries to avail themselves of
the inviting opportunity, that their settlement in England
is commonly referred to the time of the Norman conquest,
and the Conqueror is said to have introduced them;* but
there is legal proof that Jews were settled in this island
long before, and the strongest probability that they existed
here in the time of the Romans. The great services which,
in their pursuit of gain, this most unfortunate and persecuted
people rendered to civilization, to science, and to literature,
has scarcely yet been acknowledged with sufficient gratitude.
By their agency it was that the Sabæans imported into Lon-
don the frankincense and the spices of Arabia; that palm-
oil was brought from what was then the rich country about
Babylon; and silks, and gold, and precious stones from the
East. The political connexion between England and Nor-
mandy gave another impulse to maritime trade, by the neces-
sity which it created for shipping, and the constant inter-
course between the two countries. But nothing contributed
so much to the growing strength and prosperity of the na-
tion as the five-and-thirty years of tranquillity which it en-
joyed under the vigilant and firm government of Henry I.
Foreigners, who were driven from their own countries by
the deadly feuds and barbarous warfare which every where
else afflicted society, came into England as the only haven
of security. Merchants of all nations frequented London;
the greater number seem to have been from Germany; and
when our own harvests failed, the rest of the kingdom is
said to have been supplied with corn from the metropolis.§
At other times corn was exported from thence by licences,
for which a fine was paid to the king. Bristol carried on
a flourishing trade with Ireland, whither it carried slaves,
bred or bought for the market; with Norway and the Baltic,
from whence it brought furs, then an article of clothing for
all who could afford to purchase them; and with other
countries. English and French merchants had settled in
some of the Irish ports, and were introducing, among a
most barbarous people, such civilization as is promoted by
trade. They had cause to complain of their treatment by
king Murcard O'Brien; but that cause was presently re-
moved, ¶ upon Henry's threatening to prohibit all commerce
* Anglia Judaica, ii. 4.
William of Malmesbury, 505. 582.
Henry, iii. 494.
† Henry, iii. 496.
§ Campbell, i. 92.
¶ “For of what value,” says Malmesbury, "could Ireland be, if deprived
VOL. I.
M
1
134
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
with that island. Ships from Ireland and from Germany sailed
up the Ouse* into the very heart of York city, where the
Jews were then flourishing; they flourished also at
1121. Lincoln, then one of the most populous cities in the
kingdom, and a mart for all goods coming by land and water;
and it was probably through their representations that Henry
I. connected the Witham and the Trent by a navigable canal,
now called the Foss Dyke, whereby Lincoln was enabled to
carry on a foreign trade. "O England!" exclaims Mat-
thew of Westminster, referring to this age, "thou wert
lately equal to the ancient Chaldeans in power, prosperity,
and glory. The ships of Tharshish could not be compared
with thy ships, which brought thee spices and every precious
thing from the four corners of the world. The sea was to
thee an impregnable wall; and thy ports on all sides as the
well fortified gates of a strong castle!"
But this prosperity had no root in the manners and morals
of the nation; and England, which, under Henry Beauclerc,
had been the happiest country in Europe, because the most
peaceful, was rendered the most miserable, because all its
turbulent subjects, and all its evil passions, were let loose,
in consequence of Stephen's usurpation. Instead of colonies
of industrious people, like the Flemings, whom Henry had
established in Pembrokeshire, Stephen brought over bands
of mercenaries for his support; and instead of seeing canals
formed for the facility of trade, castles were erected through-
out the land as so many strongholds, from whence some
powerful freebooter might tyrannise over the helpless in-
habitants all around. Danegelt was levied, not as formerly,‡
to buy off or to guard against a northern invasion, but be-
cause the usurper was threatened by the rightful heiress of
the throne. To complete the ruin brought upon commerce
by this general anarchy, Stephen debased the money which
his predecessor had rigidly maintained at its just standard.
He had incurred the guilt of perjury, and of the blood so
profusely shed in his quarrel,§ for the sake of bequeathing
of the merchandise of England. From poverty, or rather from the igno-
rance of the cultivators, the soil, unproductive of every good, engenders
without the cities a rustic filthy swarm of natives; but the English and
French inhabit the cities in a greater degree of civilization, through their
mercantile traffic,” p. 504.
* Henry, iii. 470.
† Ibid. Camden, 467, 468.
Lyttelton, iii. 71. He had sworn at his coronation that he would for-
give the danegelt, as king Henry before him had done.-Fabyan, 264.
§ I know not what people Malmesbury means by the Vituli; a kind of
mariners, he says, (p. 688.) whose dearest connexions resided at Southamp-
ton; and who, being fidí clientis of Robert of Gloucester, had influence
enough with him to save that place from his vengeance.
WANT OF A NAVAL FORCE.
135
a throne to his posterity and it pleased God to take from
him his only son, the desire of his eyes, a youth universally
beloved for his excellent disposition, and removed, mercifully
for himself, while he was yet unspotted, from the world.
One of Henry II.'s first measures was to expel all
1155.
those aliens who, during the civil war, had flocked
into this country to prey upon the inhabitants; thus he rid
the land of the mercenaries, the not less odious race of camp
followers, and those who traded in the spoils of the people.
In the early part of his reign, he made no efforts for raising
a maritime force; because, having inherited Normandy with
the English throne, and Anjou and Maine from his father,
and possessing the provinces between the Loire and the Py-
renees as the dowry of his wife, he was master of almost
the whole French coast; and being in alliance with the earls
of Boulogne and Flanders, he was in no fear of invasion.t
But it is ill policy to rely so confidently upon the amicable
disposition of foreign powers, as not to be provided against
the consequences of any change in their policy. The
1167.
earl of Boulogne claimed, in right of his wife, a great
fief which Henry had re-annexed as an escheat to the de-
mesne of the dukes of Normandy. He claimed, also, some
revenues in England, as, by the same marriage, belonging
to him by ancient right. Both were legal claims, and there
were legal grounds for disputing both; but the earl being
supported by his brother, the earl of Flanders, resolved to
vindicate his right by arms. Accordingly, he prepared to
invade England with a fleet of 600 ships. The plan was
probably concerted with the kings of France and Scotland,
and with the Welsh princes; and as the threat of excom-
munication was then suspended over Henry by Becket, that
also was, no doubt, relied on for the disaffection which it
might produce among the people. Henry had formerly
thought that the naval force which now not only menaced
but seriously endangered him might at any time be engaged
in his service, so little safety is there "in any reliance on a
foreign defence, if it produces or encourages a neglect of any
necessary part of the national strength." He was on the
continent, at this time, engaged in war with France, and
still more seriously embarrassed by his struggle with Becket
"It was a world's wonder," says Holinshed, "to see how suddenly these
aliens were quite vanquished, as though they had been phantasms. Their
abiding here was nothing profitable to the subjects of the realm, as they
that were accustomed to attempt one shrewd turn upon another's neck, and
thought it lawful for them so to do. Among them was a great number of
Flemings, whom the king hated more than the residue,” iii. 111.
† Lyttelton, iii, 73. Turner, i. 216.
Lyttelton iv. 169,
•
136
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
and the papal power. But the grand justiciary, Richard de
Lucy, to whom the guardianship of the realm had been com-
mitted during the king's absence, called forth that armed
force which, by the law of the land, was always to be in
readiness, and he distributed it along the coast in such
strength, that the two earls, though they had the command
of the sea, did not venture to attempt an invasion. Henry,
however, whose judgment was disturbed by no passion in
this case, deemed it prudent to compound with the earl of
Boulogne, and retain him for a useful friend. He gave him,
therefore, in lieu of all claims, an annual pension of 10007.;
for which, being considered a benefice, he bound himself to
serve the king as a vassal.*
Henry now saw the necessity of attending to his means
of maritime defence. His coasts were sometimes infested
by Irish pirates, who carried off the inhabitants and sold
them. This was one of his motives for meditating the con-
quest of Ireland; and when that conquest had been com-
menced by a set of private adventurers, he was provided
with a fleet for following it up. "The chiefest and new-
est" of his ships was lost in a storm, wherein the king was
in great danger, crossing from Normandy to England; and
as 400 persons, being the whole who were on board, went
down in her, the size of the largest vessels is thus ascer-
tained.‡
Towards the latter part of Henry's reign, the kingdom of
Jerusalem was offered to him, with the keys of the city and
of the holy sepulchre, by the patriarch of that city; and he
was urged, in the pope's name, and for the honour of Chris-
tendom, to go in person to the relief of the Holy Land,
according to the obligation which he had taken upon him-
self, as part of his penance for Becket's death. But if
Henry had ever been of a temper to entertain views of
romantic ambition, his age for them was then gone by. He
referred the matter to an assembly of his clergy, and de-
manded their opinion, whether, under the circumstances in
which he was placed, it was his duty, at that time to perform
the engagement into which he had entered with the Pope.
The bishops and abbots who had been convoked on this occa-
*Holinshed, ii. 128. Lyttelton, iv. 167-170. This judicious writer re-
marks, that such stipulations were, in reality, of much the same purport
with the subsidiary treaties of later ages,-a sort of policy of which the
kings of England, even those of the highest spirit and most warlike disposi-
tion, have continually availed themselves from the earliest times.
† Campbell, i. 99.
Holinshed, ii. 130. Charnock, Hist. of Marine Architecture, i. 328.
HENRY II. AND THÈ PATRIARCH.
137
sion, unanimously agreed, not only that he was not bound
now to perform it, but that, for the good of his own soul,
he would do much better by remaining in his own domi-
nions; that the promise which he had made was dispensa-
ble, and ought to be dispensed with; and that it could not
be allowed to prejudice that indispensable obligation which
at his coronation he had contracted, to govern his subjects
well, and to defend them against all enemies, foreign and
domestic: this it would be impossible for him to do if he
now left the country.* Sanctioned by this solemn opinion,
Henry replied to the patriarch," that he could not leave his
dominions to become the prey of the French; let others who
might go without injury to their subjects undertake the
voyage, and he would contribute to it largely from his
means." Upon this the Patriarch replied, "We want a
man, and not money. Well nigh every Christian region
sendeth us money, but no land sendeth us a prince. There-
fore, we ask a prince that needeth money, and not money
that needeth a prince." At this time the crusade was
preached with such impatient intolerance, that the Welsh
prince and poet, Owain Cyvelioc, was excommunicated by
archbishop Baldwin, for refusing, at his exhortation, to take
The Patriarch demeaned himself in the same
spirit; for when Henry, who, to soften his refusal, had shown
him all marks of respect, accompanied him, for farther
honour, to the sea shore, the prelate gave way to such intem-
perance of anger, as if disappointment had rekindled in him
some old feeling of personal animosity. "Hitherto," he is
reported to have said, "thou hast reigned gloriously, but
hereafter thou shalt be forsaken of Him whom thou now for-
sakest. Think on Him what He hath given to thee, and
what thou hast yielded to Him again! First, thou wert false
to the king of France; then thou slewest that holy martyr,
Thomas of Canterbury, and now thou forsakest the protec-
tion of Christ's faith!" The king was moved, by this inso-
lence, so far as to reply, "Though all the men of my land
were one body, and spake with one mouth, they durst not
speak to me such words." The audacious bigot made
answer, "No wonder; for they love thine and not thee; they
love thy goods temporal, and fear thee for the loss of promo-
tion; but they love not thy soul." And having worked
himself up to the height of insolent anger, he stretched out his
neck towards Henry, and exclaimed, "Do by me right as
the cross.
* Maimbourg, Hist. des Croisades, tom. ii. 57-61. edit. de Holland, quoted
by Bayle.
M 2
138
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
!
thou didst by that blessed Thomas of Canterbury! I had
liever be slain of thee than of the Saracens, for thou art worse
than any Saracen.” The king kept his temper, and calmly
replied, "I may not leave my dominions, because my own
sons would rise against me if I were absent."—"No won-
der," retorted the Patriarch; "for of the devil they came,
and to the devil they go; and so, says the chronicler, "he
departed in great ire."*
When, however, tidings came that Jerusalem had fallen,
and that the holy sepulchre was once more in possession of
the misbelievers, Henry, whether from an emotion of zeal,
or a desire to fly from the perpetual troubles which were
raised against him by his children, took the cross; and
allowing his subjects, both in England and France, to swear
fealty to his son Richard, he prepared for accompanying the
king of France to Palestine. There is no reason to
1189. doubt that the intention was real, though he died
before it could be carried into effect; and when Richard, so
properly called Cœur de Lion, succeeded to the throne, he
found the naval preparations far advanced.‡ Galleys, larger
than the ordinary armed ones, were constructed for this expe-
dition, fifty of them being of three rows of oars; and trans-
ports were selected from the shipping of all his ports. The
Conqueror's fleet had been far more numerous; but for the size
and strength of the ships, this was the most formidable ar-
mament that had as yet appeared in modern Europe. Richard
appointed it to meet him at Marseilles; and, having received
the scrip and staff as a pilgrim from the hands of the arch-
bishop of Tours, he joined the French king, Philip Augus-
tus, at Vezelay, and marched amicably with him to Lyons:
there the number of their respective hosts made it expedient
for them to separate;§ Philip set out for Genoa, Richard
* Fabyan, 279, 280. He relates this upon the authority of "Peter Dis-
roye, which made a book in French of the winning and losing of the said
city of Jerusalem." I learn, from Bayle, that Maimbourg relates the same
story. There, too, I learn, that Heraclius was not only, as his conduct in
England shows, a most intemperate person, but a man of scandalous life.
He lived so openly and ostentatiously at Jerusalem with the widow of a
merchant, that she was called the Patriarchess. The Patriarch's parting
compliment relates to a story which makes the Plantagenets, by the founder
of their family, akin to Merlin. "Geraldus Cambrensis," says Fabyan,
"descriveth the progeny which I overpass, because it is so common. Rich-
ard his son would often tell that wonder; and used to say, No marvel if
they grieved the people, for of the devil they came, and to the devil they
shall," p. 281. But this is as false as the fable itself; for with all Richard's
vices there is good reason to believe that he had a deep sense of religion.
† Turner, i. 299.
Lyttelton, iii. 74.
$
"The bridge over the Rhone, with press of people, brake, and many,
both men and women, were drowned. By reason whereof the two kings,
LAWS FOR THE FLEET.
139
toward Marseilles. At Chinon he promulgated some severe
and summary laws for the preservation of order in his fleet. If
any man killed another on board, he was to be fastened to the
dead body, and so thrown into the sea; if the crime were
committed on shore, to be bound to the corpse and buried
with it. He who drew blood from another by a wilful blow,
or struck at him with a weapon, was to lose his hand; a
hand-blow that caused no bloodshed was to be punished by
ducking the offender thrice. Whoever reviled or cursed
another should pay to the offended party an ounce of silver
for every offence :-they could not have been poor adventurers
for whom such a penalty was appointed. A thief was to be
shaven or shorn,* hot pitch-(the law says boiling) was then
to be poured upon his head, and the feathers of a pillow
shaken over it, as a mark whereby he might be known; and
he was then to be turned ashore on the first land at which the
ship might touch.†
Meantime the fleet, which had sailed from Dartmouth, en-
countered bad weather in crossing the bay: ten ships were
separated from the rest. One of them, which was a London
vessel, after beating off the coast of Spain and Portugal,
doubled Cape St. Vincent, and arrived off Sylves; that place
not long before had been taken by the Christians, and was
now expecting to be besieged by the Moors, who, in great
force, were endeavouring to reconquer the country, of which
king Sancho and his father Affonso Henriques had dispos-
sessed them. The ship‡ had probably suffered so much on
for the cumbrances of their trains, were constrained to dissever themselves
for the time of their journey.”—Fox's Acts and Monuments, i. 274.
* "In modum campionis."
† Rymer, i. 52. Holinshed, ii. 213. A sort of tarring and feathering, in a
more refined way, was a fashion among some of the Tupi tribes. (Hist. of
Brazil, i. 219. n. 9.) About this time it seems to have been a brutal popular
punishment, as in America during the revolutionary war. The Lorrainers,
whom the emperor Otho called to his aid against Philip Augutus, on the
Rhine honeyed and feathered a nun, set her on a horse, with her face toward
the tail, and in that miserable condition led her about for several days. All
the ringleaders in this outrage were, by Philip's order, boiled alive. Annales
Novesienses, A. D. 1200. Martene et Durand, Vet. Script. Ampliss. Coll.
tom. iv. 567.
+ It was, probably, by the persons who consented to part with this vessel,
that the miracle related by Robert of Brunne was invented. One of the
ten ships, he says, which belonged to London, suffered much more than any
of the others, being "broken and all-to-rent" by the storm. But there
were 100 pious men on board, who prayed to St. Thomas of Canterbury, as
being a saint of the last creation, and most in vogue. Becket not only
came himself, with his crozier and pall, but brought with him king St. Ed-
mund the Martyr, and the bishop St. Nicholas,
Whose help is aye ready
To shipmen in alle case, when they on him cry;
he assured the crew, that God and our Lady had instructed him and his
10
140
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
the way as to need considerable repairs; otherwise, lax as
discipline was in those days, it is not likely that the persons
in command should have consented to the proposal of the
Portugueze, that they should let the ship be broken up to
form barriers with its timbers, and tarry themselves to assist
in the defence of the town, upon a promise of being re-
warded for their services, and supplied with a vessel as
good as their own. Nine others of the fleet put into the
Tagus. The king of Portugal was at that time in Santarem,
preparing against a threatened attack by the Miramamolin
a chosen body of 500 of these crusaders marched to his aid;
and the news of their advance sufficed to make the Moors
desist from their intention. The actual force, considering
its quality, was not inconsiderable: it was, no doubt, exag-
gerated by report; and in the age of the crusades, the Mos-
lem knew not but that a far more formidable armament
might follow. In fact, when the king, leaving Santarem in
safety, returned to Lisbon, he found sixty-three more of
Richard's navy newly arrived there, under the commanders
named Robert de Saville* and Richard de Camuille. The
king came in time; for some of the baser adventurers, who
thought that whether the inhabitants were Moors or Chris-
tians they were equally foreigners, and the prey the same,
had begun to plunder the surrounding country, and to com-
mit disorders in the city itself. Sancho acted with great
prudence, seeking rather to restrain the crusaders from far-
ther mischief than to resent what had already been done;
and the exertions of the English commanders seemed for a
time to have succeeded in restoring order. But within three
days the ill blood which had been kindled broke out again:
lives were lost on both sides; and the king, with becoming
spirit, ordering the gates to be shut, committed all the cru-
saders who were within the walls to prison. They were
about 700 in number, who had gone in not with hostile in-
tentions, but to gratify their curiosity, or to take their plea-
sure. Both parties, however resentful they might be, saw
the expediency of coming to terms: restitution was made
on both sides: the English engaged to maintain peace with
the king of Portugal and his people, and they to observe it
with all the pilgrims who were bound for the holy war; and
thus the quarrel was composed.†
two companions to keep company with king Richard's fleet, and take
charge of it. It appears, however, that for some unknown reason, they did
not convoy it farther than the straits of Messina. Hearne's Peter Lang-
toft, i. 148.
* Sabuuille.
† Holinshed, ii. 214, 215. Turner, i. 366. This account is not to be re-
conciled with that of the Portugueze authors (Ruy de Pina, Chron. del Rey
RICHARD I. AT PISA.
141
Soon afterwards the English fleet fell down the Tagus:
just upon leaving that river they were joined by three-and-
thirty vessels; their whole armament then amounted to 106
sail, well manned and equipped. They arrived at Marseilles
without farther delay; but Richard, after waiting there eight
days, and becoming impatient of their tarriance, had hired
twenty galleys and ten great barks, and proceeded to Genoa.
He conferred there once more with the king of France,
whom indisposition had detained, and appointing Messina
for their rendezvous, whither he had left orders for his fleet
to repair, he proceeded along the coast. Gratifying a liberal
curiosity as he went, he landed, as opportunity tempted him,
visited Pisa, and, by an accident which happened to his
ship, was compelled to put into the Tiber. The cardinal-
bishop of Ostia came to welcome him there with due cere-
mony; and did not let the occasion slip of reminding him
that the church of Rome had a claim upon the king of Eng-
land for certain fees due on the election of the bishop of Ely,
and the deposition of the bishop of Bourdeaux, But instead
of discharging the demand, Cœur de Lion reproached the
papal court for its scandalous simony, and specified cases in
which those bishops were implicated ;* and for this reason,
it is said, he refused to visit so polluted a city as the capital
of the Christian world. Landing at Naples he visited the
abbey of St. Januarius, for the sake of seeing some dry and
shrivelled bodies which were placed erect there in a cell, as
ghastly mementos of mortality. From thence he rode to
Salerno, and there awaited tidings of his fleet. The fleet
had tarried eight days at Marseilles, to repair such damage
as they had sustained: they then sailed for Messina ;† and
Don Sancho, cap. 8-11. Brandam, Monarquia Lusitana, tom. iv. pp. 19.
25.) The Portugueze authority here is not the best; but, probably, both ac-
counts are true, and refer to different expeditions, for there is evidently a
confusion of dates. The Portugueze seem to relate the earlier, the English
the latter circumstances; and that both are in the main true is the more
likely, because each relates what (on the whole) is most to the credit of the
other nation.
* Baronius, speaking of this interview with the cardinal, says,-" Cui
rex turpia multa dixit, improperando Romanis simoniam, quod septingen-
tas marchas debuerint habere pro consecratione episcopi Cenomanensis, et
mille et quingentas marchas pro legatione Eliensis episcopi, et pecuniam
magnam, ne deponeretur Burdegalensis qui a clerisis suis accusabatur in
crimine. Hæc de his: quæ si vera sunt, erit profatò, ut laudanda sint tem-
pora nostra, quibus quidquid simoniacun suspicione tantum auditur, procul
abjicitur; et aliæ exactiones, aliquâ justâ causâ prætensæ sunt modestiores.
Annales Eccl. tom. xii. p. 802. Antverpiæ, 1609.
†The earliest mention of the flying fish in any of our English writers is,
probably, that which occurs in Hoveden's account of this voyage:-" In
mari illo circa Sardenam et Corzhege sunt pisces similes siccis, que volant
in aera exeuntes a mari. Et cum volaverint quasi per unnm stadium,
142
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
*
arrived there safely a few days before Philip Augustus, who
had lost many of his ships on the way. Richard now has-
tened from Salerno; and, having reached Mileto, proceeded
from thence on horseback with one knight only to accompany
him. Passing through a village, he was told that in one of
the cottages there was a hawk; and as if the game laws of
his own country had impowered him to seize it, he went in
with the intention of taking the bird for his own sport along
the road. But the peasant resisted this violence: his neigh-
bours took up the quarrel in the man's behalf: they attacked
the king with sticks and stones, and one drew his knife upon
him. Richard struck this fellow with the flat side of his
sword, in humanity or in disdain, not choosing to use the
edge, and perhaps conscious that he had given the provoca-
tion. The sword broke: he then took up stones in his own
defence; but even Cœur de Lion could not, when unarmed,
resist a handful of exasperated rustics, and he might have
perished here, even more unworthily than in the catastrophe
for which, after all his heroic exploits, he was reserved, if
there had not been a priory hard by, wherein he took refuge.*
Having escaped from this danger, he passed the ensuing
night in a tent near the Straits of Scylla. His fleet came to
receive him; and he entered the noble port of Messina with
so great a show of power, and sound of warlike instruments,
and other signs of majesty, in the sight of Philip and the
French, and of many other nations there assembled, that it
struck fear into the inhabitants, saith Hoveden, and moved
no small envy in the hearts of his confederates. Whether
that feeling was yet kindled in the mind of Philip Augustus,
or not, that monarch perceived how likely it was that if they
remained together in the same port, where they had no com-
mon enemy to occupy their attention, disputes would arise
between the two armies, and lead to a difference between
the two kings. Wisely, therefore, he embarked as soon as
possible, with the intention of pursuing his voyage to Pales-
tine; but contrary winds compelled him to put back, how-
ever unwillingly; and as it was now late in September,
the two kings resolved to winter where they were, and sup-
iterum descendunt in mare; et sunt ibi falcones multi volantes post pisces
illos, et insequentes ut rapiant ex illis escam sibi. Et qui hoc vidit testi-
monium perhibuit, et veruin est testimonium ejus; quia cum ipse in mensa
sedisset, videlicet in alta navi, quidam ex piscibus illis volantibus cecidit
ante illum super mensam."
* Holinshed, i. 214. Turner, i. 367. Mills's Hist. of the Crusades, iį
32-34.
† "Dolens et invitus Massanam reversus est."—Hoveden.
RICHARD I. AT MESSINA.
143
ply themselves, meantime, with every thing needful for the
service of the expedition.
This was no pleasant determination for the king of Sicily,
Tancred, who, though illegitimate, had recently, upon his
brother's death, possessed himself of the throne, by favour
of the barons, and disregarding the right of the late king's
sister. Even if it had been probable that all grounds of dis-
pute could have been obviated between the Sicilians and
their uninvited and formidable guests, there was an account
to be settled with the king of England, which it was neither
convenient to discharge nor easy to evade. Joan, the widow
of the late king William the Good, was Cœur de Lion's sis-
ter, and Tancred, upon his usurpation, had not only with-
held her dower, but imprisoned her. Richard's first business
was to require her immediate enlargement; and Tancred ac-
cordingly sent galleys to bring her from Palermo to Mes-
sina, where she was delivered to her brother. The king of
England, on his arrival, had been quartered in a house
among the vineyards in the suburbs, Philip having previously
been entertained in the palace. He now thought a strong-
hold necessary for his sister's dignity till her claims should
be settled; and, either without attempting more conciliatory
measures, or waiting for their result, he crossed the straits,
and took possession of Labaniere, on the opposite shore.*
There he established her with a sufficient force for her pro-
tection; and, returning to Messina, expelled the monks from
a large monastery, either in an island, or on the shore, which,
as being exposed to an attack by the Moors, had been well
fortified; this he garrisoned, and deposited his stores there.
The Sicilians might well be alarmed at these summary pro-
ceedings: the conduct of those English who went on shore
was neither likely to win their good will nor to lessen their
apprehensions; and on the day after this last act of aggres-
sion a quarrel arose, and they shut the gates of the city.
Richard exerted himself greatly to repress the tumult that
ensued; and when his troops would have stormed the walls,
he rode through their ranks, commanding them to desist,
and striking with his truncheon those who were most vio-
lent. But these efforts only partially succeeded; and it was
not till, having armed himself and gone forth a second time,
that an appearance of order was restored. He then took boat
for the king of France's quarters to consult him; and by the
*"Transivit Fluvium del Far (so Hoveden calls the Straits of Messina)
et cepit munitissimum locum qui dicitur le Baniare." Possibly Bagnera
may be the place intended. Robert of Brunne says it was an island pos
sessed by the Saracens, and that Richard slew them all, “riff and raff”
144
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
*
endeavours of the chief persons in authority on both sides.
the uproar was allayed, the crusaders retired to their ships
or quarters, and the Sicilians to their homes.
On the morrow, a conference for the purpose of ad-
1190.
justing all differences was held at Cœur de Lion's
place of abode: the chiefs and prelates of the crusaders
convened there; and the principal Sicilian authorities and
clergy came thither with the king of France. While they
were deliberating with the sincere desire on all sides of
coming to reasonable terms of accord, the Sicilians,—a war-
like people, confiding, perhaps, in their numbers and in
the strength of their city, (which had been strongly fortified
with towers and lofty bulwarks by their first count Roger,
about a century before, as the key of the island,) and more
impatient of the insolence of the crusaders than mindful of
their force, gathered together upon the adjacent heights, and
manifested a disposition to insult the English, if not an in-
tention of attacking them. Some of them broke into the
quarters of Hugo le Bruin, and wounded him; and so great
an uproar arose, that Richard, hastily leaving the conference,
ordered all his people to arms; and not waiting till they
could be assembled, set off in person with the few who were
presently ready to ascend the heights. The Sicilians seem
to have apprehended no danger on that side; they fled to-
wards the city, and were closely pursued: some of the Eng-
lish entered before the gates could be closed; but their com-
rades having by this time assembled in force and fury, the
walls were stormed, the gates forced, with the loss of five
knights and twenty of their attendants, and the English ban-
ners were planted on the towers. It is said that Philip was
offended at this, and demanded that his own banners should
be planted in their stead :-it is more likely that he wished
to see them side by side. Even this would not have been
endured by the English, who, considering it as a common
cause, were displeased that the French had carefully ab-
stained from taking any part in the assault; but Richard
prevented any farther displeasure on either part by ordering
his own banners to be taken down, and those of the Knights
Hospitallers and Templars to be set up in their stead; and
he gave the city in charge to those knights till his demands
upon Tancred should be satisfied.*
Tancred fortunately was not in Messina at this time; and
before he returned, the kings of England and France, in the
presence of the earls, barons, and others, both of the clergy
* Gaufred Monachus, lib. iii. §32. Apud Carusii. Bibl. Hist. Regni Sic.
tom. i. p. 221.
*
LAWS CONCERNING GAMING.
145
and temporalty, solemnly swore each to defend the other
upon the expedition, both going and returning, without sub-
terfuge, and in good faith. And for the better governance of
both armies, they made this ordinance with common con-
sent, that no crusaders, no pilgrims as they were called,
who chanced to die on this journey, should send any of their
property home to their own country: their arms, horses, and
apparel they might dispose of at pleasure, under this restric-
tion, and half of every thing besides; but the other half
should be taken possession of by certain persons named for
that purpose, and go toward the support of the war in the
Holy Land. Playing for money at any game was prohibit-
ed, with this exception, that the two kings might play, and
command their servants to do so in their presence, but so
that the loss in one day and night should not exceed twenty
shillings: knights and chaplains might play to the same
amount, but were to forfeit fourfold as often as they lost more
than the sum appointed; and the servants of archbishops,
bishops, earls, and barons, might in like manner play by
their masters' command; but if any servants were found to
play without such licence, they were to be whipped round
the camp, naked, on three successive days; if any mariners,
they were to be ducked three mornings in the sea; and any
others of like mean degree, being neither knights nor chap-
lains, were to be whipped as servants. All these offenders,
however, might redeem themselves from personal punish-
ment by a payment at the discretion of those persons at
whose disposal half the property of the dead was placed,
such payment and such fines for the offence being appro-
priated to the costs of the war. A pilgrim who borrowed
of another whilst they were on the expedition was bound to
pay the debt; but if it were contracted before they set forth,
he was not bound to answer it till his return home. No one
might entertain the servant or hired mariner of another, if
such person departed from his master without licence; a dis-
cretionary fine was the penalty. There might be no regrat-
ing of meal or bread within the compass of the camp, unless
it were brought there by a stranger; nor might any thing be
bought to sell again in the camp, or within a league of it, ex-
cept beasts to be killed within the camp. Bread made for
sale was to be after the rate of penny loaves, the English
penny being valued at four pence Anjouvine. Other occu-
piers in whatever wares they dealt might lay on no greater
profit than one tenth; and the king's money was not to be
refused, unless it were broken within the circle.
The king of England demanded from the king of Sicily,
Vol. I.
N
146
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
..
in behalf of the dowager-queen Joan, the whole province or
county of Mount St. Angelo, with all its appurtenances, as
settled upon her for her dowry; a golden chair, to which as
queen she was by the custom of that kingdom entitled; a
golden table twelve feet in length, and a foot and a half in
breadth; two golden trestles for supporting it; four-and-
twenty silver cups, and as many silver dishes. He claim-
ed, also, as the representative of his father, a present intend-
ed for him by king William the Good, and devised to him
by that king in his last illness: it consisted of a silk tent,
large enough for 200 knights to sit at meat within it ;* sixty
measures of wheat, as many of barley, and as many of wine;
and 100 armed galleys, fully equipped, and victualled for
two years. This, no doubt, was intended not only as a mark
of friendship, but as a pious contribution to the holy war.
Large as these demands were, there was no difficulty in
compounding them. The dowager-queen had no inclination
to remain in Sicily, and Tancred was desirous of obtaining
Cœur de Lion's friendship; because the acts of hostility
which already had taken place had raised against him an in-
ternal enemy. The Moors in Sicily, who were estimated at
100,000, and who had patiently, if not contentedly, remain-
ed in subjection during the preceding reign, had now retreat-
ed with their families and their cattle to the mountains, and
commenced from thence a harassing war upon the Chris-
tians. Both parties, therefore, desiring an agreement, Rich-
ard engaged to assist Tancred, during his continuance in
Sicily, against all enemies; and this had the immediate
effect of reducing the Moors once more to obedience.† He
accepted 20,000 ounces of gold for his sister, in lieu of all
demands, and another equal sum on the score of his own.
It seems, however, as if he felt that his own claims could
* Robert of Brunne gives a more dignified standard of admeasurement:
he says it was
“A pavillon of honour with rich atisfement,
To serve an emperour at a parlement." Vol. i. 152.
Hearne explains atisfement to mean tissues, silks, interlacings. It seems to
be from the same root as the Spanish and Portugueze verb ataviar, to adorn ;
which is of Arabic extraction. Probably, therefore, ornament is the mean-
ing of the words: tissue and silks are not likely to have been specified of a
silken tent.
↑ Richardus de S. Germano, in his Chronicon Siculum, makes no mention
of any differences between Tancred and the king of England. He says,
that the English and French kings, in a dispute which arose between them,
burnt part of the city. Quos dictus rex Tancredus magnis honorans
xeniis, ne civitatem Messance destruerent, cum multis precibus impetravit."
-(Carusii, Bibl. Hist. Sic. tom. ii. 548.) It is remarkable that nothing
more concerning these transactions is to be found in any of the Sicilian
historians; a proof how little we can rely upon any inferences drawn from
the silence of early writers against a single evidence of weight.
RICHARD 1. AND TANCRED.
147
not be legally maintained; for the two kings contracted that
a marriage should take place, when the parties should be of
suitable years, between one of Tancred's daughters, and
Richard's nephew and presumptive heir,-that prince Arthur,
whose tragic story has been made familiar to all English
readers by the greatest of all poets; and the 20,000 ounces
which Richard received at this time were accepted by him
as a dowry of this princess, to be repaid by him or his re-
presentative in case either of the parties should die before
the contract could be fulfilled.
During the negotiations which terminated in this treaty,
Richard acted in a manner that manifested his consciousness
of might as well as right. Tancred, who, upon the arrival
of his formidable guests, thought Messina no safe place of
abode for himself, had left two of his chiefs in command of
the city, one of them being his admiral. Whether these
persons, as being his favourites, dreaded Joan's resentment,
or for whatever cause, they abandoned their charge, and,
taking with them their families and their moveable wealth,
fled from the city; upon which Richard, without ceremony,
took possession of their houses, their galleys, and their other
property. He strengthened the monastery which he had
occupied as a depôt, by cutting a deep and wide fosse for its
defence; and upon one of the neighbouring heights he erect-
ed a strong fort.* Philip is said to have resented the whole
of Richard's proceedings, both during the negotiation, and
in the negotiation itself, as a breach of the laws of hospi-
tality towards a prince who had liberally received and en-
tertained the allied crusaders. That he was jealous of the
king of England's power is certain, and that, able as he was,
he looked with an envious eye upon the superiority which ge-
แ
* This fort he called Mategriffon. Richard's conduct was, perhaps, not
so unwarrantable as it appears. The monastery which he had seized be-
longed to the Griffones,-a name given in those parts to the Greeks at that
time, it is not known for what reason; but it seems that they were powerful
in Sicily, and that in breaking their power Richard rendered good service
to Tancred and the Sicilians. Griffones vero ante adventum regis Angliæ
erant potentiores omnibus regionem illum inhabitantibus, et oido habebant
omnes homines Ultramontanos; adeo quod pro minimo habebant illos,
interficere; nec erat qui adjuvaret. Sed ex quo rex Angliæ illuc venit,
malitia illorum quievit, et potestas erum minuta est, et facti sunt viliores
omnibus inhabitantibus terrain illam; et sperantes se posse contra regem
Angliæ, sicut potuerunt contra cæteros in diebus antiquis, inciderunt in
foveam quam fecerunt et facti sunt profugi in terra. Gens autem Augli.
cana in maximâ habebatur reverentià in regno Siciliæ." These are Hove-
den's words; and, therefore, it was as much for Tancred's eventual benefit,
as for his own immediate security, that Richard should give check-mate to
the Griffons with his castle. So, too, with regard to the place called La-
baniere, to have taken it from the Sicilians would have been a direct act
of unprovoked hostility, whereas the Sicilians might have been well pleased
to see it taken from the Saracens.
1
3
148
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
neral feeling conceded to Cœur de Lion because of the mag-
nanimity of his character. There was also a matter in dis-
pute between them which touched him nearly. His sister
Adela had been contracted to Richard, and sent to Henry
the Second's court, as the future daughter-in-law of that
king; but the marriage was continually put off, and Richard
himself believed that this had been in consequence of the
most criminal conduct on his father's part. He refused,
therefore, to fulfil the contract, asserting that he had full
proof of his suspicions. Philip could not press the contract
under such disgraceful circumstances; and, indeed, Cœur
de Lion had already asked and obtained Berengaria, daugh-
ter of the king of Navarre, in marriage, and expected her
to join him under her mother's care at Messina. The wrong
here was not on Richard's part, but on his father's; who,
when in his last illness he breathed a curse upon his unduti-
ful sons, might have been better employed in imploring for-
giveness for his own misdeeds. This, therefore, led to no
breach between the two kings; and a quarrel which arose
between the French and English was appeased by their joint
exertions.
One of Richard's galleys was sunk by a stroke of light-
ning in the harbour; and the fleet suffered so much from
worms while lying there, that it was found necessary to
repair and careen many of the ships. Though he had as yet
been in no danger himself by perils of the sea, yet those
perils had been brought home to his feelings by what the
French fleet, and some of his own also, had encountered.
Much to his honour, this induced him, while in Sicily, still
farther to relax the old laws concerning shipwreck, in favour
of natural right; and he resigned all claims on behalf of the
crown, in cases were all on board were lost, provided there
were any children or brothers of the owners, who could
prove themselves to be such. During the unusual tran-
quillity which his winter's abode at Messina afforded him,
Richard's ever active mind took a religious turn: he began
seriously to reflect upon the licentiousness of his former life;
and, assembling all the prelates of his host in the chapel of
"There are in that river of the Faro," says Hoveden (meaning the
Straits of Messina,) “certain slender worms, called, in the language of those
parts, beom, who feed upon all kinds of wood; and when they adhere to any
piece of wood, they never, unless they are forcibly removed, leave it till they
have bored in. The holes which they make when they enter are small, but
they grow and fatten so by feeding upon the wood, that they make large
ones when they eat their way out."
In a report made to Henry VIII. concerning the state of his navy, it is
said of one of the ships, that "she must be searched for worm holes, because
she hath been in Levant.”—CHARNOCK's Hist, of Marine Architecture, ii. 107.
THE ABBOT JOACHIM.
149
the dwelling wherein he had taken up his quarters, he there
confessed his offences upon his knees before them, express-
ed his contrition, and humbly received the penance which
they enjoined him, promising to become, from thenceforth, a
new man; and God, it is added, "looked upon him with
eyes of mercy, and gave him a penitent heart, so that from
that time he proved a man fearing the Lord, eschewing evil,
and doing good." It may, perhaps, be true, that a feeling
of revengeful anger was the only sin to which he ever after-
wards yielded, knowing it to be sinful: the barbarities
which he committed in Palestine were looked upon both by
himself and others as so many meritorious works.
*
That remarkable person, the abbot Joachim, whom many
protestant writers have accounted among the precursors of
Luther, and ascribed to him a degree of prophetical inspira-
tion, probably more because of the hieroglyphical printst
which have been published as his designs, than from his
genuine writings, was at that time living in Calabria, and
his reputation was such, that Richard sent for him to Mes-
sina. Tancred, with whom he was now upon amicable terms,
may have suggested this to him, for the sake of confirming
Richard in the ill opinion which he entertained of the court
of Rome; for the pope pretended a title to the realm of Si-
cily upon the death of the late king without issue male, and
Joachim had declared loudly against the corruptions of the
papal church. The abbot came at this flattering invitation,
and edified Cœur de Lion by expounding the apocalypse;
assuring him, we are told, that Antichrist was born, and then
in the city of Rome. Richard went afterwards to visit Tan-
cred at Catania, and both kings paid their devotions with
great solemnity at the shrine of St. Agatha in that city.
*"Mr. Mills thinks that "the bold, ardent, and valiant Cœur de Lion,
had more of the warlike spirit than of the religious feelings of the age." (ii.
16.) But Cœur de Lion never feigned what he did not feel; and Radulf of
Coggeshall describes him as attending the officers of the church, not merely
with outward decorum but with evident devotion. A curious proof of his
sincerity is, that he abstained from the communion for nearly seven years
Sefore his death, because of the mortal hatred which he resented against
Philip Augustus. "Ob tanti mysterii reverentiam, eo quod mortale odium
erga regem Galliæ in corde gestaveret."-(Rad. Cogg. Martene et Durand,
Col. Ampliss. tom. v. 857.) The provocation was, indeed, great, for Philip
Augustus had been a base enemy to Cœur de Lion.
†They were published at Venice, 1639, in a curious volume, with the ac-
companying prophecies in Latin and Italian, and annotations by Paschal-
inus Regiselmus. Baronius (xii. 803.) justly takes occasion, from this inter-
view, to discredit the supposed prophet. "Planè tam suis ipsius vanis res-
ponsis, quàm inanibus propheticis, inventus est non Dei propheta sed pseudo-
propheta esse. Nam prædixit pleraque ventura, quæ re vera caruerunt
eventu. Quod quidem signum Deus dedit populo suo ad cognoscendum pro-
phetam verum à falso.
N 2
150
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
There Tancred offered many and costly presents to his now
sworn friend; of which Richard accepted four large ships*
and fifteen galleys for the holy warfare in which he was en-
gaged, but for himself he took only a small ring in token of
friendship in return, he presented the king of Sicily with the
most precious of all romantic relics, if its authenticity could
have been ascertained,—king Arthur's enchanted sword Ex-
calebar. Tancred accompanied his guest two days' journey
on his return to Messina; and on the way communicated to
him, it is said, a letter which the duke of Burgundy had de-
livered to him from the king of France, wherein Philip de-
nounced Cœur de Lion as a traitor, who had no intention of
observing the peace he had made; and offered to assist
Tancred with all his forces against him. Cœur de Lion,
upon this, replied, "I am no traitor, nor ever have been, nor
ever will be the peace which I have made with you I have
kept, and will faithfully keep; nor can I easily believe that
the king of France should have acted thus concerning me;
being, as he is, my liege lord, and my sworn comrade in
this pilgrimage." The letter, however, was placed in Rich-
ard's hands; and Tancred declared, that if the duke of Bur-
gundy denied having brought it, he would prove the charge
upon him by one of his barons. When the kings of France
and England met shortly afterwards, Richard's lowering
countenance, which, like his temper, was incapable of dis-
simulation, gave manifest token of a displeasure, the cause
for which he presently expressed. Philip pronounced the
letter to be a forgery, and accused Richard in his turn of
seeking a pretext for breaking off their alliance. It seems
that the question concerning his sister Adela had not yet been
definitively settled: however culpable that princess might
have been, a great wrong had been offered to the royal family
of France in her person; and though Richard was entirely
innocent of that wrong, some compensation, if only to save
appearances, might properly be expected. To an intention
of quarrelling upon this point, Philip imputed the present
charge; but as Richard had no such view, his straight-for-
ward purpose having already been declared; and as the king
of France, on his part, denied any knowledge of the letter,
the chiefs on both sides, who had the interest of the expedi-
tion at heart, succeeded in bringing about an apparent recon-
ciliation. The story is a strange one; for it is utterly impro-
bable either that Philip should have written such a letter, or
that Tancred should have forged it, or any other person: but
*“Quos vocant ursers.”—Hoveden.
BERENGARIA.
151
the_subsequent conduct of Philip Augustus towards Cœur
de Lion made the English ready to believe any thing to his
dishonour; and when that disposition exists, calumnies will
always be invented to gratify it.
A treaty was now concluded between the two kings, in
which all their contending claims were for the time adjusted;
and the French, towards the end of March, sailed for Pales-
tine. On the evening after their departure, the dowager-
queen Eleanor arrived, bringing with her her son's betrothed
bride Berengaria. They had travelled by land from Navarre
to Naples, escorted by the earl of Flanders; and, arriving
there in February, proceeded to Brindisi, where they waited
till Philip should have sailed. Eleanor, who, whatever she
may have been as a wife, always seems to have performed
the duties of a careful mother, consigned her charge then
to her daughter, queen Joan;* and after remaining only
four days in Messina, embarked for England. No political
considerations had influenced Cœur de Lion in his choice of
a wife. He had seen Berengaria in her own country; had
fallen in love with her while still fettered with a matrimonial
contract, from which, for the strongest motives, he was de-
termined to free himself; and had inspired her with a pas-
sion that participated of his own romantic character. In-
stead of being escorted to her bridal and coronation at the
court of the great kingdom which had adopted her, Beren-
garia came to join her betrothed husband on a distant and
most hazardous expedition, and accompany him on his cru-
sade to Palestine; the first woman of her rank who partook
in the merit, the danger, and the glory of such an adventure,
but not the last; for she had an illustrious imitator in Elea-
nor, who, like her, was of Spanish birth, and, like her, the
wife of an English prince. The expeditiont was so nearly
ready for sea when she arrived, that the marriage was not
celebrated at Messina; and Berengaria embarked for the
Holy Land, not in the ship with Richard, but with the dow-
ager-queen Joan.‡
* Robert of Brunne says:-
"Dame Joan kept her dear, they lyved as bird in cage." vol. i. 153.
†Thirty busses from England had just arrived, bringing out stores and
men. Robert of Brunne says, they came with the king's mother; but she
came by land from Navarre to the Mediterranean.
In the French continuation of William of Tyre's history (apud Mar-
tene et Durand, Coll. Amplis. tom. v. 632.,) it is said, that when queen Isa-
bella and Berengaria arrived at Messina, Richard had sailed, and queen
Joan was to sail on the morrow. “La roine d'Angleterre li dist, Belle fille
menés-moi cette damoiselle au roi voistre frère, et li dite que je li mande
qu'il l'espouse. Cele la receut volentier, et la roine retorna arière en
Poitou."
152
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
L
The fleet with which Cœur de Lion sailed from Sicily,
consisted of thirteen of those large vessels called dromones;*
one hundred and fifty of what were then called busses; fifty-
threet galleys, and a great number of small craft. The Sicili-
ans said that so fine a fleet had never before been seen in the
harbour of Messina, and probably never again would. They
were amazed at the magnitude, and number, and beauty of
the ships. The French part of the armament had excited
no such admiration; and the feeling of envious hostility
which the French king afterwards manifested toward Rich-
ard, was, in part, no doubt, occasioned by the knowledge
of his naval superiority. The sailors also, were what Eng-
lish sailors from that time have never ceased to be: in the
storms which they encountered on their way to the Levant,
they are said, by one who was in the fleet, to have done
every thing that it was possible for human skill to do.
More than any other historical character, Richard Cœur de
Lion resembles a knight of romance; and the circumstances
which occurred in his way to Palestine have the air of an
adventure in romance more than of authentic history, though
the facts are incontestible. "He was no sooner abroad in
the main sea, but a great tempest arose, wherewith his
whole navy was sore tossed and turmoiled up and down
the seas." The king himself was driven first to Crete,
afterwards to Rhodes. Three of his ships foundered off
the coast of Cyprus: three others were refused admittance
into the harbours there; they were wrecked in consequence,
and the men who escaped to shore were cast into prison.
* "Mighty great ships with triple sails." Holinshed describes these, mean-
ing that they were three-masted. The busses he calls "carikes, or rather
hulks," ii. 220.
† All but the victuallers, probably, were prepared for defence; but the
galleys seem to have been the only men-of-war. The Romance of Richard
Cœur de Lion says, he departed from Messina
แ
With two hundred ships, I find,
Sailing forward with the wind,
And afterward fifteen galleys
For to ward his navies."
Weber's Metrical Romances, ii. 97.
Henry, iii. 508. Gauf. Vinesauf quoted.
§ De Serres imputes it to personal dislike, for which he accounts thus
oddly:-"Les rois jurerent-la une amité fraternelle et inviolable; de fait la
continuelle et familière hantise du chemin apporta bien la privauté, mais
la privauté engendra mespris, et le mespris haine, comme le progrès de
l'histoire le monstrera; pour leçon fort notable aux rois et princes, jusques
où ils se doivent privément frequenter."-Inventaire Général de l'Hist. de
France, i. 381.
He allows, however, much to the affairs of the king's sister, Adela, "Ce
clou estoit attaché au cœur de Philippe." p. 382.
| G. Vinesauf, quoted by Henry, iii. 503.
¶ Holinshed, ii. 220.
CŒUR DE LION IN CYPRUS.
153
The vessel with queen Joan and the lady Berengaria on
board was driven in the same direction: they requested per-
mission to land, announcing who they were, and that per-
mission was refused. One of the Comneni family, Isaac
by name, had taken possession of Cyprus for himself in full
sovereignty. Like other Greeks, or Griffons as they were
called, he thought that the crusaders, if not worse than Sa-
racens, were quite as much to be dreaded: such reports as
might reach him of Richard's exploits at Messina were not
likely to induce a more favourable opinion; and he had at
this time assembled his forces at Limisso, with the deter-
mination of resisting any adventurers who might attempt to
land.*
Rhodes was not so distant, but that Richard heard how
his people had been treated by the Cypriot emperor (as he was
styled) in time to demand redress. He made immediately
for Limisso, and found his affianced wife and his sister still
off the harbour, in which they had been inhospitably, if not
inhumanely, forbidden to enter. Perhaps the very strength
of his resentment made him feel that it became him on this
occasion to restrain his anger. Thrice he demanded the libe-
ration of his people, and the restitution of whatever had been
saved from the wrecks; those demands proving ineffectual,
he then proceeded to take the justice that was denied him,
and to inflict due punishment upon the offender. Isaac had
easily captured men exhausted by long struggling with tem-
pestuous weather, and who had hardly saved their lives by
swimming to shore; but he must have been the weakest of
men to think of opposing a fleet of crusaders with a host of
undisciplined and half-armed Cypriots. Few of them, it is
said, had any better weapons than clubs or stones; and they
thought to protect themselves with a barricade formed of
logs, planks, chests, and benches,-whatever could hastily
be brought together. Richard, meantime, proceeded toward
the landing place with his galleys and small boats. His
archers led the way and soon cleared it; for their arrows are
said to have fallen on the Cypriots like rain upon the sum-
mer grass. The victors, "being but footmen, weatherbeaten,
* "Porce que cil que aloient et venoient outre-mer vousissent faire force
en l'isle, ne rober, qu'il fust apareillé du defendre.”—Cont. of William of
Tyre, 632. In this old French account, it is said, not that this vessel was
driven to Cyprus by stress of weather, but that it arrived there when Joan
and the lady Berengaria were cruising in quest of the bridegroom; that
they were preparing to send a boat in and inquire for tidings of him, when
Isaac sent one out to learn who they were: having been informed, he in-
vited them on shore to refresh themselves; and, on their refusing to land,
sent four galleys to capture their ship. The ship stood off, and presently
fell in with Richard and his galleys.
154
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
weary, and wet," were in no plight for pursuing the routed
enemy: they entered the town, and found it deserted by the
inhabitants, but full of wealth and provisions of every kind.*
Such of his ships as were collected then entered the port;
and Berengaria, and his sister, were received by Richard as a
conqueror in the city where a refuge from the sea had been
refused them.
During the course of the day, Isaac rallied the fugi-
tives, about six miles from the town; and, as if he supposed
that weakness alone had withheld the crusaders from pursu-
ing their advantage, prepared to attack them on the morrow.
But Cœur de Lion allowed him no time for this. Intelligence
of his movements and of his designs was easily obtained, for
Isaac was a tyrant; guides also offered themselves; food, wine,
and success had presently refreshed the English: long before
daybreak they were armed, and in motion; and the Cypriots
were taken so completely by surprise, that they were "slain
like beasts." The emperor Isaac escaped, not only unarmed,
but half-naked ; so utterly had he been unprepared for such
an attack. His horses, his armour, and his standard, were
taken. The standard was sent to England; and when Cœur
de Lion returned thither, he deposited it himself at king St.
Edmund's shrine.§ Terrified at this second discomfiture,
Isaac now sent ambassadors, proposing to restore the prison-
ers whom he had unjustly captured, with all that had been
saved from the wrecks; to pay 20,000 marks in amends for
the loss that had been sustained by shipwreck; to accompany
Cœur de Lion to the Holy Land, and serve him there with
* Mills, ii. 39. Turner, i. 371. Holinshed, ii. 220.
It was in Cyprus, according to the romance, that Richard first made use
of that famous battleaxe which, before he departed from England, he had
had made,
"for the nones
To break therewith the Saracen's bones.
The head was wrought right wele,
Therein was twenty pounds of steel,
And when he came into Cyprus land,
The axe he took in his hand.
All that he hit he all-to-frapped;
The Griffons away fast rapped:
Nathless many he cleaved,
And their unthanks there byleved."
Weber's Met. Rom. ii. 87.
Robert of Brunne has not failed to notice this :-
Bare in serke and breke, Isaac away fled." i. 161.
§ Recognizing thus, I think, the miracle related in a former note, (p.
140.) of the three saints who had taken charge of his fleet, this was the
one whom Richard would prefer; St. Thomas a Becket was not likely to
be particularly admired by a king of England; and St. Nicholas was less
popular among the English than their royal countryman, round whose
magnificent church the town of St. Edmundsbury had grown.
RICHARD MARRIES LADY BERENGARIA.
155
100 knights, 400 light horsemen, and 500 well-armed foot;
to acknowledge him for his sovereign lord, and swear fealty
to him accordingly; and place his daughter and heiress, as
hostage, in his hands. These conditions, which were proba-
bly, more rigorous than Richard would have thought of
imposing, were admitted. Isaac then came to the king of
England in the field; and there, in presence of the chiefs of
the crusaders, swore fealty, and promised, upon his oath thus
pledged, not to depart till he should have performed all for
which he had engaged. By this time Richard had been made
too well acquainted with his character to place much reliance
either upon his word or oath; tents were assigned for him
and his retinue, and a guard was appointed to keep him in
custody. Offended at this or, affrighted by it, and with that
inconsistency which proceeds from rashness as well as fear,
he withdrew during the night, while his guards, suspecting
no such evasion, were asleep, and then sent messengers to
renounce the treaty which he had made.*
Richard is said not to have been displeased at the oppor-
tunity that this fresh provocation afforded him. Guy of
Lusignan, the dethroned king of Jerusalem, and the last
Christian who bore that title otherwise than as an empty
pretension, having purchased his liberty from Saladin by the
surrender of Ascalon, came at this time to Cyprus, with his
brother Geoffrey, with Raymond prince of Antioch, and
Boemund his son, and other rejected lords of Palestine, to
implore Richard's assistance for re-establishing them in their
lost estates. Richard intrusted part of his army to Guy and
Raymond, that they might pursue Isaac, and prosecute the
conquest of the island by land; while he, with one part of
his galleys, and Robert de Turnham with the other, coasted
it and cut off his flight by sea. Wherever they came, the
towns, cities, and castles on the coast were abandoned at
their approach, and they took possession of all the shipping.
Having thus swept the coast, and precluded the possibility
of the emperor's escape from the island, Richard returned to
Limisso, and there was married to the lady Berengaria by
one of his own chaplains; his queen was crowned the same
day by the bishop Evreux; the bishop of Bayonne, and the
archbishops of Apamea and Aux, assisting at the solemnity.
Cyprus is the first island that was ever conquered by an
English fleet; and Berengaria the only English queen whose
coronation was ever performed in a foreign country. He
then moved into the interior, to complete the conquest.
* Holinsbed, ii. 221. Turner, i. 371. Henry, iii. 131–183.
156
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGland.
Nicosa, the capital, was presently surrendered, and the
strong castle of Cheria afterwards, with which Isaac's daugh-
ter yielded herself to the conqueror, who placed her as a
companion with the queen. Toward the father he was less
courteous: that rash and unhappy man had taken refuge in
a monastery; and when he heard that the place of his re-
treat was discovered, and that Richard was marching thither,
every stronghold in the island having been given up, he threw
himself upon his mercy, praying only that his life and limbs
might be spared. Mercy was a virtue but little practised in
those times. Richard sent him to Tripoli, there to be kept
close prisoner in chains. When the wretched man heard
this sentence, he said that if he were put in irons, it would
soon occasion his death: upon which Richard, with con-
temptuous bitterness, replied, "He saith well; and seeing
that he is a nobleman, and that our mind is not to shorten
his life, but only to keep him safe, that he may not start
away again and do more hurt, let his chains be made of
silver!"
Isaac has not been deemed worthy of any further notice
by those who recorded the events of Richard's crusade;
most probably he died in confinement: nor is any thing
more related of his daughter, than that queen Berengaria
either had, or thought she had, cause for regretting that her
husband had placed so attractive a companion about her per-
son. The Cypriots, as is always the lot of a conquered
people, paid heavily for passing from one yoke to another:
they were immediately taxed to the unmerciful amount of
half their moveables; and the stores that were found in the
island were so considerable, that it is said the Christian
armies in Palestine could hardly have carried on their opera-
tions had it not been for this great and casual supply.* After
these exactions, Richard, considering Cyprus as his own by
the acknowledged right of conquest, confirmed to the inha-
bitants the right and usages which they had formerly enjoy-
ed under the Greek emperors, but which had been suspended
during the late usurpation. He appointed Richard de Ca-
muelle and Robert de Turnham governors of the island; and
when, in the ensuing year, after a series of exploits which
have rendered his name almost as celebrated in Mahommedan
history as in European romance, he was about to leave Pales-
tine, having been prevented, by the withdrawal of the French
king, from restoring Guy de Lusignan to his lost kingdom
of Jerusalem; he bestowed upon him the kingdom of Cyprus,
* Radulf of Coggeshall. Martene et Durand, v. 817.
THE GREAT DROMOND.
157
as some compensation,-a kingdom which his descendants
continued to possess for nearly three centuries.*
Cœur de Lion was detained in Cyprus only a few weeks
by his marriage, the conquest, and the settlement of the
island. In his way from thence to Acre he fell in with a
vessel of the largest size,† sailing under French colours;
but requiring more evidence than the colours and the suspi-
cious language of the spokesman, he soon ascertained that
it was a Saracen ship, laden with stores of all kinds for the
relief of Acre, which the Christians were then closely be-
sieging. The brother of Saladin had despatched it from
Baruk: there were seven emirs on board; and the number
of troops has been stated by the lowest account at 650, by
the highest at 1500. They were brave men, well provided
with the most formidable means of defence; and desperate,
because they knew how little mercy was to be expected from
a fleet of crusaders. The size, and more especially the
height, of their ship, gave them an advantage which for a
while counterbalanced that of numbers on Richard's part;
for his galleys could make but little impression upon her
strong sides. Richard's people, brave as they were, were
daunted by the Greek fire, which was poured upon them,
which they had never encountered before, but of which what
they had heard was enough to impress them with dread.
The great dromond, as she is called, might probably have
beaten off her assailants and pursued her course, if Richard's
men had not dreaded their king's anger more even than the
terrible fire of the enemy. "I will crucify all my soldiers
if she should escape!" was his tremendous threat. His
example availed more than his threat could have done: they
boarded the huge hulk like Englishmen; and the Saracens,
when they saw themselves overpowered, ran below by their
commander's order, and endeavoured to sink the ship, that
their enemies might perish with them. Part of the cargo,
however, was saved before she sunk, and some of the crew‡
* Holinshed, ii. 221, 222. Turner, i. 372. Henry, iii. 138.
↑ Robert of Brunne thus describes it, in lines remarkably harmonious
for their age :-
“At noon the tother day, they saw far in the sea,
A grete busse and gay, full high of sail was he.
The weather was full soft, the wynde held than stille,
The sail was high o'loft, they had no wynd at will.
In Philip navie of France, a pencelle they put out,
His armes on a lance, over all the ship about.
So mykel was that barge, it might not lightly sail,
And so heavy of charge; and the wynde gan fail." i. 169.
↑ "Thirteen hundred of which miscreants," says Speed (476.), “he sacri-
ficed to Mars and Neptune." A Mahommedan might argue from these
VOL. I.
0
158
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
were taken to mercy, though mercy was not the motive; for
it was the chiefs, it is said, who were spared, for the sake
of their ransom. If the stores and ammunition with which
this ship was laden had reached Acre, it was thought that
the city could never have been taken.*
It appears that the ships of war at this time were
1191. all galleys; that few of them had more than two rows
of oars, and many of them only one tier: these, being shorter,
and moved with more facility, were used in the Levant for
throwing wild fire. This composition, which the Greeks
called liquid fire,† and which by Latin and later historians
is commonly denominated Greek fire, is said to have been
invented by Callinicus, an architect of Heliopolis (afterwards
called Balbec,) about the latter part of the seventh century;
and it continued in use some six hundred years, till the more
destructive powers of gunpowder were applied to the pur-
poses of war. The invention proceeded from the school of
Egyptian chemistry; for Callinicus was in the service of
the caliphs, from whence he went over to the Greek emperor,
expecting, perhaps, a better reward for his discovery from
the government to which it would be most useful.
stantinople was, indeed, saved by it in two sieges; Saracen
fleets were deterred from attempting to pass the straits of
the Hellespont, when they knew that their enemies were
prepared with it; and while the Greeks kept the secret of
the composition to themselves, as they did most carefully
for four centuries, they possessed a more efficient means of
defence than any other people. When the Pisans were at
the height of their naval power, the emperor Alexius sent
out a fleet against them, in which, as it appears, for the first
time lions-heads of bronze were fixed at the ships' prows,
and from their open mouths this liquid fire was discharged
in streams. This he devised as being likely to terrify as
Con-
words, that the crusaders were heathens, and that they offered human vic-
tims to their false gods.
* Turner, i. 399. Mills, ii. 41. James, 247.
Η πυς υγρον,
Nicephorus, c. ix. § 9.
Gibbon, x. 17. Beckmann, however (Hist. of Inventions, English
trans. iv. 83.), says, that it was used by the Saracens in the year 904, at the
siege of Thessalonica, when they blew fire through pipes into the wooden
works of the besieged, and threw it among them from other vessels. This
is stated by John Cameniata, who was a native of that city, and the words
πυρ τε δια των σίφωνων τω αέρι φυσήσαντες, seem certainly to describe the
Greek fire. Yet I have met with nothing to induce a suspicion that the
Saracens obtained the secret of this composition till long afterwards; nor
had Gibbon in his wide researches. Means of projecting combustibles had
long been used; at the siege of Lucca, Narses threw fire into the town.
Agathias, 1. i. c. x. § 3.
GREEK FIRE.
159
well as to astonish them; but the composition was, no doubt,
sent with surer effect from moveable tubes. The commander
who led the way in this action wasted his fire; another
officer, when in great danger, extricated himself by its use,
and burnt four of the enemy's ships; and the Pisans, who
saw that the fire spread upwards, downwards, or laterally,
at the will of those who directed it, and that they could not
by any means extinguish it, took to flight.*
The Greek fire was forced in its liquid state from hand
engines, or thrown in jars; or arrows were discharged, the
heads of which were armed, more formidably than with
their own barbs, with tow dipt in this dreadful composition.†
During the crusades, the Saracens became possessed of the
secret: whether they discovered it, or it was betrayed to
them, is not known; but they employed it with terrible ef-
fect; and the crusaders, who feared nothing else, confessed
their fear of this. At this time it was employed on both
sides. The only description of a naval action in those
ages, which explains the system of naval tactics, relates to
the siege of Acre, in which Richard was engaged. The
crusaders drew up their fleet in the form of a half moon,
with the intent of closing upon the enemy if he should at-
tempt to break their line. Their best galleys were placed in
the two ends of the curve, where they might act with most
alacrity, and least impediment. The rowers were all upon
the lower deck; and on the upper the soldiers were drawn
up in a circle, with their bucklers touching each other. The
action began a discharge of missile weapons on both sides;
the Christians then rowed forward with all stress of oars,
endeavouring, after the ancient manner, to stave in their
enemies' sides, or otherwise run them down: when they
came to close quarters, they grappled; skill then was no
longer of avail, and the issue depended upon personal
strength and intrepidity. The Greek fire seems to have
been used even when the ships were fastened to each other :
the likelihood of its communicating from the enemy's vessel
to that which had thrown it, was much less when galleys
were engaged, than it would be in vessels rigged like later
men of war; and fire might be employed more freely, be-
cause there were no magazines in danger. The crusaders
had so greatly the superiority at sea, owing as much to sea-
* Anna Comnena, 1. xi. c. ix. §3. 5.
† Gibbon says, that it was also launched in red-hot balls of stone and
iron. I doubt this.
Lyttelton, iii. 61, 62. His account is drawn from Geoffry de Vinesauf.
*
160
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
manship as numbers, that a sagacious prisoner, whom Philip
Augustus interrogated concerning the best means whereby
the Holy Land might be recovered and maintained, told him
it would be by keeping the seas, and destroying the trade of
Egypt. His advice was, that they should take Damietta,
and rely upon their fleets more than upon their strength in
horse and foot.*
The treasure or the blood which Cœur de Lion
1192. expended in this crusade, would neither have been
spared if he had remained in Europe, nor expended to any
better purpose: he would have been engaged in wars little
less murderous; not so much in conseqence of his own dis-
position, warlike as that was, as because of the spirit of the
age, and his relative position toward France. He returned
from Palestine without effecting the great object of his cru-
sade; that object, if it were attainable, had been frustrated
by the conduct of the French king. But he made an honour-
able peace with Saladin, and left an honourable name in the
East, not for himself alone, but for his nation. The atrocious
acts of barbarity which he had perpetrated there, were
regarded, in the Mahommedan world, as ordinary affairs in
war, rendering him terrible at the time, but not hateful after-
wards. Even in Europe, it was not till nearly our own days
that the recital of such actions excited horror and indigna-
tion. Richard Cœur de Lion was extolled by pope Celes-
tinet for his humility, his justice, his moderation. Even the
people, from whom the heavy costs of the expedition were
raised, and who were afterwards taxed to redeem him from
his iniquitous imprisonment‡ by the duke of Austria, took a
generous pride in the splendour of his exploits, and were
grateful to him for the renown which he had added to the
English name. His flag had been planted on the walls of
Messina. He had beaten the misbelievers wherever he had
encountered them. He had conquered the kingdom of
Cyprus, and given it to the dethroned king of Jerusalem.
He became immediately, and has continued to be even to
these times, the hero of popular romances ;§ and with his
* Bzovius, Ann. Eccl. tom. xiii. 4.
† Baronius, xii. 870.
The_anonymous monk of Cassini relates the circumstances of this
memorable captivity thus:-Rex Angliæ Hierosolymâ rediens, in Theutonia
captus, imperatori datur. Post modicum liberatum et secum retentum.
Imperator, receptà ab eo fidelitate, coronat, et regnum ejus auget." Apud
Carusium, i. 516. Thus history is sometimes written.
It was Madame de Staël's intention to have composed a romance upon
his adventures in the East.
PLANS OF PHILIP AUGUSTUS.
161
expedition to Palestine it is, that the respect which has ever
since been paid to the English flag originated.*
Philip Augustus was bound by treaty and oath,† as well as
by honour, not to make any attempt against the territories of
Richard, till that king, his brother crusader, should have
returned to them. When, however, Richard, in contempt of
all laws, was detained a prisoner in Germany, Philip not only
endeavoured by every means to obstruct his deliverance from
captivity, but devised how best to take advantage of it, and,
if possible, annex his dominions by conquest to his own; not
those upon the continent alone, but England itself also.
The latter was not so feasible a conquest, when Philip called
to mind the display of naval force which he had seen with
envious eyes at Messina. He looked about for a maritime
ally: it occurred to him, that he might at the same time pro-
cure a pretext for the invasion,-for even men who have as
little conscience as Philip Augustus desire, when it can be
found, some plea for their acts of deliberate injustice; and
being at that time a widower, he sent the bishop of Noyon,
as ambassador to the king of Denmark, Canute VI., asking
his sister Ingeborg‡ in marriage, and proposing, that instead
of a dowry, the old claim of Denmark to the crown of Eng-
land should be transferred with her to the king of France,
and that the Danes should assist him annually with a mari-
time force, till the conquest should be completed. Canute
laid the proposal before an assembly of the states. Their
opinion was, that Denmark had war enough upon its hands
with its neighbouring and pagan nation the Wends or Van-
dals, who would immediately assail their frontiers, if their
forces were sent far off to attack an unoffending people,—a
great people too, abounding in wealth, and able to "defend
themselves against all foreign foes. The king of France's
proposal, therefore, could not be admitted, and he must
require some other dowry if he desired this marriage. Ten
* Campbell, i. 103. "This famous king passes to the Holy Land," says
Daniel, "with the spoils and treasure of three rich islands, England, Sicily,
and Cyprus,-besides what Normandy and Guienne could furnish him
withal; and there consumed that huge collected mass, even as violently
as it was gotten, though to the exceeding great renown of him and the
nation." p. 116.
† The pope's expressions, in a letter to the bishop of Beauvais, are very
strong:-"Rex vester regi Anglorum sacramento corporaliter præstito
tenebatur astrictus, super indemnitate tam oppidorum quam terrarum
suarum, sibi fideliter observanda, saltem usque ad reditum ab itinere pere-
grationes suæ. Sed contra fidem et sacramentum impudenter veniens,
oppida prædicti regis violenter occupavit, terram suam hostili manu crude-
liter vastavit."-Baronius, xii. 870.
The name is by some writers called Galberge, and in Baronius it is
Botilda.
0 2
162
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
thousand marks of silver were then demanded; and with
this portion the lady Ingeborg was delivered to the ambas-
sadors.
The further history of a marriage which originated thus in a
desire of obtaining a fleet with which to invade and conquer
England, may not unfitly be related here, as curiously illus-
trative of Philip's character, and of the times. The king
met his bride at Arras, they were married there, and the queen
was crowned with all solemnity. She was very beautiful,
good, and accomplished as became her birth; but, during
the ceremony, the king was observed to grow pale, and to
regard her with an eye of displeasure; and only a few days
elapsed before he repudiated her, upon a plea that the mar-
riage was unlawful, because she was related to his former
wife. When Ingeborg was made to understand the cause
"Bad
of her disgrace, she only pronounced the words,
France, bad France!" and then the name of Rome, signify-
ing that she appealed to the pope for justice. At that time
she scarcely understood any French, and could not readily
comprehend the nature of a plea, for which there was not,
in truth, the slightest ground. When it had been perfectly
explained to her, she refused to return to Denmark, and
chose to retire into a convent, and there abide the decision of
the cause from Rome. At that court, accordingly, Canute, her
brother, preferred her just complaint. Meantime Philip as-
sembled his bishops and nobles, and by the pedigrees which
he laid before them, and which were falsified to serve his
purpose, obtained from them a sentence, that the marriage,
being unlawful in itself, was void. Theirs, however, was
not the supreme court, and legates were sent from Rome to
inquire into the proceedings and pronounce their sentence.
They convened a council of all the archbishops, bishops, and
abbots of the realm at Paris, expecting that, by their accord-
ance in judgment, Philip would be obliged to take back his
injured wife. But, says the French historian of this reign,
the dogs were dumb, because they were in fear of their
skins. The proceedings were thus indefinitely prolonged;
and in the third year after this summary divorce by his own
lawless will, Philip Augustus married Maria, daughter of
the duke of Moravia and Bohemia. Ingeborg, meantime,
was treated with inhumanity, as well as odious injustice;
* Pontanus, 286. Holberg, i. 257. William of Newbury is the original
authority.
+"Sed quia facti sunt canes muti, non volentes latrare, timentes pelli
suæ, nihil ad perfectum deduxerunt."-Rigordus, Hist. Franc. Script. Vet.
xi. 194.
QUEEN INGEBORG.
163
1119.
the allowance made her was not sufficient for her decent
support; she was without a friend to comfort her in her se-
clusion, and when the kingdom, after another interval
of three years, was laid under an interdict on this ac-
count, the king vented his anger, not upon the clergy alone
who obeyed the pope, but upon his injured wife, whom he
removed from the convent to a castle, and there put her in
confinement. But the papal authority was then in full
power: and on this occasion Philip had to resist something
more formidable than its system of usurpation and its
imperious violence, he had to contend against its moral
strength.
This he thought to overcome by fear: the people, deeply
as in their hearts they resented the wrongs of a woman, had
no voice; and when, at his demand, the cause was reheard
at Soissons, though the falsehood of his plea had before been
proved, he had secured the advocates (for Ingeborg had none
to act for her), and he looked again for a favourable sen-
tence from an assembly in which it was his intention that
only one side should be heard. His orators spake with that
zeal and ability which are too often professionally displayed
in causes that are manifestly unjust: they were heard with
the utmost attention, and, as it appeared, with assent; the
same motives of hope and fear, which in the first assembly
had kept "the dogs dumb," operated now also with equal
force; and the king himself was present to see who were
his friends, and to support by his presence his own suit.
When the pleadings on his part were ended, there was no
one to appear for queen Ingeborg. Proclamation was made
that if any one were there to speak in her behalf he must
now come forward: it was made a second time; and, as no
one answered it, a third. But then a young man, whom no
one knew, advanced from the crowd, and with great modesty
requested a hearing. He spake on the queen's behalf with
extraordinary eloquence, and with equal address, taking es-
pecial care to say nothing that could exasperate the king,
but treating him with a degree of mildness and reverence,
the effect of which was perceptible upon him and upon the
whole assembly. As soon as his speech was finished he
withdrew; nor was it ever discovered who he was. Philip's
aversion for his wife had been ascribed to witchcraft, and to
the instigation of the devil: there were some who supposed
this unknown youth to be an angel sent to plead the cause of
the oppressed; though there were others who gave the Danes
credit for having found a most noble agent, and managing their
cause with singular dexterity. Philip was so visibly moved
J
164
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
by the speech itself, and by the manner in which he saw it
was received by all present, that the court believed he would
of his own accord take Ingeborg back; and, in that persua-
sion, they abstained from pronouncing sentence, that he
might do it with the better grace, as of his own free will.
But, shaken as he was, he preferred his Bohemian wife, and
would not part with her. After as long an interval as could
decently be allowed, the legate again convened the court;
and by this time it was evident that the public feeling*
would support him in a sentence against the king. Philip
saw that the legate knew this: he felt it himself; and leav-
ing the court abruptly, he rode to the castle where Inge-
1201. borg was then confined, and, taking her from thence,
sent word to the legate that he had taken home his
wife. But this was only a feigned submission: Ingeborg
was indeed acknowledged, and publicly treated as queen,
while he continued to live with Maria as his wife, though
not as the partner of his throne. But Ingeborg made no com-
plaint; the legate, satisfied with this formal obedi-
1213.
ence, interfered no farther; and it was not till long
after her rival's death, and twelve years after the recogni-
tion of her rights, that yielding either to public opinion, or
to a late sense of duty, he received her as her husband, to
the great joy of the nation.
Such is the history of a marriage contracted because the
king of France wanted to revive, in his own person, the old
claims of Denmark to the throne of England, and to support
them by a Danish fleet. Meantime he derived a traitorous
assistance from some of those Englishmen in whom the
love of gain prevailed over all other considerations. Cœur
de Lion, after his deliverance, when engaged in war
1196. against him in Normandy, discovered that English
ships came to St. Valery with stores, which were there pur-
chased for Philip's army. Summary and indiscriminating
punishment was inflicted for this treason: he rode to St.
* "Jam liberior dolor voxque hominum, et magis apertus sensus erat, et
præ se ferebant patres quidnam ipsis necesse foret decenere."-Paulus mi-
lius, p. 303. Basil. 1569.
† Rigordus, 201. 211. The true conclusion of the story appears in this
writer alone. Bzovius and Pontanus follow Paulus Æmilius, in represent-
ing the apparent reconciliation as complete. And De Serres makes the ca-
tastrophe immediately follow the young advocate's speech in his narra-
tive-" Philippe, sans s'arrêter en son palais, monte à cheval, et va in-
continent au Bois de Vincennes, où il avoit confiné Gelberge; et l'ayant
caressée le reçeut en sa bonne grâce, et passé avec elle en amitié conjugale
le reste de ses jours." (tom. i. 385.) Thus, like a novel writer or a dramatist,
he passes over an interval of twelve years.
•
FRIAR BACON'S BRAZEN head.
165
Valery, seized the stores, and distributed them among his
own soldiers; burnt the ships which were found in the har-
bour, hung the sailors, and set fire to the town.*
CHAP. IV.
FROM THE ACCESSION OF KING JOHN TO THE BATTLE
OF SLUYS.
A. D. 1199-1340.
THERE is an old romantic story, once popular, and not yet
entirely out of remembrance among the people, that friar
Bacon, and his friend and fellow magician friar Bungay,
spent five years in making a brazen head, for the purpose of
learning from it in what manner all England might be
secured by walling it round: a wall, it seems, they had
concluded on, but concerning the mode of construction, and
the materials, they required supernatural advice; and, per-
haps, they wanted to know the spell which might render it
impregnable. When their elaborate work was completed,
the head spake and told them; but not expecting it to speak
so soon, they were not attending when it broke its brazen
silence, and thus, losing the first part of its speech, they
could not understand the rest.
The kings of England who were contemporary with friar
Bacon, though they had neither heard of the Grecian oracle,
nor the Athenian interpretation of it, relied upon their wood-
en walls. They looked upon ships, not only as a means of
necessary defence, but of dominion and power. They had
no navy: a standing fleet was as little known as a standing
army; but the same feudal principle upon which armies
were brought into the field was applied to the sea service;
the Cinque Ports,† and other maritime towns,—and, proba-
bly, some inland ones also,-holding their charters by this
tenure. The Cinque Ports were bound to provide among
them fifty-two ships, and twenty-four men in each, for fifteen
days, and to defend the coasts whenever they were required;
and, upon extraordinary occasions, the old impost of danegelt
was levied, as ship-money. Richard Cœur de Lion, when
he spread the renown of the English name throughout the
Levant, had shown that England was a great maritime pow-
er; and John, who succeeded him, miscreant though he
* Holinshed, ii. 263.
† Lyttelton, iii. 71.
166
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
was, had the merit of perceiving the true interests of the na-
tion in this respect, and upholding its character with its
strength. At whatever time the sovereignty of the seas may
have been first assumed, John asserted and maintained it.
Early in his reign, dishonourable in every way but
1200. this, he enacted, with the assent of his barons, that
any ships of other nations, though at peace and in amity
with England, should be made lawful prizes, if they refused
to strike to the royal flag;* and, if they resisted, the crews
were to be punished with imprisonment at discretion. The
claim was certainly not new; it was asserted because he
was strong enough to enforce it. The only maritime powers
by whom it could at that time have been resisted were those
of the Mediterranean, who were too distant to regard, or,
perhaps, to know that it had been made.
A remarkable circumstance is recorded as having happen-
ed in the early part of this king's reign, or in the latter years
of his father's. Some fishermen of Orford caught in their
nets what the chroniclers call a fish, but which they describe
as
"resembling in shape a wild or savage man: he was
naked, and in all his limbs and members resembling the
right proportion of a man: he had hairs also on the usual
parts of his body, albeit that the crown of his head was
bald; his beard was long and rugged, and his breast hairy."
The fishermen presented him to sir Bartholomew de Glan-
ville, who had then the keeping of Orford Castle. When
meat was set before him, he greedily devoured it; and he
ate fish, whether raw or boiled, only pressing in his hands
those that were raw, till he had squeezed out the moisture.
"He would get him to his couch at the setting of the sun,
and rise again at the rising of the same. He would not, or
could not, utter any speech; although, to try him, they hung
him up by the heels, and miserably tormented him.' His
after-usage must have been exceedingly kind, and he must
have been of a most forgiving temper not to resent this
cruelty; for it seems that he was well reconciled to living
ashore. One day they took him to the haven, and, enclosing
a part of it with their strong nets, to prevent, as they thought,
his escape, they let him take the water for his diversion.
He presently dived under the nets, rose beyond them, sport-
"Pour lour rebellette." The ordinance is given from a MS. of sir
John Burroughs in the Museum, by Mr. Bree, in the Preface to his "Cursory
Sketch of our Naval, Military, and Civil Establishments," &c., during the
fourteenth century. The first volume, being, I believe, all that was pub-
lished, relates exclusively to naval affairs. It is the crude compilation of a
distressed man; but made from original documents, and contains much
curious information.
INTENDED INVASION OF NORMANDY.
167
ed about as if mocking at his keepers, and then, of his own
accord, returned to them, and remained their guest about two
months longer; then, being weary of a land life, he took an
opportunity of stealing to sea.* Strange as this story is,
and incredible as it will be deemed by most readers, it is in-
serted here, because there is complete evidence that a simi-
lar circumstance occurred in the latter part of the seventeenth
century, on the coast of Spain, with this remarkable differ-
ence, that the man who had there chosen an aquatic life,
was recognised, and the history of his disappearance known
at the place where he was supposed to have been drowned
in bathing: he was carried back to his mother's house,
remained there nine years, and then took again to the
water.†
Amid all his disputes with the pope and with his
1205.
barons, John never neglected his naval concerns, and,
unpopular as he was with other classes, never lost the good
will of the seamen. In the seventh year of his reign, with
the advice of his council, he prepared for attempting to re-
cover Normandy, of which Philip Augustus had possessed
himself: a strong national feeling was manifested in favour
of this just enterprise; the barons vied with each other in
their preparations; and so large a fleet was collected at
Portsmouth, that it was believed so many ships had never
been brought together before: the number of mariners on
board is stated at 14,000, who had come from all parts of
the kingdom to serve their country. But when all things
were ready, and all in heart and hope, the archbishop Hubert
and the earl of Pembroke, for reasons which have not been
explained, compelled, rather that persuaded, him to abandon
his intention. Bitter curses were breathed by the sailors
against the evil counsellors, as they deemed them, who had
frustrated this mighty preparation; and John himself was
"pinched so near the heart," by the disgrace and disappoint-
ment, that, having got to Winchester, he repented him of
having yielded, turned back to Portsmouth, embarked, sailed
out of the harbour; and for two days kept hovering off, in
hopes that the troops which had been dismissed would,
when they heard this, follow his example; but it was too
late.
Holinshed, ii. 294. Fabyan (315.) says he was kept six months upon
land; and then, because "they could have no speech of it, they cast it into
the sea again."
†The story is in Feyjoo's Theatro Critico, tom. iii. disc. 8.; where it is
related with such circumstantial proof, that he who disbelieves it can have
no other standard of belief than his own will and pleasure.
168
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
An effort was made with more effect when Philip
1213.
Augustus, under the pope's sanction, prepared, as the
champion of the papal church, to invade England, and de-
pose an excommunicated king. Philip had long been pro-
vided for such an enterprise; little caring under what pretext
he might undertake it. The possession of Normandy had
given him more ships and seamen than any former king of
France had ever commanded; and, collecting them from
other ports, wherever they were to be obtained, he had
brought together, in the three harbours of Boulogne, Calais,
and Gravelines, not less than 1700 vessels.* His army, too,
was most formidable in number. Distracted as England was
with internal troubles, greater vigour was never shown in
its counsels than at this time. An embargo had been laid
upon all ships capable of carrying six or more horses: in
whatever ports they might be found, they were, if laden, to be
unladed, and sent round to Portsmouth, well provided with
good seamen, and well-armed; and the bailiffs of the respect-
ive ports were to see that they were properly furnished with
moveable platformst for embarking and disembarking the
horses. The fleet which he assembled is said to have been
far stronger than the French king's ; but this probably
means in the size and equipment of the ships, and in the
skill of the sailors, not in numbers. And "he had got to-
gether such an army of men out of all the parts of his realm,
—both of lords, knights, gentlemen, yeomen, and other of
the commons,—that notwithstanding all the provision of vic-
tuals that might possibly be recovered, there could not be
found sufficient store to sustain the huge multitudes of those
that were gathered along the shore." A great number of the
commons, therefore, were discharged, and sent home, retain-
ing only the men-at-arms, yeomen, and freeholders, with
the cross-bowmen or arbalisters, and archers. Even after
this reduction, 60,000 men were assembled on Barham
Downs; so that the chronicler might well say, "If they had
been all of one mind, and well bent towards the service of
their king and defence of their country, there had not been
a prince in Christendom but that they might have been able
to have defended the realm of England against him." The
land preparations were rendered unnecessary by John's sub-
mission to the legate, Pandulph; when he surrendered his
* Rigordus, 212. Sueyro, Anales de Flandes, i. 260.
↑ "Pontibus et cleiis (Rymer's Fœdera, i. 117. last edition.) The use of
the latter word, in this place, shows that it was not erroneously written in
another document for clivis, as Ducange supposed.
Holinshed, ii. 305.
FRENCH FLEET AT DAMME.
169
crown, and, receiving it again from him, as the pope's repre-
sentative, swore fealty to the church of Rome, and bound his
kingdom, by a written instrument, to an annual payment of
1000 marks for ever, in token of vassalage.
In those days this was not regarded as so unworthy an act
as it is properly now considered; nor was it in fear of the
foreign enemy that John had consented to it. Base as he was,
he was of a race that never failed in courage. When Philip
Augustus was informed, by the legate, that the king of Eng-
land had submitted, and that, consequently, his aid was no
longer required, for reducing the disobedient son of the
church, he was exceedingly indignant; and his first impulse
was to go forward with the enterprise, in defiance of the
pope. All his nobles and feudatory chiefs concurred in this,
except the earls of Boulogne and Flanders, whom a reasona-
ble jealousy of Philip had induced to treat secretly with
John. Their opposition frustrated his design, and he imme-
diately turned his arms upon Flanders. Fernando de Portugal,
son of king Sancho I., was then earl of Flanders, in right of
Joanna his wife,-a man more brave than fortunate;-the
name, indeed, in his family, seems to have carried misfortune
with it. Philip had extorted from him, on his marriage, the
towns of Aire and St. Omer, and the sense of the wrong then
done him was rankling in his mind. On the other hand, he
had not acted now as an open enemy; and Philip, in the tem-
per of one who was punishing a vassal for his breach of faith,
besieged and with little opposition took Calais, took posses-
sion of Ypres and Bruges, and then laid siege to Ghent; send-
ing his fleet, meantime, to Damme. Fernando sent over to Eng-
land for immediate aid; and John forthwith despatched 500
sail, under William earl of Holland, William Longspear earl of
Salisbury, his own bastard brother, and the earl of Boulogne.
Damme, which was now to be the scene of the first great
naval action between the English and French, and the first
great naval victory recorded in the English annals, was at
that time the port of Bruges, from whence it is about a mile
distant, being situated near the junction of the rivers Rey
and Lieve. It is supposed to have been a settlement of the
Alans, and that the dog, in the arms of the town, and of
which a fabulous story has been invented, refers to this
origin. Then, and long afterwards, the sea came up to its
walls; till, about the year 1180, the Hollanders, with their
characteristic and admirable industry, recovered here a track
of rich country from the waters; and it was from the dam
which they constructed for its defence, and which extends
from thence to Sluys, that the town took its name. A chan-
P
VOL. 1.
170
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
nel for the waters was made, at the same time, two miles in
length, forming what, for the vessels of that age, was a
capacious harbour. The Hollanders, by whom this great
work was planned and executed, settled there as a colony,
greatly to the advantage of Flanders, from the earls of which
province they obtained, in addition to the common privi-
leges of Flemish subjects, an exemption from customs
throughout the Flemish territory. In the course of little
more than thirty years Damme had become the great em-
porium of those parts. No other part of Europe had ad-
vanced so rapidly in civilization as this province. In the
eighth century it was mostly covered with wood; and so in-
famous for the robberies and murders committed upon those
whose ill fortune led them thither, that it was called the
Merciless Forest ;* in the ninth, when the growing influence
of religion had mitigated this barbarity, lands were given to
any who would settle on them;† and in the tenth, when the
manufactures to which it owed its early prosperity, and its
after-troubles, were introduced into Ghent, "a rate of barter
was fixed, for want of money." By this rate two fowls went
for one goose, two geese for one pig, three lambs for a sheep,
and three calves for a cow. In a little time the province
was intersected with canals, and towns and cities arose and
flourished; many of which, though fallen to decay, bear
witness still, in the splendour of their public buildings, to
their former affluence. Ghent was now the seat of its manu-
factures, Bruges of its merchants, and Damme was its port;
whither, as to a certain mart, the produce of the country, the
furs of Hungary, the wines of Gascony and Rochelle, and
the cloths of England, were brought, and from whence they
were distributed to all parts.§
When the French arrived off this harbour, they offered
peace to the inhabitants, who were wholly incapable of
defending themselves against such a force: they obtained
the money which they demanded as its price, and then they
plundered the place. Not satisfied with this, they pro-
* Sueyro, i. 21.
† Ibid. i. 24.
‡ Ibid. i. 54.
§ Lud. Guicciardini, Belgii Desc. 397. Jac. Marchantii Flandria, p. 53
Sanderi Flandria Illustrata, tom. ii. 203.
This, with other curious particulars concerning the trade of the place,
we learn from Brito's honest verses. He calls the French commander Sava-
ricus; Sueyro calls him Savary, which is, doubtless, the real name; and
Sanders is mistaken in naming him Auriacus.
"Opes cunctis è partibus orbis
Navigio advectas supra spem repperit omnem;
Infecti argenti massas rubeique metalli,
Stamina Phœnicum rerum et cladumque labores,
Et quas huc mittit varias Hungaria pelles,
BATTLE OF DAMME.
171
ceeded to ravage the country round about; and the sailors,
as well as land forces, were thus employed when the Eng-
lish fleet, cruising in search of their enemy, approached.
The English, as they neared the coast, espied many ships
lying without the haven, which capacious as it was, was not
large enough to contain them all; many, therefore, were riding
at anchor without the haven's mouth, and along the coast.
Shallops were presently sent out to espy whether they were
friends or enemies; and if enemies, what their strength, and
in what order they lay. These espials, approaching as if they
had been fishermen, came near enough to ascertain that the
ships were left without sufficient hands to defend them; and,
hastening back, told the commanders that the victory was in
their hands, if they would only make good speed. No time
was lost they made sail toward the enemy, and won the
"tall ships" which were riding at anchor with little diffi-
culty, the men on board only requesting that their lives might
be spared. The smaller ones, which were left dry when the
tide was low, they spoiled of whatever was useful, and set
on fire, the sailors escaping to the shore. This done, they
set upon those that lay in harbour, within the haven; and
"here was hard hold for a while," because of the narrow-
ness of the place, allowing no advantage for numbers or
for skill. "And those Frenchmen," says the chronicler,
"that were gone abroad into the country, perceiving that the
enemies were come, by the running away of the mariners,
returned with all speed to their ships to aid their fellows,
and so made valiant resistance for a time; till the English-
men, getting on land, and ranging themselves on either side
of the haven, beat the Frenchmen so on the sides, and, the
ships grappling together, in front, that they fought as it had
been in a pitched field, till that, finally, the Frenchmen were
not able to sustain the force of the Englishmen, but were
constrained, after long fight and great slaughter, to yield
themselves prisoners.
Granaque vera quibus gaudet squalata rubere :
Cum ratibus vino plenis Vasconia quale
Vel Rupella parit; cum ferro cumque metallis;
Cum pannis rebusque aliis quas Anglia, vel quas
Flandria contulerat illuc, mittantur ut inde
In varias partes mundi, dominisque reportent
Lucra suis, quibus est spes semper mixta timori
Sorte comes dubia, subitique angustia casus:
Omnia quæ pyrata rapax Savaricus et ejus
Dira cohors inidem sibi concinnata Cadoco,
Indigenis contra percussæ fædera pacis,
Diripuere sibi, sociis juvantibus ipsos,
Non veriti violare fidem pactumque negare,
Quæ nostris peccata reor nocuere carinis."—Philippidos, lib. viii.
172
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
The first act of the conquerors was to give thanks to God
for their victory. They then manned three hundred of the
prizes, which were laden with corn, wine, oil, and other
provisions, and with military stores, and sent them to Eng-
land; the first fruits of that maritime superiority for which
the church bells of this glorious island have so often pealed
with joy. An hundred more were burnt, because they were
drawn up so far upon the sands, that they could not be got
out, without more hands and cost of time than could be
spared for them. There still remained a great part of the
enemy's fleet, higher up the harbour, and protected by the
town, in which Philip had left a sufficient force to protect the
stores which he had left there, and the money for the pay-
ment of his troops.* The English landed; the earl of Flan-
ders joined them, and they proceeded to attack the place;
but by this there had been sufficient time for the French
king to hasten, with an overpowering force, from the siege
of Ghent. The English and their allies sustained a sharp
action, and were compelled to retreat to their ships, with a
loss, computed by the French at 2000 men. But they re-
treated no farther than to the near shores of the Isle of
Walcheren; and Philip saw the impossibility of saving the
remainder of his fleet, considering the unskilfulness of his
own seamen, as well as other things. He set fire to them,
therefore, himself, that they might not fall into the enemy's
hands. Such was the fate of that great naval armament,
which is said to be the first French fleet mentioned in his-
tory; and, as if the unfortunate town of Damme, which
he had promised not to injure, and the foreign merchants to
whom his word was pledged, had not suffered enough by
the previous spoil, he set the place on fire also, and it was
consumed; and he wasted the country round with fire.
*This also Brito mentions in the report of an affrighted messenger to
Philip:-
"Nec Gulielmus habet pullus ferrata tueri
Dolia quo possit, quæ plena numismata turgent
Quo solet ipse tuis numerare stipendia castris,
Pollici dispensans fiscalia dona fideli."-Philippidos, lib. viii.
† Charnock, i. 311.
Rigordus, 212. Sanderus, ii. 204. Holinshed, ii. 309, 310. Sueyro, i.
262. There is a most remarkable mistatement of these facts in the Chro-
nicon Turonense, worthy of Bonaparte's Moniteur.—“Cumque rex Fran-
corum-multitudinem navium præparasset, armisque aliis necessariis one-
rasset, quidam missi a rege Angliæ latenter venientes, fere totam illam
multitudinem navium rapuerunt, secumque in Angliam perduxerunt.
(They stole the fleet!) Paucas tamen naves quæ remanserunt jussit rex
iratus comburi, sed et quamdam villam in portu sitam, eo quod incolæ ir-
ruentes cognoverant et consenserant advenisse."-Martene et Durand, Coll,
Amp. v. 1049.
JOHN'S MERCENARIES WRecked.
173
The troubles with which England was continually agitated
during John's eventful reign, reduced that miserable king, in
his latter years, to such extremities, that he was fain to hide
himself in the Isle of Wight; and while his agents were
employed, some in soliciting the court of Rome to interfere
in his behalf, and others in engaging mercenaries for his
service, he courted the favour of the Cinque Ports, and en-
couraged them to make prize of any ships which were sus-
pected not to be his friends;* so that his enemies had some
reason for representing him as a sea rover.
The pope
espoused his cause, and mercenaries came at his invita-
tion,t-chieftains who were "desperate adventurers, lead-
ing an execrable sort of people, whose miserable fortunes
at home easily drew them to any mischiefs abroad." One
formidable band perished by shipwreck between Calais and
Dover, with their commander Hugh de Boues,-a brave but
turbulent Frenchman, who was banished from his own
1215.
country. The eastern coast, as far as Yarmouth, was
strewn with their bodies; and, probably, so great a loss of life+
was never occasioned by any one storm before or since in those
It was reported that the whole county of Norfolk had
been assigned by the king to these allies, and that the na-
tives were to have been punished for their adherence to the
barons, by expelling them to make room for the new settlers.
Their fate, therefore, was regarded by the nation as a provi-
dential deliverance, seeing that they must "needs have
lived upon the country, which would have been sore oppress-
ed by such multitudes of strangers, even to the utter undo-
ing of the inhabitants wheresoever they should have come."§
John regretted it at the time as a great misfortune; but he
learned afterwards how little reliance was to be placed upon
men of this stamp, who served only for pay and for plunder;
for in the ensuing year most of his hired forces left him,||
and not a few entered into the service of the French prince,
Louis, to whom his factious barons had traitorously offered
the crown.
seas.
The death of this king was a happy event for the nation,
* Holinshed, ii. 323.
† Saverier de Mauleon, one of the men of great nobility, and right worthy
warriors who came out of parts of Poictou and Gascony to serve him, having
under them great numbers of good soldiers and tall men of war, may pro-
bably be the same person who commanded Philip's armament and plundered
Damme.
↑ Matthew Paris states their numbers at 40,000, which is incredible; but
the force must have been numerous which could have led to such an exag-
geration. Holinshed, 325.
§ Holinshed, ii. 325.
| Ibid. 332.
P
174
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
99
though he left a child of nine years' old to succeed him. In
most of the barons who so often combined against him, there
had been far more of personal animosity than of principle,—
more, perhaps, even than of personal views. But a child
was an object of compassion; and they who already repent-
ed of having called in a foreign enemy were no longer with-
held by hatred or by shame from following their English
feelings, and taking the better part. Louis's tide of fortune
began to ebb, when a force of 300 knights, with a great body
of soldiers, embarked at Calais for his support, in a fleet
consisting of eighty great ships and many smaller vessels,
commanded by Eustace the monk. This man, who was a
Fleming by birth, had left his monastery to enjoy a patri-
mony which fell to him by the death of his brothers; that
patrimony he appears to have dissipated; afterwards "he
became a notable pirate, and had done in his days much mis-
chief to the Englishmen.' The English government re-
ceived timely intelligence of this expected succour to the
enemy; and, accordingly, Philip de Albany and John Mar-
shal were appointed to collect the power of the Cinque Ports,
and guard the seas against them. With the aid of Hubert
de Burgh, earl of Kent, then residing in the castle of Dover,
they had not yet mustered more than forty vessels, great and
small, on St. Bartholomew's day, when the French sailed,
meaning to go up the Thames, and make for London. Not
deterred by the inferiority of their forces, the English com-
manders put to sea, and encountered them; then gained the
weather-gage, and, "by tilting at them with the iron beaks
of their galleys, sunk several of the transports with all on
board. They availed themselves of the wind also to try,
with success, a new and singular mode of annoyance: for,
having provided a number of vessels on their decks, filled
with unslaked lime, and pouring water into them when they
were at just distance, and in a favourable position, the smoke
was driven into the enemies' faces," so as to disable them
from defending themselves, while the archers and cross-bow-
men aimed their destructive weapons with dreadful effect.
Eustace, the monk, was found, after long search, hid in the
hold of one of the captured ships: he offered a large sum for
* Charnock, i. 332. Campbell's account (i. 117.) is, that they laid heaps
of lime upon the deck, which, the wind blowing fresh, drove in the faces of
their enemies and in a manner blinded them. Neither of the writers give
their authority, and Holinshed mentions no such stratagem. I have read
elsewhere of throwing lime in this manner. In one of Cœur de Lion's bat-
tles in Palestine, the Saracens, when closely pressed, took advantage of the
wind, and, occupying some hills of loose sand, stirred it about like dust, and
blinded their enemies.
HUBERT DE BURGH.
175
his ransom, so he might have his life spared, and offered also
to enter into the service of the English king; but as he had
rendered himself singularly odious, Richard, a bastard son
of king John, killed him, and sent his head to young Henry
as a brotherly offering, and as a proof of their important vic
tory. Louis was so disheartened by this reverse, that he was
glad to make peace upon such terms as were proposed to
him; and receiving 15,000 marks for the release of the hos-
tages whom the barons, who invited him, had put into his
hands, he gave up such strongholds as were in his posses-
sion, and returned to France.
A remarkable instance occurred some fifteen years after-
wards of the feeling with which the people regarded this
naval victory, that in its immediate consequences had deli-
vered the country from the presence of a foreign foe. In the
course of the civil commotions by which the reign of Henry
III. was disturbed, Hubert de Burgh became an object of
persecution to the then prevailing faction; and being forcibly
taken from the sanctuary, in which he had sought for protec-
tion, at Brentwood, a smith was sent for to make fetters for
him. But when the smith understood that it was for Hubert,
earl of Kent, he was called upon to perform this ignominious
office, he refused to do it, uttering, says Speed,* such words
(if Matthew Paris do not poetise) as will show that honoura-
ble thoughts are sometimes found in the hearts of men whose
fortunes are far from honour. For having first drawn a deep
sigh, he said, "Do with me what ye please, and God have
mercy on my soul; but as the Lord liveth, I will never make
iron shackles for him, but will rather die the worst death that
is. Is not this that Hubert who restored England to Eng-
land? He who faithfully and constantly served John in
Gascony, Normandy, and elsewhere, whose high courage,
when he was reduced to eat horse-flesh, even the enemy ad-
mired? He who so long defended Dover Castle, the key of
England, against all the strong sieges of the French, and by
vanquishing them at sea brought safety to the kingdom?
God be judge between him and you for using him so un-
justly and inhumanly!" It is to be regretted that this
man's name has not been preserved; none of his contempo-
raries deserved a more honourable remembrance. It was at
the risk of his life that he thus obeyed the impulse of an
honest heart; and Hubert must have felt a prouder and wor-
thier gratification at this brave testimony to his services than
the largest grant could ever have given him, with which he
was rewarded in the days of his prosperity.
* Page 517.
1
176
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
The next maritime event that our chroniclers have record-
ed is of a more extraordinary nature,-a great battle among
the fishes of the sea, on the coast of England, "so that
there were eleven whales or thirlepools cast on land, besides
other huge and monstrous fishes, which appeared to be dead
of some hurts. And one of those mighty fishes, coming into
the Thames alive, was pursued by the fishers, and could
scarce pass through the arches of London bridge; at length,
with darts and other such weapons, they slew him before
the king's manor at Mortlake."* Our ancestors were as
careful to report wonders as they were prone to magnify
them; but, among the things which have been thus record-
ed, there are not a few that, having long been discredited in
the progress of incredulity, the progress of knowledge has
enabled us to understand and believe. Such is the fact re-
corded thus, by Holinshed,† in his chronicle of this reign.
"On the even of the circumcision of our Lord, in the
1254. night season, whilst the air was most clear and bright,
with shining stars, the moon being eight days' old, there
appeared in the element the perfect form and likeness of a
mighty great ship; which was first seen of certain monks
of St. Albans, who, remaining at St. Amphibalus, were got
up to behold by the stars if it were time for them to go to
matins; but perceiving that strange sight, they called up
such of their acquaintance as lodged near at hand to view
the same. At length it seemed as the boards and joints
thereof had gone in sunder, and so it vanished away. Sai-
lors who had seen or heard of the Flying Dutchman would
at no time have questioned the truth of this relation: they
who have studied the aerial phenomena of optics will as
readily believe it now.
""
About the same time certain ships were "driven by force
of wind and weather into certain havens on the north coast
of England towards Berwick; which ships were of a very
strange form and fashion, but mighty and strong. The men
that were aboard were of some far country, for their lan-
guage was unknown, and not understandable to any that
could be brought to talk with them. The fraught and bal-
last of the ships was armour and weapons, as habergeons,
helmets, spears, bows, arrows, crossbows, and darts, with
great stores of victuals. There lay, also, without the havens,
on the coast, diverse other ships of like form, mould, and
fashion. Those that were driven into the havens were stayed
for a time by the bailiffs of the ports; but, finally, when
*Holinshed, i. 390.
† Ibid. ii. 430.
·
ATTEMPT TO MURDER HENRY III.
177
it could not be known what they were, nor from whence
they came, they were licensed to depart without loss or
harm in body or goods."* It is not easy to understand by
what circumstance ships from any Finnish or Slavonic ports
could have been blown to the coast of Northumberland, and
still less credible is it that they should have come from the
White Sea. The probable solution is, that the ports to
which the strangers were driven were so little frequented,
that French and Flemish were the only foreign languages
in any degree known there, and perhaps not those. Norway
was then at war with Denmark; and it may possibly have
been a Norwegian fleet, prepared for war, but evidently with
no piratical intention. What piracy was carried on at that
time seems to have been by Irish, and perhaps Welsh free-
booters; for there was an agreement between Henry III. and
his vassal Olave, king of Man and of the islands, that the
vassal king was, at his own cost, to guard the English and
Irish coasts on those seas against all hurt as far as was in
his power; for which service he was to receive annually,
from Ireland, forty marks, a hundred measurest of wheat,
and five barrels of wine.§
In the year 1238 an attempt was made to murder king
Henry III. at Woodstock in his bed. The assassin, who
was a clerk, Clement by name, got in at the window at
midnight; and as the king happened that night to lie in an-
other apartment, he sought him up and down in other cham-
bers, "with naked knife in hand," till he was seen by one
of the queen's gentlewomen, who was sitting late, and en-
gaged devoutly at her book, by candle-light. Her cries
awakened the king's servants, and the criminal was appre-
hended. There could be no doubt of his intention; and
whether his apparent madness were real or feigned, he was
brought to trial at Coventry, and there having, upon full evi-
dence, been justly condemned, was executed with abomin-
able barbarity. At his death he declared that he had been
* Holinshed, ii. 431.
+"Ne dampnum prædictis terris nostris,-pro posse suo, per mare in coste-
ris illis possit evenire."
↑ Crannocos.
§ Rymer (last edition), i. 218.
"And worthily," says Speed; "for as a vulgar chronicler hereupon saith
truly, in wounding and killing a prince the traitor is guilty of homicide, of
parricide, of christicide, nay, of deicide." This language might rather have
been expected from some old attorney-general than from Ralph Holinshed;
but that good old chronicler wrote at a time when Elizabeth's life was in
continual danger from such attempts. "These practices of treason, in
summo gradu," says he, “which cannot be committed without irrecoverable
detriment to the whole estate (especially where succession is uncertain),
are of an old brewing, though they never be so newly broached. And
178
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
suborned to the attempt by William de Marisch, whose fa-
ther Geoffrey had been recently disappointed in his expecta-
tions of sharing in the patrimony of Richard, earl of Pem-
broke, Strongbow's representative, when that powerful earl
marshal had been slain in Ireland. Hearing this, William
took to the seas; and taking possession of Lundy Is-
1242.
land,*"played the rover" from thence as from a
stronghold, that little island being deemed inexpugnable.
He continued during four years to do much mischief in the
neighbouring seas; at length he was surprised with sixteen
of his companions: they were put to death in London as
pirates, he as a traitor; but at his death he utterly denied
that he had ever been privy to the attempted murder of the
king.t
The French had lost the first fleet that they ever fitted out;
and their subsequent efforts at sea had not been fortunate.
But the possession of Normandy, which, by favour of the
troubles in England, they had conquered from king John,
gave them ships and seamen; and, during the turbulent
reign of his feeble son, they acquired, for a short time, such
a superiority over the naval force of the Cinque-ports, the
Bretons and the Calais-men joining with them, that the
Cinque-ports were compelled to call upon the government
for aid. The wardens of those ports had adhered faith-
fully to John in all his reverses; but under Henry III. they
took the adverse part, and kept the sea, that no stranger
should enter the land to aid the king against the barons.§
John had requited them for their fidelity, by allowing them
to make prize of any vessels which they might choose to
look upon as enemies: that practice they continued when
they changed their party, and "robbed and spoiled all men
that they might take, sparing neither English merchants or
truly, if the cursed miscreant which undertaketh an enterprise of this
quality had the grace to consider how many murders he committeth by im-
plication, in giving the royal person of the prince a deadly wound, I doubt
not, if he were a man, and not a rank devil, he would be weaned from that
outrageous villany. And, therefore, a thousand woes light on his heart
that shall stretch out his hand, nay, that shall once conceive in thought, a
murder so heinous.”—ii. 385.
* It has just at this time been stated in the newspapers (Nov. 1832), that
lieutenants Denham and Robinson have recently discovered that this island
possesses a good roadstead, where a considerable fleet might ride securely
in westerly gales. A schoolfellow of mine at Bristol, whose father fre-
quently navigated the Bristol Channel, had passed some days upon this
island, where there was then only a solitary habitation; and I well remem-
ber that, when listening to his account of it some fifty years ago, I used to
look upon him as a sort of Robinson Crusoe.
† Holinshed, ii. 385. 398. Speed 523.
§ Fabyan, 353.
↑ Holinshed ii. 398.
.
PIRACY FROM THE CINQUE-PORts.
•
179
others;" and the common fame went, that the barons of the
land had good part of the gain thus made.* Toward the
close of this miserable reign, when, through the courage
and ability of his son prince Edward, the king had gained
the ascendency over a set of nobles who would have reduced
the government_to_a_condition like that of Poland, some
loyal prisoners in Dover Castle, encouraged by the tidings
which reached them in their captivity, got possession of a
tower within the castle-walls, and defended themselves
against their keepers till the king and prince Edward came
to their deliverance. The garrison were then glad to obtain
honourable conditions for themselves; and Edward proceed-
ed along the coast, punishing some of the inhabitants within
the precincts of the Cinque-ports, putting others in fear, and
receiving them into the king's peace. Winchelsea alone
resisted him; but he forced the town, "in which entry much
guilty blood was spilt," though the multitude, by his com-
mand, were spared. Thus were the seas made quiet; but
this was not effected without some compromise, and a con-
dition to which so able a prince as Edward would never
have consented if the government had been firmly establish-
ed. It might be fitting as well as necessary that all their
former privileges should be confirmed to them, because those
privileges were intended not merely for their own but for the
public good. But when it was granted "that if any man,
English or other, would sue for restitution of goods by them
before taken, or for the death of any of their friends before
slain," all such complaints should be sued in their courts
and there determined, there must have been the confidence of
strength in the party that made so iniquitous a demand, and
the consciousness of weakness in that which consent-
ed to it. "The common fame at that day ran, that the
wardens of the Cinque-ports had the dominion of the sea,
wherefore the king was fain to follow their pleasure."†
This was a most disgraceful and dangerous example; for
they had seized every ship they met, and thrown the crews
overboard, English and foreigners alike, "murdering," says
1266.
* Fabyan, 356. An agreement between them and the governors of the
realm was made this same year, during the king's absence, in which they
took upon themselves to guard the coast and the sea against the king's ene-
mies: the governors engaged to use their endeavours, on the king's return,
for prevailing on him to declare, by his letters-patent, that this should in
no ways prejudice their liberties; and they bound themselves not to offend
against the king's liege subjects, nor any who had his safe conduct. (Rymer,
i. 250.) This, as usual in factious times, was arming men in the king's
name against the king's cause.
† Fabyan, 361. Holinshed, ii. 469.
心
180
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
a contemporary,* "all who brought necessary commodities
to this country, without distinction, so that the price of all
imported articles was grievously enhanced, the people greatly
distressed thereby, and the merchants ruined." The most
perilous lesson that has ever been taught to sinful man is,
that strength may secure impunity in this world for any
wickedness.
Even in this reign, when national interests seemed in other
things to be little regarded, Henry evinced a lively concern
for the maritime strength of his dominions. He had given
the Isle of Oleron as an appanage to his son prince Edward,
expressly, however, specifying in the grant that it was not to
be separated from the crown. Edward thoughtlessly made
a grant of it to his uncle Guy de Lusignan; but the king
compelled him to revoke the grant, as having been made
without consideration of this prohibitory condition; and the
islanders, whose old and tried fidelity was highly praised,
were instructed not to admit any governor unless he were
sent by the king or his son.†
1240.
The Flemings, who were then the most industrious of
European nations, found themselves inconvenienced by the
feudal relations of their earl to the crown of France, when
that kingdom was at war with England; for in that case
their great and gainful trade with this country was inter-
rupted. They represented, therefore, to the English govern-
ment that this evil ought to be no necessary consequence of
any dispute between England and France; and they re-
quested that, for the benefit of both parties, the Flemish
merchants might be allowed to carry on their trade as usual,
so long as Flanders itself took no other part in the war than
what the earl was called upon by reason of his ho-
mage to perform; and to this reasonable application
England reasonably consented. In later times the Dutch
are said to have carried this principle so far as to have sold
gunpowder to the people with whom they were actually en-
gaged in hostilities. This, which may be deemed magnani-
mous or mean according as we regard the act or the motive,
is an extreme case; but certainly, whatever lessens the
amount of private and individual evil which war brings
with it is to be desired. Let us hope that a time will come
when trade with an enemy's country, which has been per-
mitted under the system of licenses, may be carried on by a
humane and just agreement; that peace or war may in this
* Thos. Wykes, quoted by Henry, iv. 467.
† Rymer, i. 374. 378. 404.
Marchantius, 232. Sueyro, i. 583.
--
ACCESSION OF EDWARD I.
181
respect make no difference to those who are inoffensively
pursuing their business on the seas; and that the capture of
a merchant ship may be considered to be as little consistent
with the honourable spirit in which war ought ever to be
conducted, as the plunder of a defenceless town.
The resources and the naval strength of England had
suffered so much during Henry III.'s reign, that when prince
Edward, after he had restored the authority of the crown,
and something like order to the land, embarked with one of
his brothers for the holy war, the force with which he sailed
consisted only of thirteen ships,* and 1000 men: but he
took with him a name which he had already rendered re-
nowned; and the high reputation which Richard Cœur de
Lion had won in the East for English valour was not di-
minished by his conduct. Some danger of interruption on
the seas, which at that time could have been from no foreign
enemy, was apprehended, when on his return after his father's
death he was about to cross from Gascony; for the constable
of Dover Castle, as warden of the Cinque-ports, was written
to, to provide ships and galleys for the king's passage, and
was instructed secretly to apprize the king's best and trustiest
friends in those ports, that they should cautiously make them-
selves ready for this service; and the constable was exhorted
to use circumspection as well as diligence in this matter.†
His return was celebrated with such joy as had been 1274.
felt at no former accession; for it was known that the
crown had passed from a weak head to a worthy one, the
sceptre from a feeble to a vigorous hand. He was received
in London "with all the demonstrations of loyal affection
that the Londoners could devise, or that his own heart could
have desired. The streets were hung with rich cloths of
silk, arras, and tapestry: the aldermen and burgesses of the
city threw out of their windows handfuls of gold and silver,
to signify the great gladness which they had conceived of
his safe return: the conduits ran plentifully with white wine
and red, that every one might drink his fill." About a fort-
night afterwards he and his queen Eleanor (one of the best
and worthiest with whom ever king was blessed, and who
had the rare happiness in that station of being loved as she
deserved) were crowned in Westminster Abbey, which had
been almost re-edified by his father. There were present at
the ceremony the king of Scotland and the earl of Britanny,
with their wives, who were sisters to king Edward, and the
queen-mother donna Juana, widow of king Ferdinand of
* Campbell, i. 121.
VOL. I.
Q
† Rymer, i. part ii. 504.
1 T
(
182
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
Castile; and at this coronation 500 great horses were, with
a sort of barbarous magnificence, turned loose among the
crowd for any who could catch them, by the Scotch king and
the English barons, as they and their retinue alighted.*
Edward I. has not in these days the sympathy of any ge-
nerous mind with him in his Welsh wars, justifiable as the
conquest seemed in those ages, and beneficial as it has
eventually proved to Wales as well as England; but the
manner in which he conducted it gave fresh proof of his
great ability. In his first campaign the ships which the
Cinque-ports furnished behaved so well, that a new charter
of liberties was granted to those ports, in acknowledgment
of their services to his predecessors, and specially for what
they now rendered in Wales. This charter confirmed to
them all the privileges to which they had been entitled from
the time of Edward the Confessor, and conceded large ex-
emptions from ordinary imposts, as also from the law con-
cerning wardships and marriages, which was then a recent
enactment, and one of the most oppressive that ever obtained
in this kingdom; for this they were bound to serve at the
king's summons, with fifty-seven ships, for fifteen days, at
their own cost. When the war was renewed, 4000 quarrels
were ordered for the use of this fleet, the cross-bow being
then in distant combat what the musket has since been. One
of the king's first measures then was to occupy the Isle of
Anglesea, from whence the Welsh used to draw supplies of
food, and whither they sometimes retired for refuge. The
ships of the Cinque-ports performed this service for
1282. him the more easily, because the chief persons in the
island, pursuant to the oath which they had taken at the last
peace, did not act against them. It was now desirable to
establish a communication with the main land, either for the
purpose of acting upon the rear of the Welsh army, or of
combining operations with that part of his own which was
then in the heart of the enemy's country. With this view
he laid down a bridge of boats in the narrowest part of the
Menai Straits, from the point of land called Mod-y-down,
nearly opposite to Bangor: the platform which he raised
* Holinshed, ii. 479. Speed, 543.
↑ The clause is a rich specimen of law Latin:-" Ita quod quieti sint de
omni theolonio, et omni consuetudine; videlicet, ab omni bastagio, talla-
gio, passagio, caryagio, rivagio, sponsagio, et omni wrecco, et de tota
vendicione, achato et rechato suo, per totam terram et potestatem nostram
cum socca et sacca, et thol, et them; et quod habeant infangenethef, et
quod sint wrecfry et wytefry, et lestagefry, et lonetopfry, et quod habeant
den et strond apud Gernemouth.”
Rymer, i. part ii. 558.
§ Ibid. 601.
WAR AGAINST THE WELSH.
183
upon it was wide enough for threescore men to pass abreast.
Seeing this, the Welsh threw up intrenchments on their
side, to obstruct the work in its progress, to check the ad-
vance of the English when it should be finished, and to
secure the passage into their own mountains. Before it was
completed, a party of English, with some of the Gascon
lords, and a body of Spaniards who were then in Edward's
service, crossed where the water was low enough for them
to make their way from the termination of the bridge to the
shore. Richard ap Walwyn, who commanded the Welsh,
let them advance without opposition, to reconnoitre his works
at the foot of the mountain; but when the tide came in, and
intercepted their retreat, he rushed down upon them with a
very superior force, and drove them into the water: many
were slain, and many, by reason of the weight of their armour,
were drowned in endeavouring to regain the bridge. Thir-
teen knights, seventeen esquires, and 200 foot soldiers fell,
according to the English account; 1000 according to the
Welsh. Among them was "that famous knight sir Lucas
de Thania," who was the leader of the foreign troops, sir
William Lindsey, Robert Clifford, and William de la Zouch.
Sir William Latimer, who commanded the English, reco-
vered the bridge by the stoutness of his horse. Edward
was at Aberconway at the time,-for no such imprudence
would have been committed had he been present; but this
loss, and the inconvenience which the passage of those straits
occasioned, made him conceive the intention of constructing
a stone bridge there. The architects whom he consulted
made an unfavourable report, saying that the bottom was
doubtful, and the sea at times raging and stormy. Edward
was one of those men who think every thing practicable
that they know to be greatly needed, and who, in the strength
of that persuasion, overcome difficulties which to others
would be insuperable: he would have made the attempt, if
the inhabitants of Arvon had not petitioned against it, and
still more because his attention was engrossed by other
schemes of ambition, and objects of more pressing import-
ance. But he would have failed in it; for what he pro-
posed was more than modern engineers have ventured to
undertake. It was reserved for Telford, in our own days, to
suspend over those straits, and at the very point where Ed-
ward laid his floating bridge, an iron one in the air, which is
at once the most stupendous and the most beautiful work of
its kind that the world has ever seen.
* Holinshed, ii. 485. Warrington's Hist. of Wales, ii. 256-258.
| Beauties of England and Wales, xvii. 297.
"
184
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
The seas were very insecure during this_reign :
1293. France had now raised a naval force; and the French,
on one part, taking advantage of this, and the English, on
the other, of the jealousy which it caused, enormities were
committed on both sides,-in the consequence of which the
governments were involved. Six ships of war were fitted
out by England, and sent to Bourdeaux for the defence of
the coast of Gascony. Two of these, as they sailed along
the coast of Normandy, fearing no hurt, were assailed by the
Norman fleet, and taken, and several of the men hanged.
With whatever provocation this may have been done, or
with whatever pretext, the act itself was so outrageous, that
the lord Robert Tiptoft, who then commanded the English
fleet, collected the force under his orders, and sailed for
Normandy, with the intention of revenging himself upon any
Norman ships that he might fall in with. Meeting with
none, he entered the mouth of the Seine, attacked the vessels
that lay at anchor there, and captured six, having slain many
of the men; and then returning to sea with his prizes, he
cast anchor not far from the land, in hope that the French
might be provoked to come forth, and give him battle.
While he lay there, in this vain expectation, a fleet of Nor-
mans came that way, on their return from Gascony, freighted
with wine they were in great strength, and had gone in
boastful defiance of the English; but they were now attacked
and captured,-with little difficulty, it is said, yet with the
slaughter of nearly a third part of their whole force, and
Tiptoft carried them to England. Thus far all had been
done "rashly between the Englishmen and the Normans,
without any commission of their princes." France now
"prepared a navy, and furnished it with soldiers to encounter
the English." Messengers the while went to and fro, the
one party complaining of truce-breaking, the other requiring
restitution of ships and property violently taken; and there
might have been good hope of agreement, if Charles earl of
Valois, the French king's brother, "being of a hot nature,
and desirous of revenge, had not stirred up his brother to
seek revengement by force of arms." Both fleets were now
equally incensed: the French went forth to seek the English,
and these, "minding not to detract the battle, sharply en-
countered their enemies at a certain place betwixt England
and Normandy, where they had laid a great empty ship at
anchor, to give token where they meant to join." The
English had Irish and Hollanders with them; with the
French there were Flemings and Genoese. It was at first a
doubtful and a bloody fight; neither the number nor the loss
息
WAR WITH FRANCE.
185
on either side are stated; but in the end the French were
put to the chase, and scattered abroad."*
The two nations were now at war; and the king 1294.
of England "caused three several fleets to be pre-
pared, and appointed to them three sundry admirals, for the
better keeping of the seas: to them of Yarmouth and other
of those parts he assigned the lord John Botetourt; to them
of the Cinque-ports, William de Leyborne; and to them of
the west country and the Irishmen, he appointed a valiant
knight of Ireland as their chieftain." One of these fleets
sailed from Portsmouth; and though baffled for a while by
contrary winds, ascended the Garonne at last, and captured
several vessels. Instructions were given by the English
government that the armed force of the country should be
held in readiness everywhere along the English coast in case
of invasion. And because, it was said, there might be no
little danger at that time from Normans or other foreign
religioners settled upon the coast, or upon any navigable
rivers which communicated with it, such foreigners were to
be removed into the interior, and all ships and boats belong-
ing to them to be drawn ashore, and deprived of their rud-
ders and rigging.‡ Treason was indeed busily at work;
but it was a knight, not a monk, who was the traitor. Sir
Thomas Turberville, "a man of singular and approved
valiancy," and hitherto of unsuspected fidelity, had been
taken prisoner by the French in Gascony, and "to save his
life, and deliver himself out of captivity," engaged to use
his endeavours for raising a revolt in Wales, and also for
betraying the English fleet: this latter object he was to
bring about by getting the command, which he doubted not
to obtain, through his own high character and the influence
of his friends. King Edward, though he had received him
very courteously; but, "as God would have it, he denied
that suit."
+
The French fleet, looking for the success of this complot,
put to sea: it consisted, what with galleys and other ships,
of 300 sail; for the French king had obtained vessels both
from Marseilles and Genoa. They approached the coast,
and lay at anchor off it for some days, expecting that the
English fleet would come forth to encounter them, and that
Turberville would betray it into their hands. But when
their patience was wearied out, they landed certain persons
who knew the country, that they might obtain intelligence,
* Holinshed, ii. 500, 501.
↑ Rymer, i. part ii. 826.
↑ Holinshed, 501.
Q 2
186
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
and discover the cause of his delay. These persons were
apprehended; and as they could give no satisfactory account
of themselves, they were executed as spies. They sent
also five galleys to reconnoitre the coast: one of these came
to Hythe, and by a stratagem of the English, who feigned
to take flight into the interior, the crew were tempted to
land as to an easy prize; the English then surprised them,
slew the whole party, and burnt the galley. Incensed at
this, the French commander sailed straight for Dover, landed
there, and began to sack the priory and the town.
"There
were not many of the men of Dover slain: for they escaped
by swift flight at the first entry made by the Frenchmen:
but of women and children there died a great number; for
the enemies spared none." The flight of the men, however,
was not in mere baseness: they raised the country on every
side; and great numbers having collected, came to Dover
towards evening; and, attacking such Frenchmen as were
prowling in quest of further prey, "slew them down in
sundry places." The French commander, who had been
busy all the day in plundering, seeing that his people were
running to the sea-side, got straightway to his ships, with
such pillage as could be embarked in haste; but not before
he had set fire to the town, which was in part consumed.
Many who had ventured into the country for spoil, and could
not reach the shore in time, were slain wherever they were
found some of them hid themselves in the corn-fields; and
when they were discovered, they were slaughtered like wild
beasts by the country people. The whole loss of the enemy
was little less than 800. The people of Dover had to regret
an old Benedictine, Thomas by name, who, when his
brethren took flight, could not, by any persuasions, be in-
duced to leave his convent, nor, by any threats, to discover
its treasures when the French came to plunder it. The
plunderers, therefore, killed him; and for this martyrdom, as
it was deemed, and for his other virtues, he was held in
such estimation, that miracles were performed in his honour,
through the faith of his believers or the fraud of his fra-
ternity.* But this attempt at setting up a St. Thomas of
Dover failed; St. Thomas of Canterbury was too near a
neighbour. Turberville's treason was soon afterwards dis-
closed by his secretary, through whom his correspondence
with the French was carried on: he attempted to escape, but
was pursued and taken; and having been brought to trial,
and convicted, was punished with death.
* Grafton, i. 290. Holinshed, ii. 509. Bzovius, xiii. 1295., from the MS.
Vatic. de Rebus Anglicis.
ENGLISH IN FLANDERS.
187
The English on their part were not more fortu- 1297.
nate in an expedition of far greater magnitude; and
their failure was more disgraceful, because, though there was
no default of courage, it was mainly attributable to their own
gross misconduct. Edward, having entered into an alliance
against France with the earl of Flanders, embarked with an
English force for that country, and landed near Sluys. But
no sooner had he disembarked, than "through old envy
and malice depending between the mariners of the Cinque-
ports and those of Yarmouth and other quarters," an ill-sup-
pressed enmity broke out; and, in defiance of the king's
commands and in contempt of his presence, the two parties
fought on the water in such earnest sort, that, on the Yar-
mouth side, there were five-and-twenty ships burnt and
destroyed; and three of the largest vessels, part of the king's
treasure being in one of them, "were tolled forth into the
high sea, and quite conveyed away." This daring defiance
of authority augured ill for the campaign in which Edward
was engaged; and, in fact, his men were little more subor-
dinate ashore than they had shown themselves afloat. A
French force occupied Bruges, and thought to have taken
the English fleet, which lay in the harbour of Damme; but
they had timely intelligence and put to sea.
The enemy
then began to fortify Bruges and Damme. The English and
their allies drove them from the latter place with consider-
able loss; and Bruges also, it was thought, might have been
recovered, if the English and Flemings had not fallen at
strife and fought together" about the division of the prey."
This was not the worst: the conduct of the English at
Ghent, where Edward passed great part of the winter, so
exasperated the townsmen, that more than 700 of them were
slain in a sudden tumult; and Edward himself is said to
have been beholden for his life to the protection of a knight
of Flanders. The ill-will which was thus occasioned, and
increased by the outrages of the English footmen,—“ for
they one day plundered the town of Damme, and slew as
many as 200 persons, who had submitted to the king on his
arrival," became, at length, so formidable, notwithstanding
the efforts of Edward, on the one part, to curb the insolence
of his troops, and of the earl of Flanders, on the other, to
restrain the indignation of his people, that this, more than
any other cause, occasioned the failure of the expedi-
tion; and the king took the first pretext for returning to
England.*
* Holinshed, ii. 525. 528.
188
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
The nearer concerns of Wales and Scotland occupied Ed-
ward too much to allow him either leisure or means for pro-
secuting the war with France: he concluded it by a treaty,
one article of which contracted for the marriage of his eldest
son, Edward of Caernarvon, with the French princess Isa-
bella. No royal marriage ever afforded sadder or more fer-
tile subject for tragedy and for history than this. Edward I.
has been reproached, and will be through all ages, for his
treatment of Wallace and of the Welsh prince David: it
would have been easier for him,-I will not say to justify,-
but to excuse himself, in both those cases, by the opinions and
feelings of that age, than for entering into this fatal contract.
Three years before, he had proposed a marriage between this
his eldest son, then ten years of age, and Philippa, the
youngest daughter of Guy earl of Flanders. The proposal
was gladly accepted by the earl, with the advice of his best
friends the portion was agreed upon, the writings made,
and lands in England appointed for the bride's dowry.
Whatever views of policy there may have been on the king
of England's part in soliciting this matrimonial alliance,
there was none on the earl's ;-he was an easy, unambitious
old man, desirous only of keeping his people in peace, and
living in quietness. France, however, regarded it with ex-
treme jealousy; for it was already a state maxim with that
most far-sighted and unscrupulous of all governments, to
prevent any union of interests between Flanders and Eng-
land; and Philip the Fair* having determined, by any means,
to prevent this marriage, had recourse to the basest. He
invited the earl, in terms of apparent friendliness, to come
and advise with him upon matters of great importance; and
the earl, accordingly, suspecting no ill, went to him at Cor-
beil, and took his countess with him. He was received
with reproaches and menaces. By the laws of France, the
king told him, no vassal of that crown, how great soever,
might marry any of his children out of the realm without
the king's license; and if any one ventured to do so, his
lands were forfeited. The astonished earl replied, that he
had never failed, nor intended to fail, in his obedience; that,
in desiring an advantageous marriage for his daughter, he
had no thought of offending any one; nor had he ever heard
but that marriages were free. He mentioned well-known
instances in proof that they were so. He offered, if his
faith were doubted, to give such security as might be re-
quired; but he trusted in the king's royal clemency, that no
•
* "Corpore quidem formosus, sed animo seclestus et fœdus," says Bzo-
vius, tom. xiii. 996.
EARL OF FLANDERS.
189
violence would be offered him; and this with the more rea-
son, because he had come into France upon the king's invi-
tation, and in full confidence of his good will: finally, he
appealed to the judgment of the peers. But men who have
resolved to act iniquitously are never to be moved from their
purpose by force of reason. Guy and his countess were
sent prisoners to the tower of the Louvre, and their retinue
were cast into prison.*
More honour was found in the peers of France than in the
king. They pronounced against this injurious detention;
and their decision being aided by the intercession of the
pope's legates at that time in France, the prisoners were re-
leased, but with this condition,—that the earl should make
no league with England, and that he should deliver up his
daughter as a hostage. That daughter, accordingly, was
brought to Paris; and there, with the greatest grief, her
parents left her. When the earl had returned to his own domi-
nions, he appealed to the pope against this injustice; and the
pope, by a legate deputed for the purpose, called upon Philip
to deliver up his innocent hostage, or appear before the con-
sistory of cardinals to justify his conduct; he was threatened
with excommunication if he refused. The papal authority has
ever been found far more efficient for evil than for good: and
the reason is, that whenever evil is to be done, there is al-
ways some faction ready to promote it with all their soul and
with all their strength; but the passions are never brought into
action on behalf of reason and justice. Philip treated both
the admonition and the menaces of the legate with contuma-
cious contempt: matters of state and profane affairs, he said,
were not within the pope's jurisdiction. When the earl
found that there was no hope of obtaining the deliverance of
his daughter by this means, he listened to the solicitations
of Edward, of the emperor Adolphus, the duke of Austria,
and other inferior states, and entered into a league against
France. Edward engaged to assist him with money, as well
as with an army. In case the projected marriage should be
frustrated by Philippa's continued detention, or by her
death, the prince of Wales was to marry her sister in her
stead: and the king and the earl bound themselves person-
ally, by oath upon the Gospels, to make neither peace or
truce with France, unless it were conjointly, not even though
* "Teniendo ya desde entonces aquella nacion por una de sus maximas de
estado, el separar las fuerzas de Ingleses y Flamencos; demas de la invidia
con que miravan los grandes de Francia las riquezas que con el commercio
adqueria esta provincia."-Sueyro, i. 329.
†“Cum ingenti dolore.”—Bzovius. "Con grandes lagrimas y sentimien.
tos."—Sueyro.
190
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
the emperor or the pope should require it.* This treaty
being concluded, the earl sent ambassadors to demand the
liberation of his daughter, and if this were refused, to re-
nounce his fealty, and declare war; at the same time Philip
sent to summon him, as his vassal, to surrender himself pri-
soner at the Chastelet. Both embassies were alike fruitless,
and war ensued. The issue of Edward's campaign in Flan-
ders has been just related: he found it necessary to return
to his own country, because of the dislike which the English
manifested for this war, and because of the resistance to
which the Scotch had been roused by Wallace. But the affair
at Ghent had produced ill blood between the English and
the Flemings; and Edward, in whom all other considerations
were subordinate to those of his ambitious policy, thought
that a close alliance with France would secure him against
the troubles which that power might otherwise excite or fo-
ment in his recent conquests,-Wales and Scotland. He
entered, therefore, into a treaty with Philip; engaged to
marry Philip's sister himself, and that the prince of Wales,
breaking the contract with Philippa, should marry the king
of France's daughter. The oath by which he was bound to
the earl of Flanders was easily dispensed with; and when
such dispensations can be procured, and are thought valid,
the obligations of honour and conscience are worth nothing.t
Edward was bound in both to have obtained the deliverance
of Philippa, and to have restored her to her parents.
The fate of the earl and of his much-injured daughter may
be related in few words. The defeat of his other allies at
Bovines, and the rebellious discontent of his subjects be-
cause of the burdens imposed upon them, left him at the
mercy of a merciless enemy. Treachery was again used
against him: he was assured that he might put himself with-
out danger into Philip's hands, and that he had no alterna-
tive: he did so,-for he had none; and he was thrown into
strict confinement. The French took possession of Flan-
ders they were received as deliverers by a people, then the
most mutable and turbulent, as well as the most industrious,
in Europe. They behaved with such intolerable insolence
and tyranny, that the Flemings rose against them, and
France received, at Groeninghe, one of the most signal de-
feats recorded in her history. After four years' imprison-
ment, Guy was released, during a truce, upon condition of
his returning to prison, unless that truce should be terminat-
ed by a peace, which it was thought his presence might pro-
mote. The negotiation failed; and the honourable old man,
* Rymer, i. part ii. 850, 852.
Sueyro, i. 344.
SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEAS.
191
on his return, was treated with the same rigour as before.*
He died soon afterwards in that confinement, being more
than eighty years of age. Peace, after a most obstinate and
bloody contest, was concluded in the year following; and
his body, which had been embalmed and closed in lead, was
then delivered up, with the prisoners who were in the king's
hands, all but Philippa! The same motives which had
caused the French king to seize upon this victim, induced
him still to detain her; but, in a little time, she was released
by death. Grief for her own wrongs; for the loss of her
mother, who died during her captivity; and for her father's
sufferings; brought this victim of remorseless policy to an
untimely grave. There were some who believed that poison
had been administered to her by the queen of France, whose
hatred of the Flemings even exceeded her husband's. But
of this there is neither proof nor probability: the story is tra-
gical enough without such a catastrophe; the cruelty was
quite as great, the crime but little less. About two years
after her death, Edward of Caernarvon was married to Phi-
lip's daughter Isabel, that "she-wolf of France," whose
infamy is recorded in everlasting verse; and never was any
royal marriage so prolific of evil to two nations;† for from
that marriage the claims of the Plantagenets to the crown
of France originated, and the wars which arose in pursu-
ance of that claim produced that deep and rooted enmity be-
tween France and England which, after the lapse of four
centuries, continues to be felt and manifested upon all seas
and shores.t
By an article of the treaty wherein this iniquitous mar-
riage was one of the stipulations, the two kings bound them-
selves to aid each other against any who should go about
to interrupt them in the franchises, liberties, rights, or cus-
toms of them and their subjects; and this gave occasion to
an inquiry in which the king of England's sovereignty of
the seas was on the one hand asserted, and recognised on the
other. The case was this. The war between France and
Flanders continuing after England had withdrawn from it,
the French king sent a large fleet to sea, under the command
* "No ablandò la puntualidad de Guido el animo endurecido del Rey,
pues usò con el viejo ya decrepito del mismo rigor.”—Sueyro, i. 374.
† Sueyro acknowledges a righteous judgment here:-"Este casamiento,
hecho con el mayor aparato y alegria, fue el mas danoso a Francia, pues
por el pretenden aun los Ingleses la succession della, sobre que se peleò y
derramò tanta sangre. Permitiolo nuestro Senor por sus justus juyzios,
para que se viesse la incertidumbre de los humanos, y quanto mejor les
estuviera á los Franceses el no haver impedido el matrimonio del mismo
Eduardo acordado con Phelipa."-i. 387.
↑ Sueyro, i. 346. 370. 374. 385.
192
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
བ་
of Reyner Grimbaldi,* a Genoese noble, to whom he gave
the title of admiral. Grimbaldi, under colour of that com-
mission, captured several ships of different nations, bound
to the Flemish ports: upon this, complaints were made both
to the kings of England and France, and they jointly ap-
pointed commissioners to hear and determine the case. The
complaint was laid before these commissioners in the names
of the procurators of the prelates and nobles, and of the
admiral of the English seas, and of the communities of cities
and towns, and of the merchants, mariners, strangers resi-
dent, and all others belonging to the kingdom of England,
and other territories subject to the king of England; and
likewise in the name of the inhabitants of other maritime
countries, such as Genoa, Catalonia, Spain, Germany, Zee-
land, Holland, Frizeland, Denmark, Norway, and many
other places of the empire. It set forth that the kings of
England had, for so long time that there was no memory to
the contrary thereof, been, by right of that kingdom, in
peaceable possession of the sovereignty of the English seas,
and of the isles therein, with power of ordaining and establish-
ing laws, statutes, and prohibitions of arms, and of ships
otherwise furnished than merchantmen used to be; and of
taking security and safeguard in all cases where need might
be; and of ordering all things necessary for the maintenance
of peace, right, and equity among all manner of people, as
well of other dominions as their own, passing through the
said seas, by the sovereign guard thereof, and by all manner
of cognizance of parties, high and low, according to the said
laws, statutes, ordinances, and prohibitions, and all other
things which to the exercise of their sovereignty in these
seas appertained. This right they complained had been in-
vaded by Messire Reyner Grimbaldi, master of the navy of
the king of France, who, calling himself admiral of the said
seas, had, after the peace made with England, and against
the form and force of that alliance, and the intentions of
those who made it, wrongfully exercised that office in the
English seas; taking the subjects and merchants of the
kingdom of England and of other countries, when passing
upon the said seas with their goods, and casting them into
prison, and by his own judgment and award causing their
goods to be delivered, as forfeit and confiscate, to receivers
appointed for that purpose in the French king's ports. Grim-
baldi, in his answer to this plea, neither disputed the king
of England's sovereignty, nor pleaded any power derived
* Grimbaltz, our writers call him.
t "La soveraine seigneurie."
ENMITY TO FRANCE.
193
to himself from the commission of the king of France; but
he argued that there was no contravention of the treaty;
King Edward having contracted neither to give aid or as-
sistance, nor suffer it to be given, to the enemies of king
Philip, and having issued a prohibition of such practices;
all persons, therefore, who after that prohibition relieved the
Flemings by merchandise, or in any other way, were to be
deemed enemies, of whatever nation they might be; and the
treaty itself, in its just interpretation, authorized him to deal
with them accordingly. The determination is not known;
the pleadings only have been preserved among our own re-
cords; and they were of no inconsiderable importance in
times when history, and prescription, and rights, were ap-
pealed to on points which must ultimately be decided by the
law of the strongest.
During this reign it was that England began to take 1280.
any farther interest in the affairs of the Spanish pe-
ninsula, than what had accidentally arisen during the cru-
sades. Edward's first marriage, happy as that marriage was,
led to a friendly intercourse between the courts of Castile
and England; and the queen's brother, Alphonso the Wise,
was allowed to engage English shipwrights for his own ser-
vice, and also to buy or build ships and galleys in the Eng-
lish ports for his wars against the Moors. There have been
many exasperating circumstances to imbitter the wars in
which Spain and England have been engaged against each
other; but at no time has there existed that deep feeling of
national enmity which had now taken root in the hearts of
the French and English people. How strongly Edward I.
felt that enmity, appears by a remarkable anecdote relating
to his second wife, the lady Margaret, daughter of Philip the
Bold of France. The mother's milk disagreed with her
first-born son, Thomas of Brotherton, but he throve upon
that of an English nurse; after many trials, the effect al-
ways proved the same; and when this was reported to the
father, he smiled upon the infant, and said, "God give thee
grace, my boy! I see thou art right English in thy nature,
and mayest one day show thyself a notable enemy to the
French nation !" The great object of Edward's ambition,
being not only a valiant but also a politic prince, was to
bring this divided isle into one entire monarchy. The French
let no opportunity pass of secretly impeding him in it; and
* Campbell, 126–132.
† Rymer, i. part ii. 580.
↑ So called from his birth place, near Pontefract.
& Joshua Barnes's Hist. of Edward III. 44. Walsingham quoted
VOL. I.
R
194
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND
while this unfriendly feeling existed between the govern
1301.
ments, a hostile one was ready to manifest itself on
any provocation between the people; insomuch that
the English ports were instructed to charge all their seamen,
when going to a French harbour, to be upon their guard
there, and hold their ships always in readiness both for get-
ting out to sea and for defence; and they were enjoined, in
all the necessary dealings that they might have on shore, to
go so prepared that they might be able, both to defend them-
selves in case of need, and to make good their retreat to their
vessels.*
The manners of every maritime nation, greatly advanced
as they were beyond the inland ones, were not yet so far mi-
tigated at this time, but that acts of outrage and piracy were
frequently committed, to the constant danger of embroiling
governments when most amicably inclined towards each
other. Reprisals were provoked by wrongs; and these fall-
ing upon the innocent, and being, therefore, not less wrong-
ful in themselves, called forth fresh acts of violence; sum-
mary vengeance oftentimes preventing or embarrassing the
slow course of equitable examination upon which the re-
spective governments had conjointly entered.† Piracies
were frequent. An English ship, taken by pirates, and re-
taken from them by the Portugueze, was carried into Lis-
1307.
bon; and when it had been carefully preserved there
two whole years for its owners, king Diniz applied
to the English government to take measures for discovering
to whom it belonged,-an early and honourable instance of
Portugueze probity. The Spaniards are accused, at this
time, of sailing under Portugueze colours, and attacking
English ships, with the view of setting the two coun-
1308. tries at variance.§ Piracy was sometimes carried on
more audaciously: a piratical squadron from the ports of
Biscay and Asturias carried off three ships from Southamp-
ton, and plundered the house of a brave man who endea-
voured to oppose them; they killed one of his near kins-
men, and he himself hardly escaped with life from their
hands. Two-and-twenty sail from Calais attacked four of
our merchantmen close to the coast of Kent, and, killing
Rymer, i. part ii. 936.
Proofs of this may be found in Rymer, vol. i. part ii. pp. 38. 46-77., and
vol. ii. p. 294. There is an atrocious case which occurred in one of the ports
of Norway. The sailors of every nation seem in those times to have be-
haved, where they felt themselves strong enough, with as little regard to
probity or humanity as they sometimes show now in the South Seas.
† Rymer, ii. 7.
§ Ibid. ii 58.
BARBARITIES ON THE SEAS.
195
many of the crew, captured one vessel, which was laden with
wool for Antwerp, to the value of 2000 marks.*
These were individual offences which had no political
bearing, but which characterize the state of society. They
led to more serious consequences when Edward II, was en-
gaged in his disastrous wars in Scotland. At first his 1310.
complaint was, that a Flemish pirate, manned chiefly
1315.
1323.
by outlaws from Hainault and Holland, infested the northern
coast, and intercepted the supplies of his army. But it ap-
peared afterwards that the Scotch drew stores of provisions
and arms from the Flemish ports, under favour of that go-
vernment. John de Botetout, whose station was at
Yarmouth, was charged to look out for and intercept
thirteen large Scotch‡ vessels, which were taking in such a
cargo at Sluys. Some years later, when this state of things
had ended in open war, the Flemings put to death, without
mercy, the crews of such ships as fell into their hands; the
seaports were officially apprized of this, and instruct-
1322.
ed to act accordingly. Yet so little resentment did
this excite,-probably, indeed, so little did it exceed the or-
dinary barbarities with which hostilities were carried
on,-that, in the two succeeding years, the Flemish
merchants were allowed, upon the earl's application, to repair
to England during the wool-staple, and make their purchases
as in time of peace. The French appear to have entertained
wider notions of the rights of war than their more commer-
cial neighbours; for the king of France, upon intelligence
that certain Spanish ships, laden with arms and stores for
Flanders, with which country he was then at war, had been
detained by the constable of Dover, wrote to Edward, de-
siring that these ships might be confiscated to his, the king
of England's, use, and the people on board treated as slaves.
Edward's reply to this extraordinary request was, that he
had not been informed of the detention of any such ships in
his ports; but that he would cause inquiry to be made, and
if they were found, would then do what ought to sa-
tisfy the king of France.¶
1313.
Rymer, ii. 279. A valuable cargo;-when, in another complaint to the
king of France, we read of a Yarmouth ship, whose cargo (taken in at
Rouen) of woollen and linen cloths, iron, canvass, cables, and gold and silver,
amounted to forty pounds sterling. Rymer, ii. 40. Gold and silver, however,
can only mean the money of which the master and the crew were robbed.
† Rymer, ii. 118.
↑ Magne coge are the original words. (Rymer, ii. 269.) The words navibus
sive cogis afterwards occur. Ketch is probably the modern word.
§ Rymer, ii. 516. 564. |“Tanquam servos et exclavos.”—Rymer, ii. 281.
¶ "Taliter faciemus quod fore debeat vobis gratum.”
196
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
During the Scottish war, the best ships were ordered to
be taken for the king's service; thirty from the ports of
Norfolk and Suffolk, as many from the line of coast extend-
ing from Shoreham to Plymouth, and an indefinite number
(probably the same) from Essex and Kent.* John Sturmy
and Peter Bard were appointed captains and admirals of this
fleet, as well over the king's own ships, as of those which
he had obtained from the northern countries, and with full
power of punishing all offences.† The Scotch had contract-
ed with certain Genoese merchants to supply them with
galleys and arms; and the king of England, being apprized
of this, complained to the state of Genoa, as a power with
which England had always maintained relations of
1316.
peace and amity, and requested it to interfere. The
naval means of England were not then what they had been
in his father's reign; for, in the year ensuing, he found it
expedient himself to apply to Genoa for permission to pur-
chase, and arm, and man five galleys there for the Scottish
wars.§ But how anxiously the English government re-
1324. garded whatever might affect the maritime trade of
the country, was shown when an affray took place, at
Southampton, between the crews of five Venetian galleys,
and the townspeople and Isle-of-Wightmen: lives were lost
on both sides; the Venetians.put to sea; and their country-
men, on reasonable fear of being made to suffer for the
guilty, after the too common practice of that age in such
disputes, suspended their intercourse with England, till the
king invited them to resume it, and with that view granted
a pardon to all and any persons of that country who had
been concerned in the fray.||
When the king found it necessary to engage in war with
France, in resentment of the open hostilities which had been
commenced against him in Aquitaine, a rigorous ordinance
was issued for arresting all French subjects in England, of
whatever state, condition, or sex; those who might be of his
own or of his queen's household, or entertained in any other
family whatsoever, not excepted. Their lands, tenements,
goods, and chattels were to be seized for the king's use;
some reasonable allowance being reserved only for the reli-
gioners and their attendants. A subsequent order mitigated
this cruelty; an exception being then made for all ecclesi-
* Rymer, ii. 223.
t "Prout ad officium capitanei et amiralli flotæ hujusmodi pertinet in
hac parte."-Rymer, ii.,244.
Rymer, ii. 293.
| Ibid. ii. 546. 593.
Ibid. ii. 313.
T Rymer, ii. 570.
EDWARD III.
197
astical persons, and for those who, having wives and children,
had long been domesticated here, and thereby were natural-
ized.*
The edict of his father for removing foreign monks
or friars from the coast was at this time renewed, because
of the mischief they might do by letters, signals, or other
means; and their places in the respective convents were to
be filled up with English brethren of the same order, with
whom, in fact, they exchanged for the time.† Considerable
loss was inflicted upon France at this time in her "sea-
strengths;" the three admirals, sir John Oturwin, sir
Nicholas Kiriel, and sir John de Felta, scoured the narrow
seas with such success, that within a short time they
brought into England, as lawful prizes, 120 Norman
vessels.§
When Edward III., through the crimes of his mother, and
the successful efforts of her partisans, succeeded too early
to his unhappy father's throne,|| the state of affairs seemed
to require more wisdom than was likely to be found in his
Tanquam indigenæ.”—Rymer, ii. 638-
"The earl of Surrey, writing to Cardinal Wolsey, says that he was
spared from burning the priory of Coldstream, 'because the prioress thereof
is one of the best and most assured spies that we have in Scotland, for
which cause we may not well spare her.'"-Brayley's Graphic and Histori-
cal Illustrator, p. 183. Ellis's Original Letters, quoted.
+ Sir John Crombwell was, in the year 1324, admiral of the fleet which
went out to Gascony. (Rymer, i. 562.) I believe this is the first time that
name, which afterwards became so memorable, occurs in our history.
§ Speed, 561. Campbell, i. 134.
"Because many of our historians," says Joshua Barnes, lay some
imputation upon the name of king Edward III., as if he was not wholly
innocent of these proceedings against his father, we are to consider the
tenderness of his age,-he being not then fourteen years old,-whereby he
might very easily be imposed upon by the treacherous subtlety of Mortimer
and his accomplices, who were always about him: also we should cast our
eyes upon the severity he showed this same Mortimer, when he understood
the whole treason. Nor is it a small sign of his innocence as to this point,
that he himself lived long and reigned happily, being blest with many duti.
ful children; and that no other circumstances of his whole life can furnish
us with any thing from whence we may suspect that he could be capable of
so black and unnatural a treason.”—p. 3.
The poet May took a farther view than the industrious Joshua, who
was dazzled by the splendour of Edward's reign. "The son," he says
64 upon
His father's ruins is compelled to rise;
As if by that the envious Destinies
Meant to alloy this Edward's glorious reign,
As loth to suffer England to obtain
So great a blessing at the lawful time,
Or such a prince without a public crime;
For which the land must after suffer, by
A rent so made in his posterity."
Reign of Edward III., book i.
May's two historical poems show how completely he had imbibed the
manner of his favourite poet Lucan.
R 2
198
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
distracted councils, and more vigour than could be expected
from his boyish arm. The war with France, which had
been made one means for bringing about the ruin of
1327. the late king, was terminated by a treaty, and peace
made with Scotland upon no honourable terms. Neither
were of long duration. It was not easy soon to stop those
depredations upon the seas which war had licensed; so far,
however, as the power of a weak government extended, an
end was put to them.* Like every thing else, the naval
strength of the kingdom had suffered during the misrule and
the internal troubles of the preceding reign; and upon the
first inquiry, it was found that the smaller craft belonging
to the crown were, for want of care, going fast to decay.f
But when Edward, by a resolute act of vengeance against
his mother's minion, took the government, at a very early
age, into his own hands, he stood in need of all his resources.
Upon the death of king Charles le Beau of France, Edward
advanced a title to that kingdom through his mother, not in
derogation of the Salic law, whereby he acknowledged that
his mother (as well as the infant daughter of the deceased
king) was excluded; but on the ground that a daughter's
son, having no disqualification of sex, was capable of the
succession, and ought to be preferred to a nephew, who was
the other claimant. The peers of France decided
1328.
otherwise. Accordingly Philip of Valois succeeded
to the throne, and summoned Edward to make his personal
appearance before him in France, and there do homage for
the dukedom of Aquitaine and the earldom of Ponthieu and
Monstreul. His ambassadors found the king at Windsor,
and having discharged their bidding, Edward replied, that it
was a matter which required advice, and few of his council
were then about him; but if they would repair to London,
"he would there give them such an answer as should be re-
solved on." At Westminster, accordingly, they were heard
before the council, and delivered the king of France's letters,
which Edward had refused to receive before. They were
then required to withdraw while the business should be
debated. Some of the lords were of opinion, that, seeing
the crown of France belonged to him in right of queen
Isabel, his mother, he ought not to acknowledge any fealty,
but openly put forth his claim for what they considered to be
evidently his due: the majority, on the other hand, insisted,
that it was too early for him to embark in so great and
hazardous an enterprise, the enemy being at that time so
""
* Rymer, ii. part ii. 700.
Ibid. 698.
HOMAGE REQUIRED FROM EDWARD III.
199
powerful, the realm at home unsettled, and he himself so
young, for he was then but in his fifteenth year. The youth
of Edward must be his only excuse for consenting to a sub-
terfuge which has been too often repeated, and which exem-
plifies the loose morality of the papal church. In order that
his right and future claim should not be prejudiced by any
thing which he might now by his present circumstances be
compelled to do, he constituted one of the council his procu-
rator on that part, and by him he protested" openly and
expressly before all his council," but not before the French
ambassadors, from whom this important part of the proceed-
ings was, of course, kept secret, that for any homage what-
soever to be made to the lord Philip of Valois, then bearing
himself as king of France, by king Edward of England, for
the dukedom of Aquitaine and the earldom of Ponthieu, he,
king Edward, did not, nor would, thereby renounce his here-
ditary right to the realm of France, nor intend in any way
from that same right to derogate; even although letters
thereupon should afterwards be signed with either of his
seals. And he protested that he should not make any
homage to the said lord Philip of his own free will, but only
under the just fear he had of losing the said dukedom and
earldom, and because he feared that unless he did this
homage, he could not avoid other great dangers and irrepa-
rable losses. In confirmation of this, the procurator took for
the young king an oath upon his soul, by laying hands upon
the holy Gospel, before all the council present.*
The ambassadors were then called in, and the bishop of
London, Stephen Gravesend, "a well-spoken man,” address-
ed them in these words :-" Lords that be here assembled
for the king of France, the king's grace, my sovereign lord,
hath heard your words and read the tenor of your letters.
Sirs, we say unto you, that we will counsel the king our
sovereign lord here present, that he go into France, to see
the king your master, his dear cousin, who right lovingly
hath invited him; and as touching his faith and homage, he
shall do his devoir in every thing that he ought. And, sirs,
ye may show the king your master, that within short space
the king of England, our master, shall arrive in France, and
do all that reason shall require." The ambassadors were
then well entertained, and presented with "many great gifts
and jewels." On both sides the channel this was considered
a business of great importance. The king of France," that
he might appear in more pomp, and to the intent that there
* Barnes, 34.
† Froissart, chap. xxiv.
200
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
might be more notable witnesses of the homage there to be
done to his own person," as also "to dazzle and awe the
mind of the young king with the number and greatness of his
friends and allies," invited his cousin John of Luxemburgh,
king of Bohemia, and the kings of Navarre and Majorca, to
be present. There were present also the dukes of Burgundy,
Bourbon, and Lorraine, "with all the peers, earls, barons,
and chief lords of France,"-provision being made for 1000
"horse-strangers," besides 600 horse who were expected in
the king of England's train. Young Edward, however, had
a larger retinue; for on his part it was considered a matter
of policy that there should be a display of the wealth and
strength of England. A thousand horse accompanied him,
more than forty knights, the chief nobility, and the bishops
of London, Winchester, and Lincoln-all three "right politic
prelates." He was two days on the passage from Dover to
Whitsand; and having rested, after so wearisome a crossing,
one day at Boulogne, was met at Montreuil by the constable
of France, whom Philip had despatched with a good com-
pany of lords and knights to welcome him, in his name,
with high expressions of respect; "for the French," says
the painstaking historian of this eventful reign, “are a
wonderful free and civil people, when they design to do
honour to any person." Amiens was the place appointed
for the ceremony. There he was welcomed by Philip, the
three other kings, the dukes, earls, and barons, and the
eleven peers of France (he being himself the twelfth), who
were all assembled there, apparently to do him honour, but
more truly with the intention of bearing witness to the act
of homage. During fifteen days he was entertained with
great royalty; many things, meantime, relating to the present
business being canvassed and discussed.*
""
On the day appointed, young Edward was ushered into
the cathedral of Amiens, there to perform the ceremony. He
wore a long robe of crimson velvet, powdered with leopards
of gold; his crown was on his head, his sword by his side,
and his spurs of gold on his heels. King Philip sate ready
to receive him, on his royal throne, in a robe of violet colour-
ed velvet, powdered with fleur-de-lis of gold, his crown on
his head, his sceptre in his hand, with other ensigns of
majesty, and with his state attendants. An air of superiority
was assumed, which roused the young Plantagenet's blood:
he had come prepared to do all that policy should have re-
quired, or courtesy permitted; but, suspecting now that more
* Barnes, 35.
DISPUTE RESPECTING HOMAGE.
201
would be demanded, boy as he was, he took his resolution
with equal promptitude and prudence, and bending his body
a little towards the throne, spake with a firm voice to this
effect:-"I, Edward, by the grace of God, king of England,
lord of Ireland, and duke of Aquitaine, hereby do homage to
thee, Philip, king of France, to hold the dutchy of Guienne
as duke thereof, and the earldom of Ponthieu and Monstreul
as earl thereof, and as peer of France, in like manner as my
predecessors did homage for the said dukedom and earldom to
thy predecessors." However Philip might be displeased at
this disappointment of his confident expectations, he dissem-
bled his feeling, and told his chancellor to inform the king his
cousin, that the manner of his predecessors in performing
homage was," putting off the crown, and laying aside both
sword and spurs, to do it kneeling, with their hands between
the king of France's knees, or his great chamberlain's hands ;
and that this they were always to do, either in person, or by
sufficient proxy of some high prince or prelate, then and
there promising faith and homage to the king of France, as
to their sovereign lord, of whom they held those lands and
honours." Edward would not submit to this; he said they
could show him no precedent for one crowned head so to
humble himself before another. And when they produced
records to establish their point, he refused to be convinced
by that evidence, and said he would proceed no farther till he
should have consulted his own records; then, if he should
find therein that any thing more had been done than what he
had performed, he would acknowledge it by his letters-patent
to the French king. Philip, with proper courtesy and self-
command, replied," Fair cousin of England, we will not
here be thought desirous of imposing any thing.upon you
against right and equity; what you have done sufficeth for
the present, so that upon your return, when you have con-
sulted your own records, and seen what your predecessors
have done on like occasions, you will send unto us an ac-
knowledgment of the same under your broad seal.”*
The assembly broke up with appearances of friendship on
both sides; but Philip is said to have revolved deeply in his
mind this affront put upon him when he had looked for such
high honour; and, reflecting in that mood upon Edward's pre-
tensions to the succession, it is also affirmed that he devised
how to seize his person, and detain him till he should have
made his own conditions with him. Any thing of bad faith,
any thing that is dishonourable, perfidious, and inhuman,
may be believed of the age of chivalry, when we look at its
+ Barnes, 36.
?..
202
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
dark side. This would have been a slight offence in the
iniquitous policy of those times. The bishop of Lincoln is
supposed to have discovered or suspected the design; and
Edward, in consequence, hastily departed, and came safely
to England, but bringing home a sting with him as if his
honour had been wounded; a feeling which, when it was
inflamed by actual wrongs, did not let him rest till he had
given it its full course. Ambassadors were soon sent after
him, to press the performance of that more particular ac-
knowledgment which he had promised. The records were
examined; and the king and his council saw that things had
indeed been of old so performed, as they now were demand-
ed to be done. Many of the barons could not brook this,
and would rather the king of England should at once ad-
vance his claim to the crown of France, of the validity of
which they had fully persuaded themselves, than that he
should demean himself by a form of homage so derogatory
from his own dignity. But Edward's council were too wary
to venture on this course in the then state of their own coun-
try; and Edward, however aspiring in his desires and hopes,
was prudent beyond his years, and waited patiently, or impa-
tiently, not only "till he had better weighed his own strength,
and sounded his friends and allies," but till such provoca-
tion had been given, that policy seemed to justify what am-
bition prompted. Yet he was not easily persuaded to make
what, to him, appeared a humiliating acknowledgment; and
the French ambassadors were kept in England through the
winter, and far into the spring, before they were despatched
with his letters-patent, sealed with the broad seal. All that
had been demanded was not acknowledged in these letters.
An acknowledgment that the homage should be performed
bareheaded and ungirt seems studiously to have been avoid-
ed;
and if this was implied in the general admission that
the homage which he had made at Amiens was, and ought
to be, intended liege, care was taken to guard against such
an implication by inserting these words:" And to the in-
tent that hereafter should arise no difference for this cause,
we promise, for us and our successors, as duke of Aquitaine,
that this homage shall be made in this manner: the king of
England, duke of Aquitaine, shall hold his hands between
the hands of the king of France, and he that is to speak for
the king of France shall say thus:- You become liegeman to
our lord the king, here present, as duke of Guienne and peer
of France, and you promise to bear to him faith and loyalty?
Say, Yes.' And the king of England, duke of Aquitaine,
and successors, shall say, Yes. And then the king of France
POLICY OF PHILIP AND EDWARD III.
203
shall receive the said king of England and duke of Guienne
to the said homage liege, with faith and troth, by word of
mouth, saving his own right, and all others."
The same
form was repeated for the earldom of Ponthieu and Mon-
streul," and thus it shall be done and received as often as
the said homage shall be done." The letters ended with
promising in good faith to hold and keep entirely the peace
and accord made between the kings of France and the kings
of England, dukes of Guienne.
It was little apprehended, at Edward's birth, that death
would open for him a claim on the French crown. The
then king of France wished him to be called Philip, after
the queen's father, as if to denote his French descent, but
against this motion the English nobility prevailed;* Ed-
ward being to English ears a popular name, probably not
so much in reference to Edward Longshanks, who was rather
feared than loved, as because of the holiness imputed to the
Confessor, and the supposed excellence of his laws. Glad
would the French king now have been, if Edward had
sprung from any other maternal stock; for the Salic law,
more reasonable in appearance than in reality, was not yet
so clearly established as to render the English king's claim
by any means futile, especially when advanced by one who
was likely to have both the inclination and the power to
urge it. A slight acquaintance with history suffices to show
with how little probity nations have in all ages acted towards
each other. But when they proceed to extremities, then, in
the anxiety which each party manifests to cast the reproach of
unfaithfulness upon the other, when both have been equally
faithless, a sense of the shame at least is acknowledged, if
not of the sin. The secret protest whereby Edward salved
his conscience while it was yet unseared, proves that he
had inwardly resolved upon supporting his claim by arms,
whenever opportunity might favour him: and, on the other
hand, by a policy little less reprehensible, the king of France,
though bound by treaty towards England, continually afford-
ed assistance to the Scotch; by such means fomenting a war
* Barnes, 1.
† Edward felt and acknowledged that his conduct at this time had not
been consistent with the dignity and openness of his character. In his
letter, A. D. 1346, “De causâ guerræ contra Philippum de Valesio, clero et
populo exponendâ,” he says, “Sanè, cum ad majorem ætatem essemus pro-
vecti, metuentes grave nobis posse præjudicium generari, si dissimulassemus
ulteriùs de immiscendo nos hæreditati nostræ prædictæ, omnia et singula, si
quæ per imbecillitatem et simplicitatem minoris ætatis possimus dici fecisse,
nobis præjudicialia in hâc parte, statim, quatenùs de facto processerunt cum
de jure non tenuerunt, revocavimas effectualitèr et expressè."—Rymer,
tom. iii. part i. p. 72.
204
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
which he thought would give sufficient occupation to a young
and aspiring prince. He used to say, there could never be
perfect peace and quietness in Christendom,-meaning se-
curity for France against this country, till the king of
France should act as umpire between the realms of Scotland
and England.*
This was a mode of hostility which could not long
1336. be carried on without being discovered; and which,
when discovered, could pass unnoticed only while there was
no power of resenting it. Upon sure information that the
Scotch, with the aid of adventurers from all countries,-
outlaws they were called, men who were ready to serve in
any cause, for pay and for plunder,-were fitting out ships
at Calais, from which port they infested the English seas,
and now threatened more serious operations, Edward gave
orders for equipping a fleet against them;† and the French,
who saw that open war could not long be averted, and
thought they could at this time begin it to advantage, in-
vaded Gascony, and sent six-and-twenty galleys, with other
ships of war, to infest the coast of England, and aid their
allies in Scotland. Upon this, Edward issued a commission
to his admirals, lord Geoffery Say, of the southern and
western sea, and lord John Norwich, of the northern sea, to
collect their force, and go in search of the enemy. The words
of the commission are remarkable. Calling to mind,” the
king said, "that our progenitors the kings of England have
heretofore been lords of the English sea on every side, yea,
the defenders thereof against the encroachments of enemies;
and seeing it would greatly grieve us, if in this kind of de-
fence our royal honour should (which God forbid !) be lost,
or in any way diminished, in our time; and desiring, with
the help of God, to prevent all dangers of this nature, to pro-
vide for the safeguard and defence of our realm and subjects,
and to restrain the malice of our enemies; we do strictly re-
quire and charge you, by the duty and allegiance wherein
you stand bound unto us, according to the special trust re-
posed in you, that, with all diligence you make search after
the galleys and other ships of war abroad against us; and
stoutly and manfully set upon them, if they should presume
to bend their course towards the ports of our dominions, or
the coasts of Scotland. And if they steal away from you,
then you are without any delay to follow after them, and
* Barnes, 93.
On the other hand, the English had the maxim,
"He that the realm of France would win,
:
· Must with Scotland first begin."
† Rymer, vol. ii. part ii. p. 911.
EDWARD III. PREPARES FOR WAR.
205
them courageously to destroy, for the conservation of our
royal honour." An injunction followed, that no hurt should
be done to merchants and others passing by sea, who had no
intent either to offend the English or to succour their ene-
mies; and a power was given for impressing seamen.*
Several ships belonging to the Cinque-ports were taken
up at Bristol, by virtue of this proclamation: but though
Bristol had long been a considerable port, there were no
stores there for fitting them out as ships of war; and leave
was therefore given, upon due security, that they should re-
turn home, there to be equipped for the public service.t
The old feud between the seamen of the Cinque-ports and
Yarmouth still subsisted; and there was reason to appre-
hend that, as on a former occasion, this might break out into
a private war, even upon the enemy's coast.
To guard
against this danger, delegates from both parties were or-
dered to repair before the primate, the chancellor, and others
of the king's counsel, and there adjust their differences, on
pain of forfeiting all that could be forfeited; for, unless this
peace were made, there was little hope of acting against the
French with effect. The ships from the western ports were
ordered to rendezvous at Portsmouth; those from the east,
in the Orwell. Complaint was made to the Sicilian court,
that galleys were fitted out in that island for the Scotch,
under pretence of being intended for the holy war; and the
Genoese were thanked for having impeded a preparation of
the same kind: the Scotch were also seeking to obtain
ships in Norway. But neither was England provided, at
that time, with a naval force sufficient for the emergency; and
galleys and ships fitted for transporting horses were pro-
cured from Genoa. Edward had at this time a willing par-
liament and a willing people. Large grants were granted
for a war which now appeared to be inevitable, and in which
it was felt that the honour of the nation was concerned; a
consideration to which nations used ever to be more alive
than to their mere interests,-for this, among other just rea-
sons, that it was what they could better understand. Liberal
grants were made; the money which had been collected for
a crusade, and deposited in the cathedrals, was given by the
* Barnes, 103.
.
† Rymer, vol. ii. part ii. p. 933.
"Sub foresfacturâ omnium quæ nobis forisfacere poteritis."—Rymer
vol. ii. part ii. p. 943.
§ Ibid. 950.
Usceria. Usceri. Italian. Huisserie, French. Door-ship is Cotgrave's
interpretation. They were, probably, in supposed imitation of the ark
with doors in the sides.-Rymer, 947.
VOL. I.
S
206
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
clergy of their own accord, for this as for a nearer and more
pressing duty; and much of the church plate is said to have
been taken also by the king's authority.
1337.
Negotiations for the adjustment of existing differ-
ences were still going on in France: notwithstand-
ing which, Philip aided the then exiled king of Scotland,
David Bruce, with a well-appointed fleet, in which David
embarked himself, and with which he inflicted much evil
upon the isles of Guernsey and Jersey, and upon the Hamp-
shire coast; and with this the covert war on the part of
France ended. The Flemish ports were of great conse-
quence to France; and the earl of that country was wholly
in the French interest. On the other hand, a fierce popular
spirit had arisen among that turbulent people, who were, in-
deed, provoked by sufficient wrongs; and in Jacob van Arte-
veld, the brewer of Ghent, the most famous* demagogue of
the middle ages, Edward found a ready and a powerful con-
federate. The French and the Flemings who were of the
party of the earl, Louis de Nevers, took possession of the
isle of Cadsant, occupied it with a strong garrison, and from
thence infested the seas. They hoped to intercept the Eng-
lish ambassadors on their way home from Hainault. A con-
voy, therefore, of forty "stout ships, well-manned, was sent
to wait for the ambassadors at Dordrecht. This service they
performed safely; and on their return captured two Flemish
men of war, with many Scotch of high rank on board, and
15,000l. in gold and silver, sent by France to her allies in
Scotland. The bishop of Glasgow was with this party. By
chance he was slightly hurt in the head, and being brought
into Sandwich, soon died, through that and his grief to-
gether."+
When the ambassador represented to the king the mis-
chief which was done by the garrison in Cadsant, Edward
replied, that he would speedily provide a remedy. Forth-
with the admiral of the northern ports, sir Walter de Manny,
was ordered, wherever he could find the enemy, whether at
sea or in any harbour, manfully to attack and more manfully
to vanquish them. Henry Plantagenet, earl of Derby, and
the lord Reginald Cobham, the earl of Suffolk, lord Robert
Hufford, the lords Robert Bourchier, John Norwich, and Wil-
* His son Philip belongs to a far higher class. He is, perhaps, the most
heroic, certainly the most tragic, character in the history of those times.
† Barnes, 106. Froissart, chap. xxx.
I "Dictos hostes nostros, sive in mari, sive in portubus, ut eos invenire
poteritis, viriliter àggrediamini, et virilius expugnetis."-Rymer, vol. ii
part ii. p. 1005.
BATTLE OF CADSANT.
207
liam Beauchamp, with 500 men-at-arms, and 2000 archers,
embarked in this fleet at London. "The first tide they went
to Gravesend, the second to Margate, and with the third they
took the deep sea, and made directly for Flanders," with
wind and tide at will; "and so, being come before Cadsant,
they prepared themselves for battle, and having placed the
archers on the decks before them, in the name of God and
St. George they sounded their trumpets, and sailed toward
the town." Cadsant was then a much larger island than it
now is; great part of it having either been made by the
irruption of the water, what in that country is called drown-
ed land, or worn away by the continued action of the tide.*
At that time human industry had rescued more from the sea
than the sea had taken from man; and the land repaid with
large increaset the labour which was bestowed upon it;
but it had been laid waste by the Zeelanders some thirty
years before, when they burnt the town of Sluys. The
force now in the island consisted of 5000 soldiers, knights
and squires, with their retinues, besides the inhabitants, most
of whom, and of the people of Damme, were engaged in
the defence; the latter, perhaps, remembering the ill-treat-
ment they had received in Edward I.'s time; the former,
whatever their inclination may have been between the parties
who thus invaded Flanders, looking upon any invaders (and
well they might) as enemies. They were commanded by
the lord of Richebourg, Guy, known by the little honourable,
but in those days not opprobrious, appellation of the bastard
of Flanders, being an illegitimate son or brother to the
reigning earl.§
The men in Cadsant saw the English armament approach,
and knew well who they were, and with what intent they
came; but, like good warriors, they ranged themselves along
by the dikes on the sands, with their banners waving before
them. Sixteen "valiant gentlemen" were, for encourage-
ment, then and there made knights. That honour, was often,
in the age of chivalry, conferred before a battle as an excite-
* Sanderi, Flandria, tom. ii. p. 209.
It is still singularly fertile, and produces the best wheat. In Busching's
time, a large proportion of the inhabitants were French refugees and Saltz-
burghers, driven from their own country for a like cause, with equal injus-
tice, but not with equal barbarity.
↑ Sueyro, i. 331. There is a most spirited description of this in the Rijm-
kronijk of Melis Stoke, book iv. v. 910. 1003. Ad hanc insulam," says
Lud. Guicciardini, “variæ quondam commissæ navales pugnæ, concurrebant
enim et stabulabantur hic ut plurimum omnes Flandrorum hostes. Angli
puta, Hollandi, et aliæ nationes."
§ Barnes, 116. Sueyro, i. 448.
208
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
ment; the possibility being, perhaps, borne in mind, that
some of those who deserved it might not survive to receive it
as a reward; and that, in such cases, the empty title would
be some satisfaction to their friends, and add some honour
to a monument. Sir Guy the bastard was an expert and
hardy captain, alike able to encourage his people, first by
exhortation, and then by example; and the one party was
not more manfully resolved to assail, than the other was
resolutely bent to defend.
But when the English archers, with a great shout, began
all at one instant to send among them a thick flight of deadly
arrows, they that kept the shore recoiled in dismay, leaving
many dead, but very many more grievously wounded; yet,
when the assailants landed in good order, and came to handy-
strokes, they presently rallied, and bravely disputed the
ground. Henry Plantagenet, pressing forward with that
spirit which was never wanting in his royal blood, was
beaten down in the press; and, though unhurt, being cased
in complete mail, was, because of the armour that protected
him, unable to rise. But sir Walter Manny, who was near
enough to see him fall, made for the spot; and, encouraging
his men to the rescue by crying aloud "Lancaster for the
earl of Derby!" he laid about with his battleaxe, cleared
the place by fine force, raised him from the ground, and set
him again safe at the head of his own people. Upon this
rescue both powers joined with greater animosity than be-
fore; each encouraged by its own success, and provoked by
what the other had obtained. "The battle," says Joshua
Barnes, "was surely fought on both hands very well; for
the Flemings were chosen men, and the English resolved
not to part stakes by any means, but to win all at their first
setting out, or perish. Many, therefore, were slain on both
sides. But all the while the archers of England, flanking
their men-at-arms, shot with such violence, and so wholly
together, that they were not to be endured."* To them,
indeed, the victory was chiefly ascribed. The bastard of
Flanders was taken prisoner. Among the slain were some
of the first nobles in the country, and six-and-thirty knights
and esquires, besides some of those who, in the pride of
youth and courage, had that day received their knighthood.
More than 3000 fell, either in the field or in the streets and
houses; and as many more of the islanders perished in the
church, into which they had fled for safety; for the Welsh
* "No pudieron resistir à los ballasteros Ingleses, pro no estar aun
acostumbrados aquel modo de pelear."-Sucyro, i. 448. But this author
ascribes to the arbalist what was done by the long-bow.
*
WAR WITH FRANCE.
209
who were in the expedition set fire to it. The town was
taken, plundered, and burnt; and the conquerors, who had
suffered no considerable loss, though it had been a sore bat-
tle, and well fought hand to hand, returned to England with
much prey and many prisoners. The bastard of Flanders
received from Edward the most liberal treatment, "for he
was a valiant man ;" his oath was taken that he would con-
tinue "true prisoner," and then he was subjected to no re-
straint: but he was so won with the king's generosity, that,
in the course of the year, of his own accord, "he became
English;" that is, he came liegeman to the king of England,
and did homage to him as one who heartily embraced his
service. Sir Walter Manny, it is said, might have had
11,000l. for his ransom and that of the other prisoners; but,
after two years the king gave him 80007.* Good prisoners,
in those days, were the best prizes that war afforded; and
this led sometimes to the greatest cruelty, and sometimes to
the greatest courtesy and magnanimity, according to the
different tempers of the captors; but the evil effect, it can-
not be doubted, must have been far more frequent than the
good.
Though this loss had fallen wholly upon the Flemings, it
was far from producing any ill effect upon the English
interests in Flanders. The popular party said, that the suf-
ferers deserved what they had brought upon themselves;
seeing that, without the consent of the good towns, and
against their will, they had kept a garrison there, to act
against their friends the English. Arteveld was well pleased
with what had happened, and earnestly invited Edward to
come over, saying that the people greatly desired to see
him. England had counted too confidently on the good-
will of the Genoese, when Edward thanked that government
for obstructing the preparations of his enemies in their ports.
At this time Philip was infesting the coasts of Aquitaine
with ships which he had hired from the Ghibelines of Genoa,
it is said, and from the Guelfs of Monaco.‡ Philip had been
arming, ostensibly for a crusade upon a greater scale than
any former one. Into this channel the pope would fain have
diverted that martial spirit which, if not so directed, would,
it was but too evident, set Europe in flames: and the object
was so tempting to an ardent and ambitious mind, that Ed-
ward would have engaged in it, if the king of France would
have restored the possessions which he had taken from him
* Froissart, chap. xxxi. Holinshed, ii. 607. Barnes, 116, 117.
↑ Froissart, chap. xxxii.
‡ Barnes, 117. Folieta quoted.
s 2
210
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
in Gascony, or have pledged himself to restore them after
his return.* But Philip was bent upon retaining what he
had taken; feeling himself, at this time, superior to the king
of England both in resources and in policy. The English
entered eagerly into the war, and enabled their enterprising
and popular prince to subsidize as many of the inferior
powers as could be induced to league with him. One year
passed before these allies could be brought into the field: in
the second, two of the subsidized counts withdrew with their
forces as soon as he approached the frontiers of France; and
though the French and English armies lay, during several
weeks, within a few leagues of each other, and even faced
each other in the field, no battle ensued. The defection of
his allies had made Edward too weak for attacking the
enemy, and Philip was too prudent to put any thing upon
the hazard; knowing that his opponent must at length retire
into winter-quarters, and was, meantime, dissipating trea-
sures which could not be easily supplied.
Edward had, indeed, already pawned his crown and his
queen's jewels; the war had hitherto proved gainful to those
only who received his subsidies; and two years of apparent
inaction, or useless demonstrations, had cooled the English
people, who were also alarmed, and not without reason, for
their own shores. In Surrey and Sussex, the people refused
to pay the imposts levied for the defence of the sea-coast:†
the government, however, was strong enough to enforce
obedience. The king's purveyors were forbidden to draw
any provisions from the country within twelve leagues of
the coast, lest the military array which had been ordered
thither for its protection should be compelled to disband for
want of food; and no archers were to be drafted from the
same tract, their service being required on the spot. These
precautions did not secure the south coast from insult and
serious injury. The enemy attacked and burned Ports-
mouth; which town was, in consequence, exempted
1339.
from the payment of tenths for three years. London
itself, which, since the accession of Canute, had feared no
maritime enemy, was threatened, and so far deemed in dan-
ger, that orders were given for fortifying it with stone ram-
parts, or with palisades on the sides of the river, and for
driving piles into its bed; the enemy, it was said, having
brought together their galleys in no small number: all per-
sons having any share in the city, religioners not excepted,
* Barnes, 91, 118. ↑ Rymer, vol. ii. part
§ Rymer, vol. ii. part ii. p. 1026.
ii.
p. 1025.
|| Ibid. 1042.
‡ Ibid.
T
PLYMOUTH BURNT.
211
were called upon to contribute to this work. A prudent
order was given, that in the churches along the coast not
more than one bell should be rung on Sundays or other
holydays, nor, on any occasion, except when the alarm was
to be given against an enemy, and then all the steeples were
to speak.†
These were not needless precautions; for Philip had set
forth a mighty fleet from his own ports, with the aid of his
allies the Bretons, and with assistance also from Spain; and
their instructions were to land, wheresoever they could to
advantage, and put all to fire and sword. Sir Hugh Quirial,
sir Pierre Bahuchet, and sir Nicholas Barbenoire were the
joint admirals of this fleet; which scoured the seas in seve-
ral squadrons. One detachment, consisting of thirteen ves-
sels great and small, fell in with two fair and goodly ships
of England, bringing home goods and money which had
been received in exchange for wool in Flanders. These
ships were named the Edward and the Christopher,—names
which, in remembrance of that day, ought to have been per-
petuated in the English navy. Two lesser barks and a
caravel were in company with them; and these, "being
unfit for fight,” made off and escaped by their swift sailing;
but the Edward and the Christopher" stood stiffly to their
tackling," against a force exceeding them so greatly in num-
bers and in men, and all being ships of war. They main-
tained the action for nine hours; and then, "wearied with
labour, wounds, and slaughter," and after a loss of 600 men
on both parts, both were taken, and most of the wounded
English thrown overboard. The Frenchmen now sore
troubled this realm by sea, especially where the champain
countries stretch towards the sea-coast." They landed at
Hastings on the feast of Corpus Christi, and there burnt
some houses, and slew some people. In the harbours of
Devonshire and Cornwall, and high up the Bristol Channel,
they took and burnt ships, killing the mariners who fell into
their hands. They landed at Plymouth, and burnt the
greater part of the town: but there the earl of Devonshire,
sir Hugh Courtenay, a brave old man, who had well-nigh
reached the age of fourscore, raised the men of the country;
seeing that the crossbows of the French did some execution
among them at a distance, he closed upon them without loss
of time; and, beating many of them down, drove the others
to the shore and into the water (for the galleys had all been
* Rymer, vol. ii. part ii. p. 1062.
↑ Barnes, 136. Holinshed, ii. 610. Fabyan, 447.
† Ibid. 1067.
66
212
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
drawn off, and were standing aloof), and about 500 are said
to have been drowned."*
"Those
Fifty of this hostile fleet, having many Genoese and Spa-
niards among them, ascended the Southampton river, and
landed at that town on a Sunday morning at nine o'clock,
while the people were at church. The inhabitants, being
thus taken by surprise, fled, they who could. The invaders
then proceeded to sack the place, committing every kind of
enormity upon those who fell into their hands, and destroy-
ing what they could not carry away or plunder.
of the nobler sort whom they could light on, they hung up
in their own houses, and at their departure set the whole
town on fire." The day and the night were passed in these
excesses; but on the morrow, by break of day, before they
were half got to their ships, sir John Arundel, “a valiant
gentleman of Hampshire," arrived with a resolute band of
brave men, and with those townsmen who had taken flight
on the yesterday, and who, "though they returned too late
to save their friends, came yet soon enough to revenge
them." Falling upon the enemy, while incumbered with
their spoil, confused in their haste and alarm, and many of
them, perhaps, in a state of intoxication, they slew about
500 on the spot. Among those who paid with their lives
for the outrages committed on this occasion, is one who, by
our chroniclers, is said to have been a son of the king of
Sicily. A rough clown, who laid about him with a flail
like a madman, beat him to the ground. The Sicilian, not
being able to speak a word of English, called out in French,
"Rançon! rançon !" meaning, that he desired to surrender,
and be taken to ransom: but the countryman, nothing un-
derstanding either his French or his coat-armour, answered,
"I know thou art a Françon, and therefore thou shalt die;"
and he still laid on, till he had threshed him to death.† Here
too, as at Plymouth, most of the galleys had been hauled
off, lest the English should board them; and not a few of
fugitives were drowned in endeavouring to get on board.‡
Upon confident information that the enemy designed to make
another descent there, the government issued orders for forti-
fying Southampton on the water side; and whereas many
of the former inhabitants had provided for their own security
by removing from the place, all who possessed any lands or
tenements in the town or its suburbs, and had been wont to
* Holinshed, ii. 609. Barnes, 137.
† Stephen Duck ought to have immortalised this man. During the Hussite
war, the flail was found to be a formidable weapon in the hands of resolute
+ Barnes, 137.
men.
THE COAST MADE DEFENSIBLE.
213
reside there, were commanded to return thither, and rebuild
their dwellings, if they had been destroyed, according to
their means. If they failed in doing this, or delayed to do
it, the lands and tenements were to be escheated to the king,
and given by him to those who were willing to dwell there:
so far was the principle of compulsory service carried in
those times.* Winchester, also, was considered to be in
danger from the predatory fleet: the more so, because there
were many defects in its walls. Instructions were now
given to repair them with diligence; and for making the in-
habitants provide themselves with arms in proportion to the
goods which they possessed; and that they should be array-
ed, and keep watch upon the walls when need should be;
and that they who refused obedience should be put in cus-
tody. The people of Chichester were ordered, in like man-
ner, to prepare for defence; and they were exempted, in
consequence, for a year, from all requisitions of stores,
cattle, or carriages for the public service.†
The lord Richard Talbot was appointed captain of South-
ampton, and allowed 20 men-at-arms for that service, and
100 archers at the king's wages, the soldiers having a month's
pay beforehand, and the lord Richard 1007. by way of gra-
tuity. The bishop of Winchester, the prior of St. Swithin's,
and the abbot of Hyde were ordered to keep at their manors
in that neighbourhood, and be ready with all their men to
assist him at his summons; and two pinnaces were always
to be at his orders in that port. Carisbrook Castle was duly
stored; and the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight, in con-
sideration, as it should seem, of the losses they had sustain-
ed, were exempted from the payment of any aid to the king
during the war: but it was also ordered that none of them
should absent themselves from the island, their presence
being so needful for its defence that they were not to be im-
panelled or summoned at any assize or inquest so long as
the war lasted. But preparations were also made for the
more hopeful operations of offensive war, and for the great
national object of keeping the seas. For this object, and
for the defence of the northern marches, the commons offer-
ed 30,000 sacks of wool (then the staple wealth of England),
on certain conditions; 2500 immediately to be received in
part of payment, if the king (who was then on the conti-
nent) liked the conditions; and if not, they were freely
offered to him. The lords, till they should know his plea-
sure, granted a tenth of their grain, wool, and lambs, and of
* Rymer, vol. ii. part ii. p. 1076.
↑ Ibid. 1077.
214
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
all their own demesnes. The mariners of the Cinque-ports
engaged to have their fleet ready by a certain time, twenty-
one ships of their own, and nine of the Thames, and to bear
half the charges themselves; "the other half the privy
council promised to bear of their own good will to their king
and country; but not of duty, nor that it should stand for a
precedent."
The mariners of the west promised to set forth
ninety sail, and ten ships of the burden of 100 tons, or more,
and to defray the whole charges, if they could.
" Two
sufficient scholars were appointed to compute the charges,
one for the western, the other for the Cinque-ports. From
Portsmouth westward, all the ships of 100 tons or upwards
were to rendezvous at Dartmouth, under their admiral, Richard
Fitzallen, earl of Arundel; those of the Cinque-ports and the
Thames at Winchelsea, under William Clinton, earl of
Huntingdon. They had orders to stay all other ships which
might be passing, and warn them into safe harbours; "and,
to furnish this fleet with soldiers, besides those whose duty
was to serve, and those who were pressed, proclamation was
made that all who had obtained charters of pardon from the
king should now repair to the sea-coast for his service, on
pain of forfeiting the same."*
While these preparations were going forward, the Cinque-
ports' men performed a most gallant enterprise, which they
undertook for the sake of revenging "in part the late affronts
done to England by the French navy," affronts in which
they had had their share; Sandwich having been insulted,
and Hastings and Rye having suffered. They embarked in
pinnaces and well-appointed boats, in the middle of January,
and pushed over from Dover to Boulogne. Such an enter-
prise, and at such a season, had not been dreamt of by the
enemy; having chosen, like smugglers, fit weather for their
purpose, misty and dark,-or having been favoured with it
by fortune, they were hardly descried before they were in
the harbour. Then setting upon the French with the reso-
lution to be looked for in men who had thus gone to seek
them, they burnt nineteen galleys, four great ships, and
twenty boats, with all their tackling; the block-house, which
was full of naval stores; and the houses that were near the
shore. They landed also, defeated the townsmen in a skir-
mish, set fire to the lower town, hung twelve captains of the
ships which they had taken, " and so bade them farewell for
that time." It were to be wished that this brave adventure
had not been disgraced by the death of the twelve prisoners;
but, in war, barbarities provoke barbarities; and the treat-
* Barnes, 151.
† Barnes, 163.
JOIN OF LUXEMBURG.
215
ment of the wounded English in the Edward and Chris-
topher, and the enormities which the French committed
wherever they had landed on the coast, had roused a feeling
of immitigable enmity. During a conference which was in-
effectually held with the view of bringing about a peace, Ed-
ward asked the two cardinals who were present, whether he
had not great cause for making war against the French, if
only to revenge their extreme cruelty to his poor subjects
who fell into their hands? An Italian cardinal somewhat
scornfully replied,-" My lord, the realm of France is en-
compassed about with so strong a cord of silk, that it can-
not be broken by the strength of the kingdom of England.
Wherefore, O king, you will do well to stay for the arrival
of the Dutchmen, and others your friends and confederates,
and I believe you will not find them here in haste!" Fired
at these words, Edward made answer, that he would ride
into France with banner displayed, and there take a view of
these invincible Frenchmen; and that he would either win
that realm against whosoever should oppose or leave his
body on the field. Many weeks had not passed before the
lord Geoffrey Scroop, then lord chief justice of England,
took this cardinal to the top of a high tower, and from thence
showed him the frontiers of France, where, for some fifteen
leagues, it seemed as if the whole country was on fire. "My
lord," said he, "what thinketh your eminence now? Doth
not the silken cord seem in great danger of being cracked ?”*
So long as the king Edward relied upon his subsi-
1340.
dized confederates more than upon the native strength
of England, the French king was not without good ground
for the confidence with which he regarded his aspiring ad-
versary. That confidence carried him so far, that when the
earl of Salisbury and Robert Ufford le Fitz, the earl of Suf-
folk's eldest son, were taken prisoners at the siege of Lisle,
and sent in irons to Paris, exposed on the way, in a cart, to
the mockery of the rabble in every town, village, and ham-
let through which they passed, and there presented to him
"as a lucky hansel of his future success," he gave orders that
they should be put to death; and this would have been done,
if John of Luxemburg, the abdicated king of Bohemia, had
not, with a freedom which his former rank, his character,
and his blindness authorized, interposed: "Sir," he said,
"if these your prisoners were not of as high merit as quality,
I should not take much notice of them at this time, though I
should hardly allow of putting to death the meanest enemy
in cold blood. They are, indeed, open enemies to your
* Barnes, 137. 142.
216
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
•
majesty, but honourable enemies, who never fought against
you save in their liege master's quarrel, and not then till
open defiance had been made; nor is it likely that, when
taken less by valour than by a subtle contrivance they would
have yielded as they did, had it not been in the belief that
they should be treated like prisoners of war. Let not the
most Christian king of France prove more rigorous, and less
just and honourable, than even his enemies supposed him
to be! The event of war is doubtful; and if these men
should now suffer, who of your lords would willingly fight
in your cause, seeing that, if taken, they must never expect
to be put to ransom, but, in revenge for these men's blood,
to inevitable death? It may be any man's fortune to be made
prisoner; but it will be an everlasting blot to him who kills
those in cold blood whom the law of arms makes only pri-
soners of war. My royal friend and brother, let us be brave
enemies, but merciful victors! at least, let us forbear from
such severities as these, till we are provoked by the example
of the English to use them.' This generous remonstrance
prevailed: Philip, however, committed them to close pri-
son;* and it is affirmed that he set a price upon Edward's
head.†
Of this Edward was apprized by his brother-in-law the
duke of Gelderland. He was informed, also, that strict
charge had been given by Philip to his admirals to watch
for him, and that they had engaged to present him, alive or
dead, at Paris; for they had command of the most gallant
armada that any man living had ever seen, being more than
400 sail, whereof 200 were great vessels, well-manned, and
stored with all habiliments of war; "wherefore it behoved
him to look to himself!" Advice to the same tenour came
from the lord Morley, his admiral of the northern fleet; and
his council entreated him by no means to attempt the pas-
sage "without a royal navy." He was then at Ipswich,
meaning to cross from that coast to Flanders: the force
which he had there ready consisted of nearly 200 sail; but
upon this information of the enemy's strength and intention,
he despatched the bishop of Lincoln to the southward ports,
and went himself to Yarmouth, and caused so many more
vessels to be equipped, that the whole armament, when col-
lected, consisted of 260 ships, great and small, well-manned
with archers and men-at-arms; besides these there were
some transports, having many ladies on board, who were
going over to the queen, then at Ghent.
* Barnes, 169.
† Ibid. 181.
SLUYS.
217
With this fleet Edward sailed from the Orwell, on Thurs-
day, the 22d of June," about the first hour of the day, in
the name of God and St. George." On the morrow, being
the eve of St. John the Baptist, they came to the coast of
Flanders, about Blanksberg, and as they approached the
Zwijn, and discovered so great a number of ships that their
masts and streamers made them resemble a wood, the king
asked the master of his yessel what he supposed them to be?
May it please your majesty," replied the master, "I take
them to be Normans and others, sent out by the French
king to rob and spoil your coasts, and to take your majesty's
person if they can and among them I doubt not we shall
find those very men who burnt your good town of South-
ampton, and took your two good ships, the St. Edward and
the Christopher. "Ha!" said the king, "I have long
desired to fight with the Frenchmen; and now I shall fight
with some of them, by the grace of God and St. George; for
truly they have done me so many displeasures that I shall
be revenged, an I may !" He then commanded the lord
Reginald Cobham, sir John Chandos, and sir Stephen de la
Burkin to land, and ride along the shore, "to view the coun-
tenance of the enemy." They did this at safe leisure, all
Flanders being then friendly to the English; and they
approached near enough to see that the fleet, which they
estimated at about 400 sail, was divided into three squad-
rons, all riding in the harbour of Sluys: among them were
nineteen ships, so large, that they had never seen so many of
that size in company before, and the chief of them they recog-
nised for the Christopher; that ship having, probably, been
named after the gigantic saint of hagiological romance,
because of its extraordinary magnitude. Evening was be-
ginning to close when they returned to make their report;
and therefore the king, "who would needs for that time be
admiral of the fleet himself," gave orders to cast anchor, re-
solving to have the day before him, and to begin the fight
next morning.
The place where the English were about to gain their first
great naval victory, properly so called (for in the battle of
Ďamme seamanship had no part), was in early times the
most flourishing port upon the Flemish coast. Some,
indeed, have supposed that it was occupied as such by the
Nervii in Cæsar's time, and that the settlement which they
possessed there was destroyed by Ariovistus. William of
Ypres took possession of it with his band of freebooters,
who are said to have been chiefly English; and from thence
he infested the adjacent country till he was driven out by
VOL. I.
T
218
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
Theodoric of Alsace, and repairing to England, acquired an ill
name there in the service of king Stephen. At that time the
place was called Lammensvliet, from Lambert, an English-
man, who constructed the sluices there; it was also called
port Zuin, or the south port; and this name, in the course
of corruption, becoming the Swine (Het Zwijn), still dis-
tinguishes the gulf, or inlet, which then formed a harbour
capable of containing the largest vessels that were then
known, though it is now so choked with sand that even the
smallest craft can no longer enter. The entrance of the
Zwijn has been called the Horse-market, because, in certain
winds, the sound of the waters there has been compared to
the confused and irregular trampling of horses' feet. About
the year 1330, the name of the work superseded that of the
engineer, and the town, which had grown up, was called
Sluys. It then began to flourish under the favour of the earls
of Flanders; but Bruges would brook no rival near; the
earls had been compelled, by the merchants of that powerful
city, to revoke the privileges which they had granted, which,
in fact, were incompatible with the earlier city's vested
rights, and which, by giving Sluys the command of the
Zwijn, placed the trade of Damme and Bruges at its mercy.
These merchants were able to enforce their pretensions by
that law from which there is no appeal; and when Sluys
had been granted to the earl of Namur, the men of Bruges
attacked it; defeated him and the Guelderlanders and Ger-
mans whom he had brought thither to defend it; took the
town, burnt it, and levelled it to the ground; nor, when the
inhabitants rebuilt their habitations, would they allow them
to erect any works for their defence.*
Many of the enemy's fleet were Spaniards from the ports
in the bay of Biscay, the seamen of that coast being renown-
ed for their seamanship even among the hardy sailors of the
north. By means of the king of Navarre, Philip is supposed
to have obtained their aid. The Genoese galleys were com-
manded by Egidio Bocanegra, the Barbenoir, or Blackbeard,
of the French, brother to the doge, and one of the best com-
manders of his nation by land or sea. They had taken their
station there to prevent the English from landing in the
port for which they expected them to make; and also to
obstruct the succours which, from the neighbouring ports,
the Flemings and Brabanters were on the alert to afford
them. But Bocanegra, like a skilful seaman, was not for
waiting an attack when the sun and the tide would be against
* Sanderi Flandria, ii. 212. Lud. Guicciardini, 381. Marchantius, 52,
Sueyro, i. 409. Busching, xiv. 252. (French translation.)
+
BATTLE OF SLUYS.
219
them, and the wind not in their favour, but for putting out
to meet the English, and so taking advantage of their own
superior force. The French admiral, Pierre Bahuchet, is
said to have opposed this; there was a jealousy between
them; and this worse charge has been brought against him,
-that his ships were neither provided nor manned as they
ought to have been, and that he had defrauded the king by
false musters.* The advice, however, was manifestly too
reasonable to be rejected and early in the morning they
came out of the haven in three squadrons, and in good order.
Indeed, it was no matter of choice with them, had it been
otherwise advisable to have remained there; for the men of
Bruges were in array upon the shore, ready to act against
them upon any opportunity; and they could feel little secu-
rity there any longer, than while they were masters of the
sea.
On the other hand, Edward was so confident in the skill
and courage of his men, that he disregarded the enemy's
superiority in numbers. His great ships, well-manned with
archers, were placed in the van; and between every two
there was one with men-at-arms. A squadron was kept in
reserve, to prevent the French from closing upon his van,
and to assist wherever aid might be required. A third, in
which were 500 archers and 300 men-at-arms, was appointed
to protect the vessels where the women were aboard, whom
the king is said to have "comforted all he could." Having
disposed the fleet in this array, he gave orders to hoist the
sails, "designing to come into a quarter wind, so as to get
the advantage of the sun and the wind; and as he stood off
with this purpose, some of the French, who were more brave
than considerate, supposed that the English, seeing them-
selves so far inferior in force, wished to avoid an action.
But when they descried the banner royal of England, they
knew that no such intention was entertained; and their
hopes were then raised the higher, thinking that so great a
prize might fall into their hands.
Before the general action commenced, Bocanegra sent
forth four galleys against a ship called the Rich Oliver,
which was advanced before the others. It is one of the re-
markable circumstances belonging to this action, that gal-
leys were not employed in it according to the ancient mode
* Sueyro, i. 458, 459.
† And this, according to Charnock (i. 341.) was the first time they were
disused; "since, though the use of ships, as vessels of a different construc-
tion from galleys were then called, had been partially adopted for many
years, yet in every preceding action which had taken place, even in the
220
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
of war, no attempt being made to produce any effect with
their beaks. In the present instance, they assailed their
enemy with stones and shot from engines* on all sides, so
that the Rich Oliver sustained a great loss in men, and was
in great danger of being taken; but other vessels, having
now the wind at will,† came to the rescue in time, and the
four galleys were boarded and won before the enemy could
succour them. And now the fleets met: "the French join-
ing battle with many trumpets and other instruments of
martial music, and the English giving altogether a mighty
shout, it sounded horribly upon the waters, the shores being
not far off." At the same instant they sent a flight of arrows
from their long-bows, which the French answered as libe-
rally with cross-bow shot; "but the arrows did most exe-
cution by far."-Then began a sore battle. The men-at-arms
approached and fought hand to hand, for on both sides they
were prepared with great hooks and grappling-irons, both
being alike willing that strength and prowess should decide
the combat; and "many noble deeds of arms were that day
done, assailing, and defending, taking and rescuing again."
The French had set the huge St. Christopher foremost, and
the English made strenuous efforts to retake it, for they knew
the king was much displeased at the loss of that good ship.
So well they sped, and yet so bravely were resisted, that when
they became masters, few were left alive on board to be taken
to mercy. Her captain, Jan van Heyle, was one; a Flemish
gentleman, who escaped death now only to meet with it ere
long from the hands of the populace in Bruges. The great
Christopher was speedily manned with archers, and turned
“her angry fore-deck against the Genoese." "This battle,'
says Froissart, "was right fierce and terrible; for the bat-
tles on the sea are more dangerous and fiercer than on the
Atlantic, where the use of galleys became most exploded, they had been in-
termixed with the loftier vessels, built according to the newly-introduced
system." But what actions had taken place in the Atlantic at that time?
* Fabyan has embellished his narrative here in a way that might mislead
many readers; he says that the enemy "assailed this ship, and beat her
with gun-shot, and her men with hail-shot, exceedingly." And that "then
approached the whole fleet upon both sides with hideous and fearful din and
noise of guns, with terrible flaming of wild fire and other, with thick shot
of quarrels and arrows, and crushing of ships, that hideous and wonderful
it was to behold, so that many a soul was there expelled from their bodies
in short while."-(p. 450.) He speaks of guns also in the former action with
the Edward and Christopher. They were not used in naval warfare till
long after this; and I have not found any authority which leads me to sup-
pose that wild-fire had been used as yet, nor that fire in any way was em-
ployed in this action.
† Charnock observes, that the weather-gage appears to have been seized
for the first time in this action, as a most consequential preliminary point.
-Hist. of Naval Architecture, i. 340.
1)
BATTLE OF SLUYS.
221
land, by reason that on the sea there is no recoiling nor fly-
ing; there is no remedy but to fight, and to abide fortune,
and every man to show his prowess."
The St. Edward also
was retaken, and the St. George, and the Black Cock.
.
The enemy had many engines for casting stones, and they
employed them with great effect: a large ship, and a galley*
belonging to Hull were sunk by them, with all on board;
and from a great ship which belonged to the king's ward-
robe, there were but two men and a woman that escaped.
The battle lasted from a little before ten in the morning till
seven in the evening. The first squadron of the enemy was
entirely beaten; the second so sorely pressed, that the French
leaped overboard to escape from the showers of arrows which
were sent down on them. When farther exertion became
hopeless, Bocanegra made off with his squadron. One large
French ship, the St. Jacques of Dieppe, thought to have
carried off with her a ship of Sandwich, belonging to the
prior of Canterbury: but the Englishmen made a stout re-
sistance; and the earl of Huntingdon, William Clinton,
coming in his vessel to their aid, the contest_continued
through the night; at morning they got possession of the St.
Jacques, and found 400 dead on board. The victory was
rendered more complete by the opportune arrival of the lord
Morley with part of the northern fleet, and by the aid of
the Flemish small craft, which came to partake in it from
all the adjacent ports. It was the greatest victory that had
ever been gained on those seas. Two hundred and thirty
sail were taken; among them the St. Dennis, "a mighty
ship." One of the French admirals fell; Bahuchet, the
other, was hung from the main yard of his own ship, be-
cause of the enormities which he, "to say no more, had
permitted at Southampton." The carnage was very great; the
largest estimate of the English loss being 4000, the lowest
on the other side 10,000; and this was carried by exaggeration
to the number of 30,000; that it amounted to this on both
sides, both parties seem to have agreed. Men are prone
to exaggerate whatever is wonderful; but it is a strange
propensity which leads them to magnify calamities, and to
suppose that the merit of a victory is enhanced in proportion
to the number of mourners whom it has made. No doubt,
in those days, the proportion of deaths in battle was much
greater than in modern war; they fought hand to hand, and
not as with the bayonet, where the charge is almost instantly
* Campbell, i. 139.
† According to Fabyan, both were thus put to death.
T2
222
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
■..
***
เ
decided; but in such close combat as called forth personal
and vindictive feelings; and the man who was not worth
taking for his ransom had, it may be feared, in most cases,
little chance for mercy.
The only person of distinction who fell on the English
side was sir Thomas, eldest son of the lord Ralph Monther-
mer. The king is said to have been wounded in the thigh
the wound was so slight that he did not mention it in his
letter to the bishops and clergy, which conveyed to England
the first certain tidings of the battle; and this is the first
despatch among the English records announcing a naval
victory, a victory where the king commanded in person,
and which was one of the most complete that has ever been
obtained upon the seas. After the customary greeting, "We
have thought good," said the king, "to intimate unto you,
for your true certification and rejoicing, the bountiful be-
nignity of God's great mercy lately poured upon us. It is
not unknown to you, and to other our faithful subjects, with
what storms of boisterous wars we have been tost and
shaken, as in the great ocean. But although the rising surges
of the sea be marvellous, yet more marvellous is the Lord
above, who, turning the tempest into a calm, hath in so great
dangers so mercifully respected us. For whereas we of late
did ordain our passage into Flanders upon urgent causes, the
lord Philip de Valois, our bitter enemy, understanding there-
of, laid against us a mighty navy, intending thereby either
to take our person, or at least to hinder our voyage; which
voyage if it had been stayed, it had been the cutting off of
all the great enterprises by us intended, and we had our-
selves been brought to great confusion. But the God of mer-
cies, seeing us so distressed, in such peril and danger, hath
graciously, and beyond man's expectation, sent to us sufficient
succour and strength of valiant soldiers, and a prosperous
wind after our own desires, by the means whereof we set out
of the haven into the seas, where we eftsoon perceived our
enemies well appointed, and prepared to set upon us with a
main multitude. Against whom, notwithstanding, our Lord
and Saviour hath granted unto us the victory, through a strong
and vehement conflict; in the which battle a mighty number
of our enemies were destroyed, and wellnigh all their whole
navy taken, with some loss also on our part, but nothing like
in comparison to theirs. By reason whereof we doubt not
but that the passage of the seas hereafter shall be more quiet
and safe for our subjects; and also many other commodities
shall ensue, as we have good cause to hope. For which
cause, we, devoutly considering the heavenly grace so mer-
EDWARD'S LETTER TO THE CLERGY.
223
cifully wrought upon us, do render most humble thanks and
praise to Christ our Lord and Saviour, beseeching Him, that
as He hath been, and always is, ready to prevent our neces-
sities in his own good time, so He will continue his helping
hand ever toward us, and so direct us here temporally, that
we may reign and rejoice with him eternally in heaven.
And in like sort we require your charitable assistance, that
you also, with us, rising up to the praise of God alone, who
hath begun to work with us so favourably for our good, do,
in your public prayers and divine service, as well as in your
private devotions, instantly recommend us unto the Lord,
here travelling in these foreign countries, and seeking not
only to recover our right in France, but also to advance the
whole catholic church of Christ, and to rule our people in
righteousness. And that ye also call upon your clergy and
people (each one through his diocess) to do the same; in-
voking all together the name of our Saviour on our behalf,
that of his mercy he would please to give unto us, his humble
servant, his grace and a docible heart, that we may so judge
and govern here upon earth in equity, doing that which he hath
commanded, that at length we may happily attain to that
which He hath promised through our Lord and Saviour."*
The news of this great battle was conveyed to king Philip
in a very different manner; for though ill tidings too often
find ready tongues, it is not when the great and the powerful
are to be told of their defeated armaments and baffled hopes.
A court fool is said to have been made the instrument of con-
veying to the royal ear what every one else feared to commu-
nicate, and what no one else could so aptly "insinuate by
subtlety of covert words." Accordingly he began to rail
against the English as a set of dastardly poltroons, heaping
upon them those reproaches to which the king knew that of
all others they were least obnoxious; till Philip at last
asked him how he came to think the English were such das-
tards. 66
Why," replied the fool, "because the fainthearted
rogues had not courage enough to jump overboard into the
sea so bravely as our Normans and gentlemen of France
did.”t
* Foxe's Acts and Monuments, i. 430. Barnes, 184. This battle was long
regarded as our greatest naval victory. Sir Roger Williams, when he de-
scribes Boiset's defeat of the Spanish fleet under Sancho d'Avila, says,
"No fight hath been comparable unto it by sea these five hundred years,
saving that before Sluys, fought by our famous king Edward III. against
the French king and the earl of Flanders; and that of Lepanto."-Scott's
Somers' Tracts, i. 383.
† Barnes, 185.
224
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP V.
FROM THE BATTLE OF SLUYS TO THE DEATH OF
EDWARD III.
A. D. 1340-1377.
On the night of the victory, Edward lay on board, the
joyful sound of trumpets and clarions being kept up through
the night. On the morrow, many of the nobles and principal
burgesses of Flanders came off to visit and congratulate him :
he landed that day. His first act, upon setting foot on shore,
was to kneel down in thankful prayer; his next, for it was
Sunday, to hear mass; and, with more solemnity, return
thanks to God for his great victory. There he remained
during the morrow; and knighting a squire, by name Nele
Loring, for his distinguished services in the action, made a
grant of 201. a year to him and his heirs male for ever. No
doubt, other honours were conferred, and other rewards
given; but this happens to have been remembered.* On the
Tuesday, he went on foot to the church of Onser Lieve
Vrouw of Ardenburg; the image of the Virgin Mary, which
was there worshipped, being the most celebrated for its
miracles of any upon the coast of Flanders. For this reason
the men of Bruges used to suspend the trophies of their
victories in her church; Philip had done so when he over-
ran Flanders, and Edward now devoutly performed the
same proud observance. Flanders was at that time under an
interdict; but he had no difficulty on that account, for he had
brought over with him certain bishops, and very many
priests and deacons, who without scruple opened the
churches, and celebrated divine service,‡ much to the satis-
faction of the people. From thence he proceeded to Ghent,
where his queen presented him with their new-born son,
afterwards so well known by the name of John of Gaunt;
* The persons whose names are recorded as having borne a part in this
great victory, are Thomas Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, the admiral
(though for that day the king took the office upon himself); sir Thomas
Beauchamp, his brother; Henry Plantagenet, earl of Derby; Lawrence
Hastings, earl of Pembroke; William Clinton, earl of Huntingdon; the
lord Roger Northwode of his retinue; Hugh Audley, earl of Gloucester;
Humphrey Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex, and William, earl of North-
ampton his brother; the lords Reginald Cobham, John Chandos, William
Felton, Walter Manny, Henry Piercy, John de la Warre, and Ralph Basset,
of Sapcote; Thomas Lucy, lord Multon; and of foreigners, Robert of Artois
(a bad man), then earl of Richmond, sir Stephen de la Burken, and sir
Henry of Flanders.
† Sanderus, ii. 208.
† Barnes, 186.
THE POPE OFFERS HIS MEDIATION.
225
and where, shortly afterward, that queen held at the font the
infant child of Jacob von Artevald, and named him Philip
after herself,—that Philip, who, if he had died before pros-
perity tainted him, would have left one of the most heroic
names in history.
But Edward had difficulties now to struggle with, which
are not to be overcome by straight-forward courage. He
had engaged in a most expensive war; his allies were look-
ing for their subsidies; and his letter to the lords and com-
mons expressed a fear of much damage, and especially loss
of honour, unless he were supported by speedy supplies.
The king was personally popular; and the war was regarded
by the people with an eager national feeling that overlooked
every thing except its costs, then, as always, willing that
any price should be paid for victory, except from their money
and their goods. A great proportion of the grant consisted in
wool, which was first to be taken up for the king on the
credit of the next subsidy, and then disposed of for him; if
the supply had been adequate, the mode of rendering it con-
vertible for present use required so much time, that he was
compelled to borrow, for his immediate necessities, upon
such ruinous terms as in that age were always exacted by
those men who had money to lend. The pope at this time
performed the part of a Christian mediator, urging both kings
to accommodate their differences by peace; he exhorted the
king of England not to be puffed up with the pride of victory;
he warned him that the Flemings were a perfidious people,
who had deceived their own lord, and who it might be ex-
pected would more readily deceive him; that other of his
allies would serve him only as far as by so doing they could
serve their own ends; and that least of all should he trust
to the Germans, who were always accounted unstable, and
whose instability his grandfather, the good king Edward,
had experienced in the time of his uttermost need. He
exhorted him also to consider the great power of the king
of France, who, if he were to lose ten battles, could yet
bring together men in abundance for resisting any invader;
whereas how difficult, or impossible, would it be for the
king of England to repair his losses, being in a foreign
country, in the hands of strangers, and not attended with his
own people!
Weighty as these considerations were, they made little
impression upon Edward, a young and high-minded king,
and at that time flushed with the fame of the greatest naval
victory that ever had been gained under the English flag; he
knew also, that proposals for peace were always most ur-
بلی
226
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
gently pressed upon him when some great advantage was in
his hands. And he would have turned a deaf ear to this re-
presentation," had not there been a lady of high quality,
and wonderful virtue and piety, whose tears and prayers,
says his historian, "could not be lost upon a man whose
heart was acquainted with pity." This was the lady Jeanne
de Valois, countess-dowager of Hainault, sister to Philip,
and mother to Philippa queen of England. After the death
of her husband, William the Good, she had retired into the
abbey of Fontaine au Tertre. When Edward was pressing
Tournay by a strait siege, and Philip exerting all his efforts
for its relief, this excellent woman left for a while her reli-
gious retirement, to engage in the holy work of peace-
making, upon which a blessing has been promised by the
God of peace. She went assiduously, with great zeal and
diligence,* between them, "humbly kneeling to her brother,
whose haughty and resolute temper she well knew, and
sweetly, like a virtuous mother, intermixing, with her son-
in-law, commands, and prayers, and moving tears, and con-
vincing arguments." Being nearly connected with some of
the chief confederates also, she laboured to obtain their co-
operation; and at length so far prevailed, that a truce for
three days was appointed, and a meeting of commissioners
in a little chapel, to conclude a treaty during that suspension
of arms. She was present during the conferences, " earn-
estly entreating them for God's sake to lay aside all preju-
dice and passion, and only to consider the public good, and
the weal of Christendom, and be ready to accept of what
was just." By her persuasions, aided, as they were, by the
inclinations of some of Edward's subsidiary allies, the com-
missioners were brought to an agreement on the second day,
and on third they concluded a truce for seven months, during
which ambassadors on both sides were to meet, and, in con-
junction with certain cardinals, bring about a final peace.‡
It derogates nothing from the honour due to the countess
Jeanne de Valois, that there was little likelihood of such a
*"As the Greek poets report of Jocasta, when Polynices and Eteocles
were prepared for battle; and as our English poets relate of the mother of
Belinus and Brennus, two British princes, when they were ready, by un-
brotherly war, to decide the right of a kingdom."-Barnes. It is, indeed,
the most poetical circumstance of its kind in real history.
"Thus," says Barnes, "was the strong city of Tournay wonderfully pre-
served from utter ruin, without battle given, only by the power of a lady's
tongue, and by the providence of the Divine goodness, which even yet seem-
ed desirous to give further warning to king Philip; and, as it were, to offer
him one more opportunity for deliberation, before it would resign his king.
dom up to those destructions for which already it was marked out."
‡ Barnes. 204.
EDWARD'S WANT OF MONEY.
227
consummation. An interval of peace in such times was so
much gained for humanity,-a cessation of crimes, a respite
from sufferings. But Philip had gained no credit by his
conduct during the campaign; the policy which induced
him to solicit a truce was less esteemed in public opinion
than the courage with which Edward had entered an enemy's
country, besieged one of his great cities, and offered him
battle. On the other hand, the conditions of the truce were
not favourable to the king of England; and he had consent-
ed to it most unwillingly; yielding less to the urgent per-
suasions of his friends, and half-hearted allies, than to the
necessity of his own affairs. It was most humiliating to
him to see himself thus deprived of a victory which he had
deemed certain; and to perceive also that his German allies,
on whom he had depended, were likely to fall off from him,
because of the failure of his pecuniary supplies. He com-
plained grievously of this, and imputed the fault chiefly to
the archbishop of Canterbury, to whom the first place in the
government had been intrusted during his absence. The
primate had originally encouraged his enterprise, and en-
gaged to provide money both for the king's necessities and
the soldiers' pay;
whereupon," said Edward,
" said Edward, "we set our
hand to great undertakings, and with great expense, as it
behooved, made our warlike provision, and bound ourselves
in vast sums to our confederates. And being busied in the
siege of Tournay, and exhausted with continual charges, we
waited in daily expectation that our promised aid would at
last come to relieve us in our so many and so great necessi-
ties. By many messengers and divers letters we signified the
sundry inconveniences we were exposed to for want of the
promised aid; as also the great advantage and honour which
we might easily obtain by a seasonable supply. But for
want thereof we were constrained to accept a truce, to the
shameful hindrance of our enterprise, and the no small joy
of our adversaries. And returning thereupon into Flanders,
empty of money and full of debts, neither our own purses
nor our friends' being sufficient to discharge our necessities,
and to pay off our foreign auxiliaries, we were compelled to
plunge ourselves into the devouring gulf of usury,* and te
submit our shoulders to the burden of intolerable obliga-
tions: our faithful friends, companions of our labour, and
partakers of our troubles, saying that if we did not apply a
speedy remedy, they must of necessity withdraw from our
66
* "Through defect of the archbishop's performance," says Speed, “he was
not only constrained to give over his hold for the present, but to embog him-
self in the bankers' and usurers' books.”—p. 574.
228
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
service, and go back from their alliance made with us; and
this must needs redound to the subversion of our kingdom,
our own perpetual infamy, and the eternal reproach of the
English nation,-which God, our merciful Father, of his in-
finite goodness, forbid to come to pass in our days!"*
1341.
It was less of the parsimony with which supplies
had been granted that he complained, than of the neg-
ligence with which they had been collected and transmitted.
With regard to the defects of administration, more, no doubt,
must be ascribed to inexperience and unforeseen difficulties
than to any neglect of duty. In the course of English his-
tory, many mournful reflections must be excited in the
thoughtful reader, when he perceives how great an after-ex-
penditure of treasure and of blood has been occasioned by
ill-timed parsimony in war. But in this case there was no
eventual evil. Having waited in vain for remittances, the
king left Ghent privately, and embarked from one of the
ports in Zeeland, with his queen, late in November: they
encountered such weather upon the passage, that they were.
for three days and nights in imminent danger; and it is not
unworthy of notice, that there were writers who ascribed this
storm to the spells of French necromancers employed by
Philip, in the hope of either drowning the king, or "abating
his courage for taking the sea again."t
He had not been long in England, before his serious at-
tention was called to the insults, outrages, and havoc com-
mitted upon the sea-coast, and, as it appears, in other parts
also, by pirates, by his enemy the French king, and those
who favoured and assisted him; for it seems that this species
of hostility continued notwithstanding the truce. The evils
inflicted by this barbarous warfare are complained of in
terms that bring to mind the times of Sweyne and the Vi-
kingr. His first precautionary measure was to make a
leagues between his subjects of the Cinque-ports and of the
* Barnes, 197, 198. 213. 220.
† Fabyan, 454. The honest citizen delivers this as the opinion of others,
without declaring his own, Barnes repeats it, and adds,-" Whatever was
the occasion, this is certain, that as if king Edward had been only destined
for the kingdom of France, which he so greatly desired, it seemed fatal for
him always, in his passage thither, to have calm seas and wind at will, but
on his return, all things contrary; so that often he endured many great losses
and shipwrecks. And this was his fate while his fortune stood fair; but
when he began to decline, he found the wind so contrary to him, that by no
means he could once set his foot more in France."-p. 212.
"Quanta incendia, strages, et dispendia, et alia mala et facinoro, non
sine scandalo et opprobrio nostri et totius regni nostri Angliæ, in costeris
maris, et alibi."-(Rymer, ii. part ii. 1150.) Elsewhere, damna et grava-
mina inestimabilia are spoken of. Ibid. § Rymer, ii. part ii. 1150.
1
i
DISPUTE WITH GENOA.
229
city of Bayonne, with whom it may be inferred the Cinque-
ports' men had not been upon more amicable terms than they
used to be with their eastern countrymen. A circular order
was also sent to all the English ports, wherein-after com-
plaining that if their ships had been made ready, pursuant to
former orders, in due time, for seeking and meeting the
enemy, the great damage which had been done, and the re-
proach which had been brought upon the kingdom, might
have been prevented-he commanded them immediately to
equip for service every vessel of sixty tons burden and up-
wards; and he summoned one or two deputies from every
port, according to its importance, to meet in London, and
there give to him and his council such information as might
be required.*
The character of the nation had indeed suffered by the im-
punity with which its coasts were insulted; and by the con-
clusion of the last campaign, notwithstanding the brilliant
naval victory wherewith it had opened. Six Genoese galleys,
laden with goods for Flanders, and provided with passports
from the constable of Bourdeaux, and with Edward's own
letters of safe-conduct, were attacked and burnt by some
English ships. The doge, Simon Bocanegra, sent ambas-
sadors to require reparation, promising, that if this were
promptly and fully rendered, he and his people would no lon-
ger afford any assistance to the French, and would abstain
from all offensive acts against England. The reply to this
was, that the galleys had never produced or pleaded their
letters of protection, but had shown rather a hostile spirit:
that those letters were only conditional, engaging for friend-
ly treatment, in case their countrymen, the Genoese, ceased
to act as enemies,-not otherwise that this notoriously was
not the case; the Genoese were aiding the king's enemies
with all their strength, and had invaded England, and done
infinite damage to the English; no truce had been proclaimed
on their part when they were met with; and, therefore, under
these circumstances, it was lawful to attack them. Never-
theless, for the sake of the old good will which had existed
between England and Genoa, the king consented to pay
10,000l., for which he engaged that certain merchants in
Flanders should give sufficient security. But this the am-
bassadors peremptorily refused to accept: they made no
objection to the amount, but insisted upon having plate or
jewels in pledge; and when this was refused, they demand-
ed, and in no friendly spirit, received their letters of dismis-
VOL. I.
* Rymer, ii. part ii. 1150.
U
230
NAVAL HISTORY OF england.
.
sal. All this was stated in the king's name to the doge, in a
calm and temperate letter, wherein Edward said, that neither
his power, nor the hand of the Lord, were so weakened, but
that he trusted, by the grace of the Lord, and the justice of
his own cause, to prevail against his enemies. The doge,
however, was finally assured, that it would be more agreea-
ble to the king if his offer were accepted, and the old rela-
tions of amity resumed.* On the part of England, there was
an evident desire that the matter should be adjusted, not from
regard to any mercantile relations, but in consideration of the
naval means which the Genoese employed against her: on
their part, they seem to have found the predatory warfare so
gainful, that they protracted the dispute.
1342. In the ensuing year, a fleet of galleys attacked and
burnt Portsmouth, and continuing upon that coast,
threatened Southampton and the adjacent country; imme-
diate measures, therefore, were taken for its defence, and the
whole force of the country was ordered to hold itself in readi-
ness, no man absenting himself from the needful duty, on pain
of forfeiting all that he had to forfeit. Edward wanted no
such continued provocations to make him eager for the first op-
portunity of renewing the war upon the continent; and that
opportunity occurred when the succession to the dukedom of
Bretagne was disputed between John earl of Montford and
sir Charles de Blois. As in the contrariant claims to the
crown of France, each claimant believed his own title to be
good, so was it in this case. Sir Charles was the French
king's nephew; the king espoused his cause, in despite of
the Salic law, for he claimed it in his mother's right; and
Montford, who had forcibly taken possession, and knew him-
self unable to withstand the power of France, came over to
England, and offered to hold his dukedom of Edward as true
king of France, by fealty and homage, to him and his heirs
for ever. The offer was accepted; and Edward engaged to
defend him as his liegeman against either Philip or any other
who should disturb him in his possession. This transaction
was meant to have been kept secret till such protection should
become necessary: Philip, however, obtained intelligence of
it. Montford was surprised in Nantes, and sent prisoner to
the Louvre; and his countess, Margaret, was besieged in
Hennebon, from whence she sent to solicit aid from Eng-
land. A force, consisting of 6000 archers and 620 men-at-
arms, under sir Walter Manny, was despatched with all
speed to her relief. No time was lost in setting forth; but
* Rymer, ii. part ii. 1156. 1211.
† Ibid. 1210
COUNTESS OF MONTFORD.
231
the weather was so stormy and adverse, that he was detained
the almost incredible time of forty days upon the passage;
and if the place had not been defended by the countess her-
self, the succour must have arrived too late.
This remarkable woman, who was sister to the earl of
Flanders, is described as having had the courage of a man
and the heart of a lion. When her husband was made
prisoner, she lost none of that courage, but went about to all
the fortresses and towns that espoused his cause, carrying
with her her little son, and showing him to the soldiers and
the people; thus winning their affections, and securing their
fidelity, as far as it was to be secured, by "paying every
man well and truly his wages." Hennebon, on the river
Blavet, was, at that time, the strongest castle in all Bre-
tagne, "standing," says Froissart, "on a port of the sea,
and the sea running about it in great dykes." When sir
Charles of Blois had taken Rennes, he was advised to lay
siege to it, seeing that if he could get the countess and her
son into his hands, the war would be at an end. Accord-
ingly, he encamped before it, within a quarter of a mile of
the town, besieging both it and the castle on all sides, ex-
cept where the castle was open to the sea; for he had no
ships. The place was well stored, and well manned. In
their first attack upon the barriers, the assailants were re-
pulsed with considerable loss; and when, on the third day
of the siege, they made a brave assault, they were so bravely
driven back, that "the lords of France were sore displeased,
and caused the assault to begin again more fiercer than it
was before." The countess herself, clad in armour, and
mounted on a great courser, rode from street to street, en-
couraging the men; and she made the women cut short their
kirtles, and carry stones and pots of quicklime to the walls,
thence to be cast down upon the enemies. She herself
ascended a tower, to see in what manner the French had
disposed their force; perceiving that they had left their camp
unguarded, she hastened down, collected about 300 horse,
and, putting herself at their head, sallied through a gate
which was not assaulted, and, dashing into the camp, cut
down and set fire to their tents and pavilions. None but
varlets and pages had been left there at the outcry which
they raised the lords of France looked back; and, seeing
their tents blazing, called off their men from the assault,
with the cry of "Treason! treason!" The countess saw
now that her return was intercepted, and that she could not,
without the greatest danger, attempt to recover the town :
gathering together, therefore, her company, she made for
232
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
Brest, about seven leagues distant, where the people were
on her side. The marshal of the host, don Luis de la Cerda,
pursued with a greater number of horse, and slew or wound-
ed several who were not well mounted; but the countess
and the greater part of her company rode so well, that they
gained Brest, and there they were joyfully received.*
The besiegers, having lost most of their tents and provi-
sions, hutted themselves nearer the town, in bowers made of
branches; and "mightily they marvelled," when they heard
that it was the countess herself who had headed this daring
exploit. The besieged, on their part, were less rejoiced at
the success of that exploit, than troubled for her absence:
what had become of her they knew not, and they remained
five days in this uncertainty; but no suspicion could be en-
tertained that she had abandoned them, or that she would not,
if she were still living, exert herself to the utmost for their
deliverance. By her exertions, some 500 men-at-arms were
added to her company: with these she left Brest at midnight,
and, about sunrise, passing unperceived on one side of the
enemy's camp, came safely to the gate from whence she had
sallied. The trumpets and clarions, with the rejoicing sounds
of which she entered, roused the French host. Provoked at
this exultation, and at their own want of vigilance, they made
a fierce assault, and continued it till noon before they were
beaten off. This failure convinced them that the place was
not to be taken by mere force of personal courage: a council
was held, and it was determined, that, while sir Charles of
Blois went with one part of the army to besiege Auray, upon
the Morbihan, don Luis with the other should remain before
Hennebon, and employ such means against it as the art of en-
gineering in that age could supply. Accordingly, they sent
to Rennes for twelve great engines; and with these they cast
huge stones into the town and castle day and night: they bat-
tered the walls also till they were so shaken and breached in
parts, that the hearts of the besieged began to fail. Sir Henry
de Leon, who was the first person of rank that had declared
in favour of Montford, but had afterwards gone over to the
other party upon some disgust, was one of the principal per-
sons in the besieging army. His uncle, the bishop of St. Pol
de Leon, was in the town, and very much disposed in mind to
take the same course, which might be done with more credit
to himself if he could persuade the people to capitulate, and
obtain, through his nephew, an assurance that both their per-
sons and property should be safe. After a conference with sir
Froissart, chap. 80. Barnes, 257
·
ARRIVAL OF ENGLISH SUCCOURS.
233
Henry, in which, as far as on them depended, it had been thus
arranged, the bishop re-entered the town. The countess was
then in council with her lords and knights; and, suspecting
what had been the object of the bishop's conference, she con-
jured them, for the love of God, to take heart and hold out
yet a little longer, saying she felt confident that, within three
days, the long-hoped-for succours would arrive; a confidence
which the change of weather had rendered reasonable. But
the bishop argued earnestly upon the imprudence and the
danger of rejecting favourable terms. Their opinions were
so divided, and their minds so perplexed, that they came to
no decision that day: after long irresolution and debate, the
timid part is that which is usually taken; when the council
met in the morning, an inclination that way was manifested;
and if sir Henry had been close at hand, and alert to seize
the opportunity, the place would have been yielded to him.
Seeing this, the countess withdrew in despair to a window
which commanded the sea-view; and, springing back with
an emotion of sudden joy, she exclaimed, "I see the succours
of England!-the succours of England! There is the cross
of St. George! God has heard our prayers: He has heard
us!" The lords ran presently to the window, and the people
to the walls and to the high tower, and saw, indeed, a great
number of ships, great and small, freshly decked,” making up
to the port; and they knew it to be the English succours,
which, having been detained above forty days by reason of
contrary winds, came happily now in the very golden oppor-
tunity to save the countess and the town.
66
When the seneschal of Guingamp, sir Pierce of Treguier,
sir Galeran of Landernau, and the other Breton lords and
knights, saw that their succours were indeed approaching,
they said to the bishop, "Sir, you may leave off this treaty;
for we are not content, at present, to follow your counsel !"
To which the bishop replied, "Then, sirs, we must now
part company; for I will betake me to him that, as me seem-
eth, hath most right." Upon this he left the town; and,
sending a defiance to the countess and all her abettors, as a
declared enemy, joined his nephew, and was by him present-
ed to don Luis, and afterwards to Charles of Blois. Orders
were given that the engines should renew their battery, and
cast stones, without intermission, day and night. Meantime
"the countess dressed up halls and chambers to receive the
lords and captains of England that were coming, and set out
right nobly to welcome them in the haven at their landing;
* Froissart, chap. 20. Barnes, 259,
"..
U2
234
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
and, when they were aland, she herself went forth to meet
them, and showed, all along, great respect to the captains,
and feasted them the best she might, and gave them hearty
thanks, and lodged all the knights and others at their ease in
the castle and the town.” The next day she made them a
great feast at dinner in the castle.. All night and all that
morning the engines had never ceased to cast. When dinner
was ended, sir Walter Manny, who had inquired into the
state of the town and of the besieging army, said, “Sirs, I
have a great desire to issue out and break down this great en-
gine that standeth so near us, if any will follow me." Sir
Pierce of Treguier instantly exclaimed, that he would not
fail him on this his first adventure; sir Galeran answered to
the same brave purport: they armed themselves immediately,
and went out privily at a postern, with 300 archers, and some
40 men-at-arms. The archers shot so thick together, that
they who were in charge of the engine fled; and the men-at-
arms, coming after the archers, slew many of those who fled,
and with their axes beat down the engine, and demolished it.
Not satisfied with this, they ran in among the tents and
lodgings, set fire in divers places, and laid about them, smit-
ing and slaying, till the whole camp was in a movement;
then putting themselves in order, they began to withdraw
"fair and easily." The enemy followed with all the impa-
tience of irritated bravery: upon which, seeing their eager-
ness, sir Walter said aloud, "Let me never be beloved of
my lady, if I do not have a course with one of these pursu-
ers!" His companions were not slow in following his ex-
ample: they encountered the foremost pursuers; and "then,'
says Froissart," might well have been seen legs turned up-
ward." A "sore medley followed; those from the camp
increasing continually, and those from the town retreating
steadily, sir Walter showing himself not less discreet as a
captain than valiant as a knight, and fighting in the rear of
his men as they retired to the ditches: there he planted arch-
ers on each flank; and made a stand, with his choice cap-
tains around him, till he saw the rest in safety. By this
time all the men-at-arms in the town came forth to support
their friends, and more archers ranged themselves on each
side of the dyke; till the enemy, finding it vain to make any
further attempt, thought it prudent to draw off; and the Eng-
lish then re-entered the fortress safe and victoriously."
countess had seen the whole of this affair from the high
tower. She descended now, and "came forth of the castle
with a glad cheer; and, meeting Sir Walter Manny and his
captains in the street, she came and kissed them," says
The
DON LUIS DE ESPANA.
235
Froissart," one after another, two or three times, like a va-
liant lady."*
This exploit of the English and their Breton friends took
from the enemy all hope of winning Hennebon; their largest
engine had been destroyed; their army weakened both in
numbers and in spirit, and the besieged strengthened alike in
both. They broke up the siege on the following day, and
joined Charles of Blois before Auray; but as Charles had
with him already a force sufficient for that service, he sent
don Luis to besiege Dinant. Don Luis de la Cerda, whose
subsequent career connects these operations in Bretagne with
the naval history of England, is called Don Luis of Spain by
the French chroniclers; to whom, indeed, his actions belong
more than to the historians of the country of his fathers. He
was of royal descent, and allied to the royal families of Cas-
tile, Arragon, and France; but probably by birth a Fleming,
his mother possessing large domains in Flanders. His fa-
ther, don Alonso el Desheredado, had been governor of Lan-
guedoc for king Charles the Fair; and he himself had lately
held the office of admiral of France.† Of his maritime ser-
vices before this time, no account seems to have been pre-
served; nor, indeed, has his reputation as a naval commander
been in any degree proportionate to his merits in that charac-
ter: the English coasts were not assailed by any other ene-
my so able and so enterprising, from the times of Hastings
to those of Tromp and de Ruyter.
•
On the way to Dinant, don Luis de Espana attacked a
castle called Comper: the assault lasted from evening till
midnight: he renewed it in the morning. The ditches were
not so deep but that they could be passed by wading. His
men succeeded in approaching the wall; made a breach
there, and put the garrison to the sword, their commander
alone excepted: this done, he garrisoned it with threescore
chosen men, and proceeded to Dinant. Meantime a mes-
senger from Comper had borne tidings to Hennebon that the
castle was attacked; and the countess expressed a wish to
sir Walter Manny that it might be relieved; upon which he
drew out most of the forces from the town, and set off at
daybreak, with the hope of giving battle to don Luis.
Making good speed, he came thither about noon, and had
the vexation then to find that it was occupied by a garrison
of French and Spaniards. "Sirs," said he to his people,
* Froissart, chap. 81. Barnes, 259, 260,
† Garibay, ii. 903. Salazar y Castro, Hist. General de la Casa de Lara, i. 192.
Mem. Hist. del Rei Don Alonso el Sabio. por el Marques de Mondejar, 640.
236
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
*
X
"I am not in the mind to depart from hence till I see what
company are in yonder castle, and how they came there."
So he began the assault, and the garrison stood stiffly to their
defence. The English archers did their part well, as they
were ever wont to do; the ditch, meantime, was guaged
with spears, and found fordable: the men-at-arms crossed
it: they entered at the breach, which had not yet been well
repaired; and ten of the garrison were all who were spared
in the heat of their vengeance. Sir Walter then, perceiving
that the place was not tenable, set it on fire, and returned to
Hennebon, not thinking it prudent to go farther from that
fortress, now that he had almost drained it of men.*
Don Luis de Espana, in the mean time, laid siege to Dinant,
a place not otherwise fortified than by a palisade, by its po-
sition on the river Rance, and by a marsh. After failing in
an attack, he got together some small vessels, which enabled
him to threaten it as well by water as by land; the towns-
men then called upon their young commander, sir Reginald
of Dinant, to surrender; and when the high-spirited youth
declared that he would commit no such disloyalty while the
place was capable of being defended, they butchered him in
the market-place, and admitted the besiegers. Having gar-
risoned it, don Luis made for Guerande, a large town on the
sea-coast, situated in some salt marshes between the mouths
of the Vilaine and the Loire. Several merchant ships were
lying there, which had come laden with wine from Poictou
and Rochelle: the merchants were come to an unhappy
market, for don Luis seized their ships and all that he found
therein; and, having manned them, on the following day he
attacked the place both by sea and land. The besieged could
not make good their defence on both sides at once; the place,
therefore, was carried by force,-lightly carried, it is said,—
and yet, such were the usages of war in those days, which
were yet the best days of chivalry, that all the people therein
were put to the sword without mercy, men, women, and
children. While the work of plunder and massacre was
going on, five churches were robbed and set on fire: don
Luis had no compunctious feelings of humanity; but he was
shocked at sacrilege, and ordered four-and-twenty of the
ruffians in his service to be hanged for this offence. Guerande
was a town of great traffic, and his men found more plunder
there than they could bear away. After this success, "they
wist not whither to go;" but as havoc and spoil were still
his objects, don Luis embarked, with his Spaniards and Ge-
* Froissart, chap. 82. Barnes, 200.
DEFEAT OF DON LUIS.
237
noese, in the ships that he had taken, and went coasting
along, to see what damage he could do, and what purchase
he could find. So sailing forth till he came to that part of
the province called Bretagne Bretonant, or British Britany,
because the British or Armorican dialect of the Keltic tongue
prevailed there, he entered the haven of Quimperlay, near
Quimpercorentin: there he landed, and wasted the country
with fire and sword, as if his intention was, not to obtain
possession of it for Charles de Blois, but to inflict upon it
all the evils of the most merciless warfare. The booty he
sent on board, while he proceeded farther into the land, ra
vaging all around.*
When this intelligence reached Hennebon, sir Walter
Manny and sir Aymery de Clisson thought that a favourable
opportunity was here afforded them for striking a blow
against this part of the enemy's force. They embarked with
3000 archers and a competent number of men-at-arms, sailed
to Quimperlay, and finding don Luis's ships there, boarded
them, and put their crews to the sword. They found in
them such riches, that "they had marvel thereof." Leaving
300 archers to protect the prizes, and also his own fleet, sir
Walter landed, and marched in quest of don Luis; dividing
his force into three bodies, that the enemy might not escape
him, but moving them at no great distance from each other,
so that all should be within reach of sure support. In this
manner he advanced, having given order to burn such places
as had owned Charles de Blois. Don Luis, as soon as he
heard that there were foes at hand, drew all his men together,
and began to retreat towards his ships, not knowing what
had befallen them. On the way he fell in with one of the
three English battalions: he prepared cheerfully to fight, see-
ing that he had greatly the advantage in numbers; and, in the
expectation of victory, he made several new knights upon the
field, among whom was his nephew don Alonso. This
done, the Spaniards and Genoese "set on fiercely:" many
of the English were overthrown on the first rencounter; and
they were in danger of being overpowered, if the two other
battalions had not been directed thither in good time by the
cry of the country people, who, having good reason to hate
the first invaders, looked upon the second as their deliverers.
The fight then became fiercer: the archers of England "shot
so wholly together" (for this is the phrase by which the
steadiness and regularity with which their volleys were dis-
charged is expressed), that the enemy could no longer keep
* Froissart, chap. 83, 84. Barnes, 261, 262.
4
238
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
1
...
their array; and when once they were discomfited, and
began to fly, the peasantry "fell on with prongs, and staves,
and stones, and slew, without mercy, all on whom they
could lay hands." It is said that of 6000 men scarcely 300
escaped. Don Alonso was among the slain: his uncle don
Luis did not escape without several wounds; and when he
reached the haven, he found the English archers in posses-
sion of his ships, and thought himself fortunate in getting,
with great jeopardy, on board a small but swift bark, and
and sailing away as fast as he could.*
Sir Walter, when he heard of his escape, embarked in the
swiftest of his ships, and with all speed pursued, leaving the
expedition to re-embark, and follow him. But the Spaniard
had the start and sailed so well, that, before they could come
up with him, he had landed at Redon, on the Vilaine, the
port of Rennes; and this he did just in time to mount him-
self and his people on such horses as they could find, and set
out with all speed for Rennes, just as the English reached
the shore: those of his party who were worst mounted fell
into the hands of the pursuers. Turning back from the pur-
suit, sir Walter remained that night at Redon, and in the
morning, going again on board, sailed for Hennebon; but
being driven by contrary winds, he was fain to land about
three leagues from Dinant; and leaving his ships there,
with a sufficient force for their protection, to make their way
to port when the weather would permit, he took such horses
as he could get, some of them without saddles, and so
scouring the country came to a castle called Rosternan.
Looking at the place with that seaman-like spirit of adven-
ture in which military operations were in that age carried on,
he said to his companions, "Sirs, if our company were not
so sore travelled, I would give an assault to this castle.".
"Set on, sir, at your pleasure!" was the reply; "for we
shall not forsake you, though we die in the quarrel." So to
the assault they went with better will than fortune. Sir
Gerard de Morlaix, who was captain there, made a brave
defence; and many of the assailants were grievously
wounded. Among others, two valiant knights, sir John
Butler and sir Matthew Trelawny, were sore hurt; and they
were carried aside into a meadow hard by, and there laid, to
have their wounds looked to, while the assault was con-
tinued.†
Now there was a little fortress near at hand called Le
Favoet, of which Regnè de Morlaix, a brother of sir Gerard,
* Froissart, chap. 84. Barnes, 262,
† Ibid.
BUTLER AND TRELAWNY TAKEN.
239
was captain. This sir Regnè, hearing of his brother's danger,
set out, with forty spears, to his assistance; and coming, by
the side of a wood, to the meadow where the wounded were
laid, he easily made them his prisoners, and led them to his
castle hurt as they were. The obvious motive for this was
to secure for himself their ransom, as a windfall which had
come in his way; but, as it happened, he could not in any
other manner have so effectually relieved Rosternan. For
those who had been left in the care of the wounded carried the
tidings to sir Walter; and he instantly caused the assault to
cease, and hastened towards Favoet with all his forces, in the
hope of rescuing his friends. They had been carried into
the castle before he could come up: he and his men, weary
as they were, set upon the place; but, because a gallant de-
fence was made, and it began to be late, they desisted for
the night, resolving to renew the attempt on the morrow.
During the night sir Gerard, knowing that the danger from
which he was delivered had now been drawn upon his bro-
ther, rode, without any companion, to Dinant; and, arriving
there before daybreak, entreated the commander, who was
his old friend and companion in arms, to assist him in this
emergency. The burgesses were assembled in the common
hall; and sir Gerard, with the commander's assistance, per-
suaded them, "in such wise, that they were content to go
forth," and so armed themselves, and went towards Favoet,
making up a body of some 6000 men. Just as sir Walter
was about to renew the assault, one of his espials brought
him intelligence of this movement. He and his knights
then consulted together, and considered that "it were great
danger for them, if the men of Dinant should come on them
on one side, and sir Charles de Blois on the order, whereby
they might be surrounded ;" and they agreed that it behooved
them to make their way directly, and with all speed to Hen-
nebon, and leave their companions in prison till another time,
"when they might amend it." It was more easy for sir
Walter Manny to make such a resolution than strictly to ad-
here to it. They came to a castle on their return, called
Gony in the Forest, which the garrison had treacherously
delivered up to Charles de Blois about a fortnight before.
In his indignation against men who had thus betrayed so
strong a place, sir Walter halted, and declared, with a loud
voice, that "weary as he was, he would go no farther till he
had given an assault to that castle, and tried the demeanour
of those within, whether they had as much courage as they
had shown falsehood." So a fierce assault began: the be-
sieged were not backward in defending themselves, know-
*
240
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
1
ing what they had to expect if they were overcome. Sir
Walter encouraged his men, and was ever one of the fore-
most: the archers shot so quickly, and so close together,
that none durst appear at the battlements; within a while
the ditch was in one part filled with turfs and wood, and the
pioneers, under cover of the archers, approached the wall
with pickaxes and other instruments: a breach was thus
made, through which the men-at-arms entered perforce, and
slew all whom they found within. They lodged there that
night, and on the morrow returned to Hennebon.
“And
when the countess," says Froissart, "heard of their coming,
she came and met them, and kissed them, and made them
great cheer, and caused all the noblemen to dine with her
in the castle.”*
The English succours had saved Hennebon, and had de-
stroyed the Spanish and Genoese land-force; but Charles
de Blois had made great progress in conquering the province,
and was continually strengthened by French aid; wherefore
the countess and sir Walter sent advices to king Edward,
praying for a greater force, and saying, that unless it were
sent, sir Charles would be likely to bear down all before
him. This chief, meantime, having taken Carhaix, after a
long siege, determined once more to invest Hennebon, though
he knew its strength, and also that it was abundantly pro-
vided; but it was now almost the only important place which
he had not reduced, and "there lay the head of the war,-
the countess and her son." So thither he went, and sat
down before the town. The fourth day after this second
siege began, don Luis de Espana joined the camp, having
been confined six weeks in the city of Rennes by his wounds.
He was joyfully welcomed by Charles de Blois, and by the
army; "for he was a knight much honoured and well be-
loved among them." His wounds, indeed, were healed; but
his defeat, and, still more, the loss of his nephew, rankled in
his heart; and that sore feeling was inflamed by the taunts
of the garrison, which, though not directed against him per-
sonally, were by him felt and resented as if they were. The
enemy had again planted their engines, fifteen or sixteen in
number, "which cast into the town many a great stone :"
but the townsmen little regarded this, for they had provided
against it by means of woolpacks, and other such devices;
and they would sometimes come to the walls, and, in deri-
sion, wipe the place against which a stone had struck, and
* Froissart, Chron. 85, 86. Barnes, 263.
DON LUIS'S CRUELTY.
241
call out to the besiegers, "Go, messieurs, and seek up your
company who lie in the fields of Quimperlay !"*
Excellently brave as don Luis was, there was as little
sense of generosity in his heart as of compassion: he had
in him the obduracy of the Spanish character, without its
redeeming virtues. Going one day into the tent of sir
Charles de Blois, he asked of him, in the presence of several
great lords of France, a boon, in requital for all the services
that he had ever done him. Sir Charles, who was greatly
bound to him, and could not suspect that any thing unworthy
would be asked, readily promised to grant it. "Then, sir,'
said don Luis, "I require you to cause the two knights who
are in prison at Favoet, namely, sir John Butler, and sir
Matthew Trelawney, to be brought hither, and given to me,
that I may do with them at my pleasure. Sir, this is the
boon that I desire of you! They have chased, discomfited,
and hurt me, and slain my nephew Alonso. And I know no
better way to be revenged of these Englishmen, who have
done me all this mischief, than to strike off the heads of
these two knights before the town, in sight of their com-
panions." Charles de Blois, who, being distinguished for
the better feelings of chivalry, was astonished at such a de-
claration, made answer,-"Certes, don Luis, I will give you
the prisoners with a right good will, since you have desired
them; but surely it should be a shameful deed so to put to
death two such valiant knights; and it would be an occasion
for our enemies to deal in like wise with any of ours who
may fall into their hands; and we know not what shall hap-
pen. The chances of war are divers. Wherefore I entreat you,
fair cousin, be better advised." Don Luis sullenly replied
to this:"Sir, if ye keep not promise with me, know this,
for truth, that I shall depart out of your company, and neither
serve nor love you again while I live!" Seeing him thus
peremptory, sir Charles sent to Favoet for the two English
knights; and early the next morning they were brought to
his tent. Once more sir Charles renewed his request in
their behalf; but don Luis was not to be dissuaded: he
swore, by God and Santiago, that they should both lose
their heads after dinner in sight of the town; and in the days
of chivalry a boon once granted was held to be irrevocable,
whatever might be the consequence, like Herod's promise to
the daughter of Herodias.t
In every age, however rude the art of war may have been,
VOL. I.
* Froissart, chap. 86. Barnes, 264.
↑ Ibid. chap. 87.
Ibid. 264.
X
242
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
!
the system of espionage has been carried on,-and they who
pay well for such service are always well served. All that
had past concerning these prisoners was faithfully reported
to sir Walter Manny by one of his espials, and he was
apprized also of the exact hour at which they were to suffer.
Upon this he called together those in whom he confided most,
and took counsel with them what might best be done. Some
thought one thing, some thought another; but they wist not
what remedy to find, for the enemy's force was too great to be
encountered in plain field by those of the town. At length,
sir Walter himself said, "Sirs, it would be great honour to
us if we might deliver yonder two knights from this danger;
and if we put it in adventure, even though we should fail
thereof, yet king Edward, our master, will con us much
thank,' and so will all other noble men who shall hear of the
case hereafter; at least, it will be said, that we did our de-
voir. Sirs, this is my advice, if ye will follow it; for me-
thinks a man should well adventure his body to save the lives
of two such valiant knights :-let us divide ourselves into
two parts; the one incontinently to pass out at this gate, and .
arrange themselves on the dykes, thereby to stir the enemy
and to skirmish with them. I think that all the whole host
will come running thither. Sir Aymery, you shall be captain
of that company, and shall take with you 6000 good tall
archers, and 300 men-of-arms; and I will take with me 100
men-of-arms, and 500 archers, and issue out at the postern
covertly, and dash into the camp among their lodgings be-
hind, the which I think we shall find as good as unguarded.
I have those with me that will bring me to the tent of sir
Charles de Blois, where, as I think, we shall find the two
knights prisoners; and, I ensure you, we will do our endea-
vour to deliver them." To this proposal they readily agreed,
and forthwith prepared to put it in execution.*
About the hour of dinner, sir Aymery Clisson set open the
chief gate, which looked towards the enemy, and issued out
with his company. Some of them dashed suddenly into the
skirts of the camp, and cut down tents, and slew and hurt
divers. The camp was in a sudden uproar; and the enemy,
arming themselves in haste, hastened to drive them back.
again into the town, and they retired fair and softly to their
main battle, not ceasing to skirmish as they thus fell back.
Sir Aymery, meantime, drew up his men along the dyke
without the barriers, and placed the archers on both flanks
to greet the enemy with their dreadful discharge. The noise
* Froissart, Chron. 87. Barnes, 265.
!
THE PRISONERS RESCUED.
243
and cry was so great that all the besiegers' host drew thither-
ward, leaving only their pages and varlets in the camp. Sir
Walter Manny, the while, sallied with his 600 men from the
postern; and, fetching a compass behind the camp, entered
the lodgings of the French lords, where there were none to
resist him, for all were at the skirmish. Being well guided,
he made straight to the tent of sir Charles de Blois, and there
he found the two knights prisoners, with their hands tied
behind them, those who were left about them having taken
flight. Sir Walter unbound them himself, mounted them
upon two good horses which he had brought with him for
that purpose, gave them each a sword, and then, in all speed,
without doing or receiving any hurt, returned the same way,
and re-entered Hennebon with all his company, where the
countess received them with great joy; and though it is
not recorded that she greeted them with her wonted salute,
the omission is more likely to have been on the chronicler's
part than on hers.
All this while they were still fighting before the great
gate: but when the varlets who fled at the appearance of sir
Walter came with tidings that the two prisoners had been
rescued, don Luis immediately suspected that it was some
device of sir Charles de Blois to deceive him, and disap-
point his revenge; he demanded angrily which way they
who made the rescue had taken? and when he was told that
they were gone towards Hennebon, he retired from the as-
sault, and went to his tent in great displeasure. Sir Charles,
then perceiving with what intent the sally had been made,
and perhaps not altogether displeased at its result, ordered
his people to draw off; and, as it fortuned, obtained in the
retreat an advantage which more than compensated any mor-
tification that he could have felt: for the sire de Landerneau
and the chastellan of Guingamp pursued the retreating force
so eagerly, that they were made prisoners, and brought to
his tent; and there "were so preached to," that they turned
to his part, and did homage to him as duke of Bretagne,
having, perhaps, sought an opportunity of doing this with
the least reproach. The countess lost by this two persons
who had been of great importance on her side; but, on the
other hand, the reputation of her brave garrison was in a
high degree enhanced; insomuch that, in a day or two, sir
Charles called his lords to counsel. They saw that Henne-
bon was in itself so strong, and so well fortified with men
that they should gain little by continuing before it;
of war,
* Froissart, Chron. 87. Barnes, 265,
244
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
the country, also, was so wasted that they wist not whither
to go for forage, and winter was at hand: they resolved,
therefore, upon breaking up the siege; and also, that if a
truce were demanded till Whitsuntide, it should not be re-
fused. Such a truce accordingly was soon concluded; and
the countess, then accepting Edward's invitation, embarked
with her son, about the middle of December, under convoy
of the earl of Northampton, and arrived at Plymouth, from
whence she was with all due honour conveyed to the court.
"For her sake king Edward renewed those public rejoicings
which were usual in his days, with his accustomed magnifi-
cence. All the Christmas holidays there were daily tourna-
ments, running at the ring, dancings, balls, splendid colla-
tions, and princely banquets; so that the countess looked
upon the court of England as another paradise. And here,
for many years, her son was exercised in those honourable
methods of education which fitted him for the character he
was afterwards to bear, and enable him to purchase the glo
rious surname of the Valiant."*
The time of the truce was actively employed in prepara-
tions on both sides. Robert of Artois, who had been
1343.
created earl of Richmond, was appointed to command
the succours for Bretagne: a fleet of forty-six sail, few or
none being of great burden, was collected at Southampton :
he embarked there with the countess, the earls of Salisbury,
Oxford, Suffolk, and Pembroke, the lords Ralph Stafford,
Hugh Spencer, Bourchier, Tiptot, and other nobles. Charles
de Blois was not ignorant of the object for which this arma-
ment was fitted out; and he stationed don Luis de Espana,
with two-and-thirty sail, having on board 1000 men-at-arms,
and 3000 Genoese cross-bowmen, to wait for them off the
Isle of Guernsey. The English were long on the passage,
because of contrary winds: upon approaching Guernsey
they descried the enemy; and the seamen, who were at no
loss to know what they were, pronounced them to be Ge-
noese and Spaniards, and called upon the soldiers to arm
quickly! "Then the Englishmen sounded their trumpets,
and reared up their banners and standards, with their several
arms and devices, together with St. George's banner,—the
red cross of England; and they set their ships in order, the
archers being planted on the decks, and then, as the wind
served them, they sailed forth.' The vantage of numbers
was on their side; but this was counterbalanced by the
greater bulk of the enemy's ships, nine of them being far
* Froissart, Chron. 87, 88. Barnes, 266.
NAVAL ACTION.
245
larger than any in the English fleet;* and there were also
three large galleys,† in which were the three admirals, don
Luis, Carlo Grimaldi, and Odoard Doria. When they ap-
proached each other, the Genoese, who were as celebrated
in that age for the use of the cross-bow as the English were
for the long, discharged their quarrels, and were answered
by a discharge of arrows: "there was sore shooting between
them, and many hurt on both parts." But when the lords,
knights, and squires came to near quarters, where sword and
spear could be used, "there was a hard fight and a cruel,
and right well did they approve themselves, both the one
and the other. The countess of Montford that day," says
Froissart, “was well worth a man, for she had the heart of a
lion; and she had in her hand a rusty but sharp sword, where-
with she fought fiercely. The enemy from their high ships
threw down great bars of iron, and other weapons prepared
for such service; and thus they greatly annoyed the English
archers. This was an engagement that could not but have
ended with great loss on both sides if it had been carried to
a close.
"But the God of battles," says old Joshua,
dered it otherwise; for the fight having begun about even-
ing, a night came upon them so dark and dismal, that they
were all forced, as it were by consent, to give over,
for they
could discern nothing to any purpose," so that one could
scarcely know another. Hereupon they withdrew asunder,
and cast anchor, but still remained in their harness, thinking
to renew the battle as soon as the morning should give them
light. But about midnight there arose such a storm,
though all the world should have ended, the elements con-
tending with as great animosity as lately the two fleets had
joined. There was none so hardy then but would gladly
have been aland, the ships dashing so together that they
deemed all would have riven to pieces."
The lords of Eng-
land then asked counsel of the mariners what was best to
do; and the sailors said, they must make for the land as
well as they could, for their vessels were not able to ride
66 or-
as
* Barnes calls them "Spanish carricks, high built, and greater than any
one of the English."
†“Qui se remonstroient par-dessus toutes ses autres nefs.”—Froissart.
"Archegayes," Froissart calls them, which lord Berners renders pieces
of timber. In Roquefort's "Glossaire de la Langue Romaine," the word
is explained to mean a sort of pike or lance which the archers carried; but
it is also added, that "selon Froissart c'étoit une machine de guerre qu'on
jetoit sur les ennemis."
§"But, however," says old Joshua, with an Englishman's feeling inter-
polating what in itself is very likely, but not warranted by his author,
"they stood with their arrows ready nocked, to take off whatever head ap-
peared."
x 2
246
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
out such a storm: so they drew up their anchors, and bear-
ing but a quarter sail, got safely into a little harbour not far
from the city of Vannes. The Genoese "and the Spaniards
meantime stood out to sea, their ships being better able to
abide the brunt of the waves; but if they had come near the
land they would, because of their burden, have been likely
to be wrecked. Thus was the battle broken off, and "no
man could tell to whom to give the honour, seeing that they
separated both against their wills." There must have been
some abatement of the weather for a while, for the enemies
fell in with four English victuallers, which had parted com-
pany from the fleet, and these they took, and "tailed them
to some of their own ships :" but they must soon have left
these prizes to their fate, when the storm recommenced with
greater violence. Two of their fleet foundered, with all on
board on the second day, about the hour of sunrise, it be-
came still, and they found that they were off the coast of
Navarre, having been driven sixscore leagues. There,
then, they cast anchor, and waited for the tide, and when it
came, the wind stood fair for Rochelle. On the way to that
port, they fell in with four ships of Bayonne, homeward
bound from Flanders: these they captured; and, in the
brutal spirit by which don Luis de Espana's exploits were
generally sullied, put all on board to death.*
This inhuman but indefatigable commander soon refitted
his fleet, and did much damage upon the coasts of England,
and intercepted the communication between that country and
Bretagne. Edward himself, stung by the loss of his friend
and kinsman, Robert of Artois, who had been mortally
wounded at Vannes, had crossed the sea, and besieged that
city: the fleet which had conveyed him lay at anchor in a
little port near.
Don Luis had at this time a force of eight
galleys, thirteen good barks, and thirty other vessels; and
having already considerably annoyed the English by cutting
off their supplies, he now made a bold attempt upon their
ships in port. The enterprise had nearly proved as success-
ful as it was hardy; for having slain those who were left
there in defence, he had taken four vessels laden with pro-
visions, and sunk three others with all that were therein,
before a detachment from the besieging army arrived to their
assistance. Lest the attempt should be repeated, Edward
was advised to send part of his fleet to Brest, and the rest to
Hennebon.† During the remainder of the campaign don
Luis kept the seas so well, and watched the coast so nar-
* Froissart, Chron. 91, 92. Barnes, 269, 270.
Ibid. 96. Ibid. 72. 81.
i
THE RESOURCES OF ENGLAND.
247
rowly, that little provision could be brought to the king's
army, except with great danger; and this was one motive
that induced Edward to conclude a truce for three years
between England and France, and their allies.* This done,
he embarked for England;† and meeting with that ill for-
tune which usually attended upon his homeward voyages,
his fleet was dispersed by storins. One ship, with sir Piers
Vele, his son sir Henry, and sir John Reyner on board, was
lost. The countess of Montford, after great danger, reached
one of the Devonshire ports. Edward himself was driven
to the coast of Spain, where a Spanish fleet, "that lay
cruising about those parts, made up to him; but beholding
the banner royal of England,” they treated him with the
respect due to an allied sovereign for though many Span-
iards were serving against him under their countryman don
Luis, neither he nor they were in the service of their own
country.‡
War was so verily the natural state of man in those tur-
bulent ages, that no nation was free from internal commo-
tions, unless it was engaged with a foreign foe. Both kings
employed this definite interval of peace in preparing for hos-
tilities at its termination; indeed, they had never been en-
tirely discontinued either in Bretagne or in Guienne.§ Both
looked to their naval means. Philip entered into a treaty
with Alonzo XI. of Castile, and engaged the Genoese Boca-
negra, who was then admiral of Castile, to assist him with
a fleet: he also built ships himself, and "gave free leave to
any of his subjects to cut down timber for ship-building
throughout his realm, whereby the sea-coast of England was
afterwards not a little damnified." The resources of Eng-
land were not yet so available for maritime as for military
service; the feudal system had made no provision for it;
and the tenure upon which the sea-ports held their privileges
was too irregular, and felt to be too partial in its operation,
to be duly complied with. It was a matter of complaint,
which, as local interests even in those early days were
always well represented, passed from the ports to the parlia
ment, that the keeping of the seas, being for the general
* Froissart, Chron. 98. Barnes, 232.
† Holinshed (ii. 626.) says, “Many of the English army returned home
through France, so as to pass over by the narrow seas into England: but
the king himself, with a few others, taking their ships to pass by long seas,
were marvellously tormented by tempests.'
Į Barnes, 283.
§ P. Daniel, iv. part ii. 139.
Fox's Acts and Monuments, i. 437. P. Daniel, iv. part ii. 141. Barnes,
292. Speed, 575.
+
J
248
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
good, was not at the general cost, and that it ought to be at
the king's charge, not at that of a part of the community.*
Another council, or naval parliament, as it might almost be
called, was convened,† and representatives were summoned
from many more places than on the former convocation; none
of the proceedings have been recorded: but it appears that
when the Cinque-ports were called upon to furnish a certain
number of ships of war, they were slow in obeying; and it
was necessary to instruct their warden, who was the consta-
ble of Dover Castle, to take measures for enforcing obedi-
ence. The treaty between France and Castile, with what-
ever views on the part of the former power it had been nego-
tiated, contained nothing that should disturb the amicable
relations between Castile and England; nevertheless, when
so much injury had been inflicted upon the commerce of Eng-
land and Aquitaine by Spanish ships, it was not to be sup-
posed that the English and Bayonnese would always dis-
tinguish between the ships of Castile and those that were in
their enemy's service: commissioners, therefore, were sent
to adjust any matters of dispute which might thus have
arisen.§
The renewal of hostilities was accelerated by some acts of
cruelty on the part of the French king. The Breton lord, Oli-
vier de Clisson, had signally distinguished himself in the
´service of Charles de Blois; but having been taken prisoner
and exchanged, Philip suspected that he had entered into
some secret engagements with the king of England. Under
1344. pretence of holding a tournament, Philip invited him,
with ten other persons of distinction, who were in-
volved in the same suspicion, to Paris: they accepted the
invitation, in the confidence either of innocence or of security,
and went in company of Charles de Blois; and being thus
in the toils, were seized and put to death. It is most likely
that the suspicion was founded on good intelligence ;|| but no
proofs were adduced: there was no trial; and in those days
the bonds of allegiance were so loose, that the chief who
passed from the service of one prince to another incurred lit-
tle reproach; nor had there before been any instance in which
* Barnes, 368.
↑ Ibid. 10.
† Rymer, iii.. part i. 4.
Ibid. ix. 12.
||This is, indeed, acknowledged by Edward in his letters, "De causâ
guerræ contra Philippum de Valesco, clero et populo exponendâ;" wherein,
among other injuries, he complains, "de morte quorundam nobilium, nobis
adhærentium, captorum per partem dicti Philippi in Britanniâ et de speciali
præcepto suo Parisiis ignominiosæ morti traditorum." At the same time it
is evident that he thought they had wrongfully been put to death, and had
committed no punishable offence in going over to his part.
PHILIP'S BARBARITY.
66
249
such a desertion had been punished with death. This exe-
cution, therefore, was to the great astonishment of all men,
and the infinite indignation of the nobles, whose blood, till
now, was not used to be shed except in battle." The chief
sufferer was a person who, for his own sake, was greatly
bemoaned." Nor was Philip contented with this punish-
ment, unless whatever ignominy could be inflicted was su-
peradded: Clisson's body was hanged in chains, and his
head sent to Nantes, there to be fixed on a pole over the gate
of the city. He left a son of his own name, who, being then
a boy, was sent to England, to be bred up with the young
Montford, and who lived to take such indiscriminating ven-
geance for his father, that he won for himself the hateful ap-
pellation of the Butcher, and no doubt gloried in deserving it.
At the same time four knights of Normandy were put to
death-it is said by famine (any cruelty is credible in the his-
tory of those ages!)-and their heads were sent for expo-
sure to Carentan. The news of these executions was brought
to Edward by one, whose father,* and brother, and cousin
were among the sufferers; and as they had been put to death
for having secretly become his friends, he was urged to con-
sider this act of the French king as a violation of the truce,
and on that ground to renew the war. Edward's first im-
pulse was an unworthy one. Sir Henry de Leon was a pri-
soner in his hands; the suspicion against Clisson rested in
part upon the circumstance of his having been exchanged in-
stead of this chief; and for that reason, perhaps, as well as
for that sir Henry was the person by whose means Montford
had been captured, Edward, in his "deep indignation at this
inveterate malice of the French king," was minded to put
him to death as an act of reprisal; but his cousin, the earl of
Derby, a man not less generous than valiant, showed to him
before his council such reasons as assuaged his anger, or at
* Henry Malestroit, who was a deacon in holy orders, and master of the
requests to Philip. Edward gave him "a place of good authority in the
city of Vannes, which was then held of England; but shortly after, when
the truce was broken, it was delivered up to the French by the two cardinals
who were guarantees of the truce. There this poor gentleman being found,
was sent away prisoner to Paris, where he was soon after put in a tumbril,
or dung-cart, to which he was fastened with chains of iron, and so conveyed
bareheaded, with great noise and outcries of the people, from the castle
down through the high street of Paris, till he came to the bishop's palace,
where they delivered him up to the bishop; and he, by virtue of a commis-
sion purchased by king Philip from the pope, then and there degraded and
deprived of all degrees and holy orders the said master Henry, and so deli-
vered bim back again to the secular power. Then he was judged to stand in
the pillory, at such an hour, for three days together, in the most public place
of the city; but he was so cruelly pelted with rotten eggs, apples, and other
filth and ordure of the city, that on the third day he was found dead, and
afterwards had no better burial than a dog.”—Barnes.
די
250
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
+
66
least gave it a more righteous direction. "Sir," said he,
though king Philip in his haste hath done so felonious a
deed as to put to death these worthy knights, yet do not you
blemish your valour by any such act! Your prisoner ought
not to suffer for that fault: but rather you should put him to a
reasonable ransom." Edward was a king whose sternest pur-
poses gave way when his sense of honour or of humanity was
appealed to. He sent immediately for the prisoner, and said
to him, “Ah, sir Henry, sir Henry! mine adversary, Philip
de Valois, hath shown his felony in putting to death such
knights, wherewith I am sore displeased, seeing that he hath
done it in despite of us; and if I regarded only his felony, I
should serve ye in like manner, for ye have done to me and
mine more displeasure in Bretagne than any other person.
But I will suffer it, and let him do his worst; for I will keep
mine honour as I can. And for my cousin of Derby's sake,
who hath entreated me for you, I am content that you should
come to a light ransom, so you will do as. I shall require
you."
Sir Henry expressed his readiness to accept the con-
ditions. Then said the king, "I know well ye be one of
the richest knights in Bretagne, and that if I chose to press
you, you could pay 30,000 or 40,000 crowns.* But you shall
go to mine adversary Philip de Valois, and say to him from
me, that since he hath so shamefully put to death these va-
liant knights in my despite, I affirm, and will make it good,
that he hath broken the truce between me and him; where-
fore I, on my part, renounce it also, and defy him from this
day forth. So ye will do this message, your ransom shall
be but 10,000 crowns, which ye shall send to Bruges within
fifteen days after you have past the sea. And, moreover, you
shall say to all knights and squires of those parts, that not-
withstanding what has thus happened, they need not forbear
from coming to our feast at Windsor; for we would gladly
see them there, and they shall have sure and safe conduct to
return fifteen days after the feast."
."+
Sir Henry promised faithfully to perform these conditions.
He embarked at Southampton for Harfleur; but being tost
about in tempestuous weather for more than a fortnight, and
compelled to throw his horses overboard, he suffered so much
on the passage, that he never recovered from it. At length
he landed at Crotoy, in the mouth of the river Somme, from
whence he and his people, having no means of conveyance,
proceeded on foot to Abbeville. They were mounted there;
*The escu or scute was then 6s. 8d.
† Froissart, Chron. 99, 101. Barnes, 300.
DON LUIS'S MACHINATIONS.
251
but this exertion left him in so bad a condition, that he was
fain to be carried to Paris in a litter: there he "did his mes-
sage from point to point ;" and as he was returning homeward
into Bretagne, died by the way at Angiers, just upon the
borders of his own country; "a very noble and valiant, but
unfortunate gentleman," says Joshua Barnes, "who never
had any rest or comfort after he had betrayed his master, John
of Montford."—" “God assoile his soul," says Froissart.
By this time the enmity between the kings of England and
France had acquired the bitterness of personal animosity.
Philip may have been irritated by this defiance; but it could
neither increase his willingness for war, nor add any new
impulse to the preparations for it, which he was making on
all sides. Among other persons he applied to don Luis de
Espana, who happened to have at that time a singular oppor-
tunity of covertly equipping an armament for his service.
Some ten or fifteen years before, the Canary Islands had
been accidentally discovered by a French ship, which was
driven thither by stress of weather. Don Luis being at Avig-
non, as one of the ambassadors of the French king, prevailed
on pope Clement VI. to create him, in public consistory,
sovereign of these newly found lands, by the title of "Prince
of the Fortunate Islands," on condition that he should cause
the inhabitants to be converted, hold his principality as a fief
under the popes, and render annually a certain tribute: "A
gift," says Walsingham, "which would have proved worthy
of acceptance, if his holiness could also have given a peace-
able and quiet possession thereof." In the letters by which
this grant was conferred, the pope took for a motto this text,
"I will make thee a prince over a great nation." The Eng-
lish ambassadors, who were then at Avignon, are said in
their ignorance to have concluded that the pope had hereby
designed him to be prince of the British isles, as being among
the most fortunate islands in the world; and it is added, that
under this belief they secretly left Avignon, and made all
speed home with their intelligence. But, in truth, the recent
discovery of the Canaries was no secret, neither was the an-
cient appellation which had been applied to them unknown.
The pope was better affected towards France than England;
and these ambassadors, when they learnt that don Luis was
raising forces in his own and the pope's name throughout
* Between the years 1326 and 1334. Glass's History of the Discovery and
Conquest of the Canary Islands, p. 1. A very good book by a most merito-
rious author, whose tragic fate called forth a singular example of the force
of religious principles in his father, the founder of the Glassites or Sande-
manians.
252
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
France, Italy, and Spain, divined, which indeed was the rase,
that they were intended against England.*
During the truce, John de Montford, in conformity to one
of its stipulations, had been released from prison; but on
condition that he should neither go into Bretagne, nor in any
way interfere with the affairs of that dutchy. This condition,
as having been extorted from him, he made no scruple of
breaking; and, effecting his escape to England, he required
aid of king Edward for recovering what he deemed his
1345. right. A considerable force was raised for this pur-
pose, with which he sailed about midsummer; and
having won and sacked Dinant, laid siege to Quimperlay;
but being seized with a calenture, or burning fever, he died,†
shortly afterwards, "leaving the management of his preten-
sions to the conduct of his virago lady and his young son
John." His death had the effect of changing the direction
of the English force, most of the English passing into Gas-
cony, that being a scene where their presence was then more
needed. The enemy's preparations, indeed, were such, both
by sea and land, as called for great vigilance and great ex-
ertions on Edward's part. Philip was endeavouring
1346. not only to animate the Scotch to an invasion of Eng-
land, but to excite troubles in England itself. Orders,+
therefore, were given for enforcing the statute of Edward I.§
against all persons who should be so hardy as to tell or
publish any false news or tales, whereby discord, or occa-
sion of discord or slander, might grow between the king and
his people, or the great men of the realm;" any one so of
* Bzovius, xiv. 963. Hakewell's Apology, 247. Heylyn's Cosmography,
1005. Barnes, 302. This last industrious author rightly ascribes to the
sagacity of the ambassadors what others had imputed to their ignorance:
-"Du Chesne himself," he adds, "confesses that all this was really intend-
ed against king Edward; though, being a Frenchman, he qualifies the mat-
ter, saying it was only in order to resist the new war, which was lately
threatened by the mouth of sir Henry de Leon."
"One reports," says Joshua Barnes, "that this earl died distracted,
many devils appearing at his departure; and that, at the time of his death,
such a multitude of ravens settled upon the house wherein he lay, that it
was thought the whole kingdom of France could not have yielded such a.
number. As for his being distracted, I shall not stand to question that;
since, in a burning fever, many a good man may suffer a delirium, and God
forbid that we should always judge hardly thereupon; but for this horrid
apparition it seems to me not so credible. Nor could I ever find any great
evil of this earl, except that now he broke his word with king Philip, who
was yet his enemy, and extorted it unreasonably and violently from him:
hor if I had known him to have been a notorious sinner, durst I ever give
the more faith to this story.”
Rymer, iii. part i. 72.
§ 3 Edw. I. Stat. West. pri. cap. 34.
EDWARD'S IDEA OF PUBLIC OPINION.
253
fending was to be seized and kept in prison* till he should
produce the first author of the tale. The punishment to be
inflicted upon the first author is not expressed, either in the
original statute, or in the order which required it to be vigi-
lantly enforced; but there is a law of Alfred's,† by which
the man who spreads a public falsehood was to have his
tongue cut out; nor might that mutilation be commuted for
any less price than he must have paid for his life. No king
since the conquest had been so popular as Edward III.; yet
so sensible was he how greatly his strength might be affected
at this time by public opinion, that he addressed letters to
the provincial and other heads of the Dominicans (or preach-
ing friars) in England, exhorting them, for the double pur-
pose of silencing obloquious tongues,‡ and informing the
understandings of his faithful subjects, as well as strength-
ening their hearts, to explain themselves and the brethren
who were under their authority, both in their sermons, and
in public and private discourse, the cause, and the justice,
and the necessity of the war in which he was engaged. He
spoke of the heavy expenses which were brought upon him
by the false dealing of Philip, who made use of treaties only
as a cover for hostile machinations and movements, and who,
assailing him and his subjects by land and by sea, threaten-
ed and conspired the subversion of the English tongue;§
and who was then preparing a very great fleet of ships and
mighty armies of men, with which at once to attack Gas-
cony, Bretagne, and England, and to invade him from the
south of Scotland: therefore, he said, he deemed it better
with a strong hand to go seek the enemy in their own coun-
try, than wait ignobly at home for the threatened danger.
He asked also for the prayers of the devout, saying that it
was not in earthly power that he put his trust, but in the
hope of Divine protection, committing his cause to the Su-
preme Judge, whom he besought to deliver him from an un-
just and deceitful enemy, and to alleviate the heavy bur-
dens which were brought upon his subjects by reason of
* Before the king sailed, part of his instruction to the lord mayor and
the sheriff was, "to look after the spreaders of false news in and about the
city, and to apprehend all such persons, and lay them up in the prison of
Newgate.”—Barnes, 339.
† Canciani, iv. 252. "No legal apology," says Mr. Hallam, “can be
made for a proclamation in April, 1549, addressed to all justices of the
peace, enjoining them to arrest sowers and tellers abroad of vain and forged
tales and lies, and to commit them to the galleys, there to row in chains as
slaves during the king's pleasure."-Constitutional Hist. of England, i. 40.
↑ "Ad obstruendum ora de nobis obloquentium."
$ "In subversionem linguæ Anglicanæ cominans pro viribus et conspi-
rans."
VOL. I.
Y
254
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
the war, and which grieved him more than he could ex-
press.*
Orders had already been given for arming the population
in Kent, and especially in the isle of Thanet, and arraying
them in bodies of 20, 100, and 1000 men, to be at all times
on the alert for the defence of the coast, which the enemy
were menacing in great force. They were now instructed
to have beaconst ready for giving the alarm without the
least delay, and this not in Kent alone, but over the whole
coast of England. Southampton was specially threatened
as a place to which the invaders knew the way, and where
they thought the very rumour of a new invasion would strike
terror. The old injunctions, therefore, for its defence were
renewed; and the inhabitants of the maritime counties, who
dwelt within six leagues of the coast, were exempted from
any other military service or impost than such as were re-
quired for local defence. The alarm was less on account of
the French or Scotch, than of the Genoese and Spanish sea-
men, both these being alike remarkable for their skill and
daring courage; and as their object was to destroy the Eng-
lish shipping as well as to ravage the coast, circular instruc-
tions were sent for manning the ships, and guarding the
ports and the whole coast well.¶
The naval armament which Edward had prepared con-
sisted of about 700 sail ;** but only fifty of these were large
vessels, half of which were king's ships and half London
ships: 4000 men-at-arms were embarked, 10,000 archers,
12,000 footmen of Wales, and 6000 Irish. The most chi-
valrous names in English history are in the list of the
knights and nobles who accompanied the expedition: there
were very few foreigners, the king's "German friends having
fallen off, together with the emperor; but the lord Godfrey
of Harcourt, a valiant baront† of Normandy, was there, at
* Rymer, iii. part i. 72.
‡ Ibid. 72.
↑ Ibid. 53.
§ Ibid. 78.
"Cum magnâ multitudini armatorum de longinquis partibus veni-
entes."
¶ Rymer, iii. part i. 87.
**The accounts vary from 200 to 1600. I follow Mr. Bree's statement,
who had collected materials for a minute history of this expedition. Ships
of forstage, he says, these large ships are called in one manuscript. The
number of mariners in the king's ships was 419, averaging not quite 17 to
each; in the London ones the average was about 26. The whole number
of seamen he states at 14,451; the whole of the military at 26,804. There
was one ship from Ireland with 184 mariners, which from that number one
would imagine must have been the largest in the whole armament.-Cur-
sory Sketch, 110-112.
"He had fallen," says Froissart, "in the indignation of the French
EDWARD EMBARKS FOR FRANCE.
255
this time, inflaming the king's mind against his native
country upon all occasions." Before Edward embarked, he
addressed his captain and officers, and his speech was com-
municated to the whole army. He briefly stated that he had
more right than Philip of Valois to the crown of France; and
said, that as soon as he arrived in that country, it was his
determination to send back his navy. Therefore it behooved
them to be valiant, and either win the land with their
swords, or resolve to perish there, for they could have no
place to fly to; but if any one was in doubt or fear to pass
the sea with him, now that his purpose was declared, he
might freely say so, and have his good leave to stay at home.
To this sort of appeal there can be but one reply; and he
was accordingly answered, as with one voice, that they
would follow him as their good and dear lord, with a good
will, even to death.*
Then the king delivered his sealed letters to the admirals
of the fleet, commanding them not to open them, unless they
should be separated by stress of weather. It was now the
end of June; and they sailed from Southampton, making
down the channel, as if their course was designed for Bay-
onne or Bourdeaux, to relieve Aiguillon, then closely be-
sieged, and most heroically defended. On the third day
there arose a contrary wind, when they were far on their way,
and drove the whole fleet back upon the coast of Cornwall,
but without injury. Six days they lay at anchor there, wait-
ing till the wind should become favourable: they then set
forward again; but a like wind, in the same manner, drove
them back again to the same place, without any damage, as
before; which chance happening thus twice together, and
the wind still continuing against them, the lord Godfrey of
Harcourt took hold of that occasion to divert the king from
Gascony to Normandy, a province which had not been the
scene of war for two whole ages. "Sir," said he, "the
king; and it was said, all was but for envy for a little before he was as
great with the king, and with the duke of Normandy, as he would desire ;
but he was as then openly banished the realm of France, and if the king
could have got him in his ire, he would have served him as he did sir Oliver
of Clisson, who was beheaded the year before at Paris. This sir Godfrey
had some friends, who gave him warning_secretly; then he avoided the
realm as soon as he might, and went into Brabant to the duke there, who
was his cousin, and there he tarried a long space, and lived of such revenues
as he had in Brabant, for out of France he could get nothing; the king had
seized all his lands there, and took the profit thereof himself. The duke of
Brabant could in no wise get this knight again into the king's favour, for
nothing that he could do. This displeasure cost greatly the realm of France
after, especially the country of Normandy, for the tokens thereof remained
a hundred years after."-cap. 114.
* Barnes, 339.
256
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
country of Normandy is one of the most plentiful countries of
the world, and if ye will make thither, on jeopardy of my head,
there is none that shall resist you. The people of Nor-
mandy have not been used to war; and all the lords, knights,
and esquires of the country, are now with the duke at the
siege before Aiguillon. And here, sir, you shall meet with
great towns that are not walled, whereby your men shall
have such winning, that they shall be the better for it twenty
years hence; and thus you may proceed, without any hinder-
ance, till you come to the great city of Caen. I beseech
you, sir, put some confidence in me in this matter, for I know
that country well.” Edward, who looked on Harcourt as
his friend, and called him cousin, and whose plans were not
so maturely fixed but that he was ready to follow whitherso-
ever opportunity might seem to invite him, readily inclined
to this counsel, bade the pilots steer for Normandy, and,
taking into his own ship the earl of Warwick's standard
(who was chief admiral), said that he himself would be ad-
miral in that expedition, and so set forward as governor of
the fleet.*
"And now," says Barnes, "as if Heaven consented to
all this, he had wind at will." Seldom, indeed, if ever,
have such momentous consequences ensued from a seemingly
fortuitous change of purpose. On the 11th of July, the
whole fleet arrived safely at the road of La Hogue St. Vast,
within a few leagues of St. Sauveur la Vicomté, lord God-
frey de Harcourt's right heritage, of which he had been un-
justly deprived. Edward, to show how eagerly his heart
was set upon the undertaking, would be the first to land, and
leaping hastily on shore, "the first foot that he set on the
ground he fell so rudely that the blood burst out of his nose.
The knights that were about him raised him up, and said,
'Sir, for God's sake, enter again into your ship, and come
not on land this day, for this is but an evil sign for us!'-
'Nay,' said the king, this is a good token, for it shows
that the land desireth to have me." A more pensive ob-
server of tokens-and there is no superstition to which we
are more prone-might have interpreted it far otherwise,
and said that the land was athirst for blood;—the next hun-
dred years wofully verified such an interpretation!
Edward's determination of carrying the war into the ene-
my's country, instead of waiting for it on his own shores,
* Froissart, Chron. 121. Barnes, 339-341.
† Froissart, Chron. 122. Barnes, 344. Old Joshua says here, with a
quaint pedantry unusual in him, "that, by a sudden antispasis, or contrary
attraction the blood gushed out of his nose."
EDWARD BESIEGES CALAIS.
257
was as politic as it was magnanimous. The French king
had formed a like intention; he had built ships (one at Har-
fleur is said to have been of incredible magnitude), and he
But
was daily expecting a powerful squadron from Genoa.
such preparations were too tardy: the sins of England were
not now to be punished by a foreign enemy, nor was the
visitation that impended over France to be averted by the
policy of which Philip had formerly availed himself. The
king of England was no longer at the head of a force that
consisted chiefly of subsidized troops, and allies on whose
stability little confidence could be placed, but with the flower
of his own chivalry, and the strength of his own people,-
English archers, and English hearts and hands, men who
were of one language, and of one mind and mould, on whose
conduct and courage he could rely in any extremity of dan-
ger. It is not consistent with the design of this work to
pursue the destructive course of his army through Normandy,
nor the ravages which it committed within sight of Paris,
nor the battle of Cressy-that famous victory, one of the
most signal that has ever been achieved, and one of those
which have left the deepest and most enduring remembrance
in the feelings of two great nations. From the time of his
landing in Normandy,* Edward had determined upon laying
siege to Calais, because it was the "most convenient land-
ing place for any out of England to set footing in France;"
and also, because it had "done many great displeasures to
him and his people, by its piracies exercised on the English
Calais was at that time "a place of incredible
strength, as well for its advantageous situation, as for those
wonderful accessions of art which made it almost impreg-
nable by any human power." Edward, however, knew that
what could not be won by force might be subdued by famine,
and that after such a defeat as France had suffered, no effort
that she could make would be in time for relieving the town.
seas."
A
On the last day of August he pitched his camp before Ca-
lais, "that strong town which had been of old so great a
nuisance to him and his kingdom." He invested it at the
same time by sea and by land, the fleet arriving from Eng-
land at this juncture, under the lord high admiral, William
Clinton, earl of Huntingdon, and the lord John Montgomery,
vice-admiral. The maritime force which was kept up during
the continuance of the siege might well be called a "mighty
navy," though but a small part of it could at any time have
been employed in blockading the harbour and watching the
* Barnes, 348.
#
Y 2
258
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
+
coast; for from authentic documents, the number of vessels
is known to have been 738, and the mariners 14,956.*
Philip, who could undertake nothing for its relief by land,
made great efforts to throw in supplies by sea.
To prevent
this, Edward erected strong works between the town and
the seat they were guarded by archers and slingers, who
watched the victual-boats night and day; "for the people
of Boulogne used in little boats and bylanders to steal along
the shore by night, or in misty weather." Once the admiral
of France came up, making a demonstration as if he would
engage the English fleet, with a view that a flotilla of small
boats meantime might get into the town; but the earl of
Northampton put him to flight with great loss, and most of
the boats were taken. The siege had continued more than
six weeks, when a little after Easter, early one morn-
1347.
ing, thirty Norman ships and galleys eluded the vigi-
lance of the English fleet, victualled the town, and effected
their retreat with little or no hurt. "From that time the
king caused the mouth of the haven to be quite blocked up,
and the earl of Warwick, with eighty tall ships, scoured the
channel between Calais and Dover." That admiral got
* Hakluyt has printed the roll of the huge fleet of Edward III. before
Calais, extant in the king's great wardrobe in London, whereby the won-
derful strength of England by sea in those days may appear. The south
fleet consisted of 493 sail, and 9630 men; the north of 217 sail, 4521 men.
There were, 38 foreign ships, in which one from Ireland was included; the
others were, 15 from Bayonne, 7 from Spain, 14 from Flanders, and 1 from
Gelderland: the numbers on board these foreigners amounted to 805.
'The sum of expenses, as well of wages and prests, as for the expenses of
the king's houses, and for other gifts and rewards, ships, and other things
necessary to the parties of France and Normandy, and before Calais, during
the siege there, as it appeareth in the accounts of William Norwel, keeper
of the king's wardrobe, from the 21st day of April, in the eighteenth year
of the reign of the said king, unto the 24th day of November, in the one-
and-twentieth year of his reign, is 337,051l. 9s. 4d.”—Hakluyt, lib. 118–121.
† "A strong castle and a high, to close up the passage by the sea;" (lord
Berners has not specified in his translation that it was constructed wholly
of wood:-fit charpenter un chastel de longs mes-riens;)" and this castle
was well fortified with springalles, bombardes, bowes, and other artillery;
and in this castle were threescore men-of-arms, and two hundred archers;
they kept the haven in such wise, that nothing could come in nor out."
Froissart, cap. 144. "Then the king made all his navy to draw along by
the coast of the Downs, every ship well garnished with bombards, cross-
bowers, archers, springalles, and other artillery, whereby the French host
might not pass that way."-Ibid. 145. If this authority were sufficient, it
would show that cannon were used, not only in the works, but on board the
English ships. It is remarkable that there should be any doubt concerning
this, and that the first introduction of such deadly instruments should not
be distinctly specified by the writers of that age. Froissart's use of the
word bombard is not sufficient proof. Joshua Barnes (362) is of opinion
that they were not used; though, he says, that in a record of the fourteenth
year of Edward III., six years before the battle of Cressy, mention is made
of thirty-two tons of powder. The question is, what that powder was?
毒
.
A TRUCE CONCLUded.
259
sight of twelve Genoese galleys, convoying seventy sail of
stout ships, all laden with provision and stores for the gar-
rison; the Genoese fled upon his approach, and the whole
convoy was taken. The French, and the Genoese in their
service, were not, however, idle; at several times during the
siege, they destroyed or captured fifteen of Edward's best
ships of war. But most of the little relief that reached the
besieged was introduced by two gallant seamen, Marant and
Mestreil by name, inhabitants of Abbeville. These brave
and enterprising men "often comforted and refreshed the
Caliscans, by bringing in to them a-nights provision in light
boats, whereby they exposed themselves to much danger,
being often chased; but they always escaped and not only
so, but in dark nights they would come silently in their small
boats to the skirts of the fleet, and bore holes through their
big vessels something below the surface of the water,
whereby not a few men were drowned, the ships being full
of water before they could find a leak.' The last hope
of the garrison failed when the earl of Oxford and the lord
Walter Manny, on their way with reinforcements from Eng-
land, intercepted a French fleet, and carried in as prizes the
ships which were bound for their relief.†
99*
So much gallantry, and perseverance, and generosity were
displayed on both sides at the siege of Calais, that the histo-
rians of either country may relate the details with a just
feeling of national pride. When Edward had secured his
conquest, and a truce of a few weeks had been made, he em-
barked for his own country, with the queen and the Black
Prince, and, as usual, in his homeward voyage, encountered
dreadful weather, by which many vessels with all on board
were lost.
"St. Mary, my blessed Lady," he is reported to
have exclaimed, "what should be the meaning of this, that
always in my passage for France, the winds and seas befriend
me, but on my return to England, I meet with nothing but
storms and tempests?" It was probably during the danger
of this passage that he made a vow of building a monastery
to the honour of God and our Lady of Grace, if they would
graciously bring him safe to land in pursuance of which
vow, he founded the Cistertian abbey of St. Mary of Grace
which was called also Eastminster and New Abbey), near
East Smithfield.‡
The truce was pieced up from time to time, and spun on by
divers prorogations, though in Gascony it was little regard-
* Barnes, 399. Froissart, chap. 140.
↑ Barnes, 103.
‡ Barnes, 413. 437.
260
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
ed, and in Bretagne still less, on either part.
“Now," says
Barnes, "doth king Edward III. seem to stand in the full
zenith of his glories-crowned at home in his family, with a
lovely row of hopeful children, and a virtuous and beautiful
consort; in his kingdoms, with peace and full prosperity;
and abroad he was renowned above all the kings of the earth
for his victories by sea and by land, in Scotland, France, and
Bretagne; for set battles, or taking of towns; for kings slain,
kings routed, and kings taken captive. Nor was his mode-
ration less admired and commended which he showed in re-
fusing the title and dignity of an emperor. Now, by means
of so honourable a peace (a truce prolonged through several
years was felt as such by the people), founded on so many
remarkable victories, it seemed as if the golden age was re-
duced to England, and a new sun began to shine in our hori-
zon; so great riches and plenty, the usual attendants of con-
quest, being generally diffused over the face of the whole
land.*
For there were few women that were housekeepers
within this land, but they had some furniture of household that
had been brought to them out of France, as part of the spoil:
scarce a lady or gentlewoman of any account which had not in
her possession some precious household stuff, as rich gowns,
beds, counterpanes, hangings, linen, silks, furs, cups of gold
and silver, porcelain and crystal, bracelets, chains and neck-
laces, brought from Caen, Calais, or other cities beyond sea.
And yet as the Roman historians complain that they were
overcome by the luxury and fashions of the nations they had
conquered, so from this time the native candour and simpli-
city of the English nation did visibly impair, and pride, super-
fluity, and vanity began to lift up their hateful heads, till they
provoked the Author of the world to visit their land also with
his awakening judgments."
The previous history of England will not justify us in im-
puting any such "native candour and simplicity" to our
ancestors, as the honest and simple-hearted historian of Ed-
ward III. has here ascribed to them. But the history of other
* When Caen was taken, where the English "tarried three days gather-
ing the spoil, because they made resistance, and were taken by force, there
were found, as one reckons, among other riches of gold and silver and the
like, no less than 40,000 pieces of fine cloth, silks, and linen, beside other
wares proportionable: all which the king sent down the river Orne to Es-
trehan, where the navy lay, to be carried to St. Sauveur le Vicomte; from
whence, soon after, by the king's command, the earl of Huntingdon convey.
ed all into England, as well cloth and other stuff for garments, vessels of
gold and silver, jewels, and other riches, as all the prisoners, whereof in this
bout at Caen there were no less than 86 great lords, barons, and knights,
and above 300 rich citizens."-Barnes, 346.
† Barnes, 416. Holinshed, i. 649,
THE GREAT PESTILENCE.
261
countries, as well as of our own, may teach us that, upon any
great and rapid influx or creation of wealth, a great change
ensues in the manners of the people, and that that change is
inevitably accompanied with great evil. Men's minds re-
ceive an impulse which is too powerful to be salutary, and
which more easily, because it may be feared more naturally,
takes the direction of evil than of good. The regular course
of quiet and contented industry is unsettled; habits of waste-
ful and emulous expenditure are introduced; and means for
these, when extraordinary supplies begin to fail, must be
supplied by exactions from the inferior classes; so that while
the rich become richer and more powerful, the condition of
the poor is rendered, not relatively alone, but actually worse.
The wealth brought from the East Indies, when the Europe-
ans first established themselves on the Malabar coast, pro-
duced this effect in Portugal; the spoils of the west pro-
duced it in Spain; and the growth of our manufacturing
system has made us feel it wofully in these times. But the
immediate operation of any such rapid prosperity upon the
morals of a nation is worse, when, as in Edward's age, it is
the direct result of war, the open and undisguised meed of
rapine and violence. That king entered into his contest with
France at first from motives of personal ambition, for the re-
covery of what he deemed his hereditary right, and he pur-
sued the war upon views of sound policy, considering the cir-
cumstances in which he was placed; but it was rendered
popular as soon as it became successful, by the temptations
which it held out to the bold and the rapacious: and it was un-
questionably considered by the great body of those who were
engaged in it, a predatory war. And as wealth acquired by
such means never brought with it a blessing to the possessor,
so wars conducted in that spirit have ever, in the righteous
course of retribution, drawn after them their punishment.
During the truce, a pestilence the most terrible that
1348.
has ever yet been recorded, beginning in the farthest
east, and taking its course through the Levant, and Italy,
and Germany, visited France and England. Here it first
appeared, about the beginning of August, in the sea-ports of
Dorset, Devon, and Somersetshire, from whence it reached
Bristol. The Gloucestershire men forbade all intercourse
with the Bristolians: "but this familiar fury,” says the his-
torian, "wanted no medium to introduce it; for as the Scrip-
ture saith of the pestilence, that it walketh in darkness, or
invisibly, its progress not being to be found out, so, unex-
pectedly and contrary to human precaution, this plague
walked, or rather flew, among the Gloucestershire men,
262
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
whence it went to Oxford, and about the first of November
it reached London; finally, it spread itself all over England,
scattering everywhere such ruin and desolation, that of all
sorts hardly the tenth person was left alive." More than
50,000 persons were cut off by it in one year in London,
and a greater number in half that time in Norwich. The
courts of justice were closed in consideration of this grievous
mortality, and the session of parliament suspended for more
than two years. The pope, meantime, ceased not to exhort,
by his letters, both the kings of England and France to a
final agreement, "that they might so avoid the severe stroke
of God's vengeance, assuring them that all these things
happened as a punishment for the sins of mankind. Having,"
said he, "our confidence in Him, in whose hands are the
hearts of kings, we resolve by no means to desist from the
prosecution of the treaty already begun; but intend by so
much the more effectually and carefully to promote it, by
how much the more the miserable state of the world requires
it at a time, when He, who is a jealous God, and the Lord
of vengeance, being provoked with the multitude of sins,
which charity doth not cover, but wrath increases, is con-
suming it in His anger, by the general ravages of an un-
heard-of pestilence." He urged them, therefore, earnestly
to come to an agreement, lest, "which," he said, "God for-
bid, that small flock which the Saviour of the world, who
woundeth and healeth, hath preserved like seed-corn from
this destruction, should now be drowned in the waves of
commotion, and swallowed up in the miserable tempest of
war."*
The result of this mediation was, that Edward was, by
these pious exhortations, so far prevailed on as to send com-
missioners to treat with those of the French king. The
persons appointed were the bishop of Norwich, the earls of
Lancaster, Suffolk, and Northampton, and the lords Walter
Manny, Robert Bouchier, Ralph Stafford, and Richard Tal-
bot. The conference was held between Calais and St.
Omer's, the bishop of Lyons, the abbot of St. Dennis, and
two cardinals being present on the pope's behalf to mode-
rate between the two parties. The French insisted that
Calais should be restored; finding that England would on
no terms consent to this, they then proposed that it should
be razed to the ground, and this also was as peremptorily
refused. At length, by the urgent intercession of the mode-
rators, it was agreed, that if a final peace (for which con-
* Barnes, 437.
DEATH OF KING PHILIP.
263
ferences were to be held) could not be concluded by the
September following, the crown of France should, by con-
sent of both parties, be brought to a certain convenient place
within that realm, and the right thereto, without any other
trial or appeal, be there decided by a pitched battle.* Such
a resolution is so consonant to the spirit of those times, that
we may be assured it was proposed and accepted in good
faith; but had it come to this, there would have been no su-
perior authority, as n case of the ordinary wager by battle,
to have enforced acquiescence in the result; and certain it is,
that the losing party would have acquiesced no longer than
till it found itself strong enough to provoke another trial.
But before the month of September, king Philip died; and
by repeated negotiations with his successor, king Jean, the
truce was from time to time prolonged. If Edward could
have obtained a secure peace for his hereditary possessions
on the continent, and for Calais, the possession of which
was deemed necessary for his sovereignty of the seas, it
seems that he would have been contented to waive his claims
to the crown of France. The heat of his ambition had past
away with youth; and, indeed, nothing could add to the
glory which he had attained. Knights, not from France
only and the nearer parts of Europe, but from distant Ar-
menia, came to decide their differences by single combat in
his presence. There was a splendour attached to his name,
and his court, and his round-table, and his order of the gar-
ter, exceeding that of any other Christian prince since
Charlemagne; and Windsor became in the romances of the
next generation what the courts of Arthur and of Charle-
magne had been in the preceding age, and in other cycles of
romance.
The truce afforded little security for the seas, or the sea-
coast. Don Luis de Espana, who died† during the siege of
Calais, had been succeeded by his son don Carlos de la Cerda,
a man as brave and as enterprising as himself, and who seems
to have inherited his bitter cruelty towards the English.
The constable of France having been made prisoner at Cressy,
he was appointed to hold the office, and he was also made
count of Angoulême; but at this time he was in command
of a Spanish fleet, and finding a ready pretext in some of
those disputes which were continually arising between the
subjects of maritime nations, he "beset the British sea with
* Barnes, 437.
† Barnes, 405. Salazar (Hist. de La Casa de Lara, tom. i, 192.) is mistaken
in saying that he fell gloriously at the battle of Cressy.
264
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
a force of forty-four tall men of war. Encountering with ten
English merchant ships, laden with wine from Gascony, they
boarded, won, rifled, and sunk them; and many more evils
they did about the coasts of Aquitaine and England, as firing
ships which they found at anchor, robbing and killing our
merchants, and what other Englishmen fell into their hands.
At length they entered the harbour of Sluys. The mischief
they had done was very great,* and much more they threat-
ened; for, collecting a great armament the Flemish ports,
they talked, like their successors in the armada, of nothing
less than the invasion and conquest of England.† Edward
had the more reason to complain of this, because he had
sought to confirm the old relations of amity and consanguinity
which had existed between the royal families of Castile and
England; and his daughter Joan, having been espoused by
proxy to the prince D. Pedro, had died in Spain, on her way
to join him, of the pestilence, so that the prince, who came to
meet her and solemnize the espousals, followed her corpse
to its funeral;-a happy deliverance for her, and the first
tragic circumstance in the tragical history of Pedro the Cruel.
Two years had not elapsed since her death, and Pedro, dur-
ing that interval, had succeeded to the throne. Well, there-
fore, might Edward feel the more aggrieved by hostilities.
which he felt on his part to have been wholly unprovoked,
and which were carried on in a spirit as insolent as it was
cruel.
He made preparations, therefore, not only for the defence
of the sea-coast, but for going, in person, to seek the enemy
and give them battle on the seas. This determination was
announced to the two archbishops, and they were enjoined,
with processions, prayers, masses, offerings, and other so-
lemnities, by which they deemed the Lord might be propi-
tiated, to call upon Him who is the giver of all victory, and
who had of late so signally extended the right hand of his
protection over the English army. A fleet of fifty ships and
* "Gentes nostras, mercatores videlicit et alios per mare cum vinis lanis,
et aliis mercimoniis et bonis suis navigantes, quampluriès hostiliter inva-
serunt, et bonis suis hujusmodi depredârunt ac immaniter trucidêrunt et
interfecerunt, partemque non modicam navigii destruxerunt, et alia mala
innumera perpetrârunt, et indies perpetrare non desistunt.”—Rymer, iii.
part i. 201.
t
† "Jamque in tantam erecti sunt superbim quod immensâ classe in
partibus Flandriæ, per ipsos congregatâ, et gentibus armatis vallatà, necnon
se navigium nostrum in totum velle destruere, et mari Anglicano dominari
jactare præsumunt sed regnum nostrum invadere, populumque nobis sub-
jectum, extermineo subdere velle expressè comminantur."-Rymer, iii.
part i. 202.
‡ Barnes, 438.
DEFEAT OF THE SPANISH FLEET.
265
pinnaces was collected, and Edward embarked at Sandwich,
with the Black Prince, then in the twentieth year of his age,
the earls of Lancaster, Northampton, Warwick, Salisbury,
Arundel, Huntingdon, Gloucester, and other lords and knights,
with their several retinues, and a good number of stout arch-
ers, on whom the English at this time placed as much reli-
ance in naval warfare as in the field. On the 29th of August,
about the hour of matins, he fell in with them off the coasts
of Rye and Winchelsea. There in no mention of
1350.
galleys on either side in the action that ensued;
though Edward had two years before obtained twelve from
Genoa, equipped and manned there,* and had appointed
Amerigo de Pavia to the command of all his galleys, and of
all on board, arbalisters as well as seamen.† The Spaniards
seem to have discovered that such vessels were not well
adapted for the British seas, and to have relied, as they did
two centuries later, on the superior strength and magnitude
of their ships. There began a fierce engagement between the
two fleets, the Spanish huge carracks easily overlooking the
English vessels, and almost overwhelming them with a storm
of cross-bow shot, stones, timbers, and bars of iron, that flew
incessantly from their high-built castles. But the archers of
England pierced their arbalisters with a farther reach than
they could strike again,—one of the advantages of the arrow
over the quarrelt being, that it went much farther, and with
a surer aim. Our bowmen thus compelled them to appear
more rarely on the decks, obliging those, also, who fought
on the hatches, to cover themselves with planks and tables,
and fetching down with their "winged messengers" such as
threw stones from the tops of their ships. "And then,'
continues the historian of this martial reign, "after a long
and doubtful fight, the English men-of-arms began to board
the Spanish vessels with swords, lances, halberds, and bat-
tle-axes in their hands, cruelly slaying and tumbling over-
board all they met with, to make room for new guests which
king Edward had brought with him for that purpose."
When evening closed, seventeen§ of the enemies' ships had
been taken, "when, all out of season," says old Joshua,
who would have stopt the sun and moon that day if he might,
"envious night came on to befriend the Spaniards, but to
deprive the English of an absolute and entire victory. For
* Rymer, iii. part i. 117.
† Ibid. 159.
39
↑ Only, indeed, when the wind blew strong the cross-bow would be the
more serviceable arm.
This is the lowest statement; some accounts say twenty-two, others
twenty-six.
VOL. 1.
Z
266
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
hereby they were fain to cast anchor, and to desist from pur-
suing their good beginnings, being forced to abandon a fur-
ther trial till the next day. And therefore, as supposing
nothing done to purpose while any thing remained undone,
they fell to dressing their own wounded, but flung the mise-
rable Spaniards into the sea whereon they had so lately tres-
passed."'*
This was no doubt considered as an act of due
though dreadful retaliation.
"Then having taken their repast, and set the watch, they
waited for the morning; but being freshly apparelled for
fight, when day came, they looked all about over the seas,
but saw no sign of any thing to resist them, for Don Carlos
had escaped with the remainder of his fleet under cover of
the darkness." The English lost no ship in this great vic-
tory, but it was not obtained without great loss of lives.
The king, we are told, thought it too dearly purchased with
that of sir John Goldesborough, “a young knight of great
valour, of comely shape, and noble deportment," who was
much lamented by Edward and by the Black Prince, "to
whom he was always very dear, upon the account of his ex-
traordinary qualities, and almost equal age, and conformity
of will and inclination." No fewer than fourscore youths,
who had distinguished themselves in this action, were re-
warded with the honour of knighthood. The fleet then re-
turned; and it was not long before commissioners were
sent to Flanders to treat for an accommodation with the Spa-
niards at Sluys, and in other parts of that country, as if it
were with them, and not with the Spanish government, that
the war had arisen, and was to be terminated.† Hostilities
seem to have ceased herewith; and next year a peace was
made between the two crowns for twenty years.‡
Meanwhile, though the truce with France was not ended,
"each party took the liberty, as they saw advantage,
1351.
to enterprise somewhat upon the other."
In one en-
terprise from Calais, the king's cousin, Henry, duke of
Lancaster (the first Englishman who bore the title of duke,
the Black Prince, as duke of Cornwall, excepted), burnt
the suburbs of Boulogne to the very walls; and, failing in
an attempt upon the town itself, by reason that his scaling
ladders were too short, fired all the vessels in the haven: he
did the same at Estaples, and upon his circuit back, burnt
above 100 vessels in the inland ports. The differences
which gave occasion to these inroads were soon adjusted,
* Barnes, 451,452.
‡ Barnes, 459.
† Rymer, iii. part i. 210.
§ Ibid. 459.
267
and a farther truce agreed on, with this honest condition,
that either king might renounce it whenever he pleased.
During this kind of insecure peace, those who infested the
seas were considered as pirates, and seem indeed to have
had no pretension to any better appellation. A squadron of
seven men of war, with certain pinnaces to attend them, was
fitted out under sir Thomas Cook and sir Richard Tottlesham
to scour the coast of Picardy and Normandy; and this ser-
vice was successfully performed.* But though at this time
the reputation which Edward had obtained by his naval vic-
tories was such that he was called king of the sea,† and his
naval force was at this time greater than at any earlier or
later part of his reign, the country was not secure from the
threat of invasion nor from the fear of it. The enemy 1352.
made preparations for invading the isle of Wight,
with the intention of fortifying themselves there; and, pro-
bably, in hope of compelling the English to give up Calais
in exchange for it: all the inhabitants capable of bearing
arms were therefore arrayed, and beacons made ready, and
orders given that no provisions should be exported from the
island. The alarm extended beyond those places which
were immediately on the coast; and so many of the inha-
bitants of Winchester removed from that city, alleging, as
their motive, not the fear of danger, but the pressure of those
charges to which they were liable for local and maritime de-
fence, that the city was left in a state of insecurity by this
desertion; and all such persons were ordered to return thither,
on pain of having their goods distrained.§
FRENCH KING BROUGHT TO ENGLAND.
1356.
Unhappily for France, these protracted truces, and
the irritation produced on both sides by mutual in-
fractions, ended in open war, in another invasion of that king-
dom, not by Edward himself, but by his son, the most heroic
name in English history-Edward the Black Prince, and in
another victory, more glorious in its circumstances, if that
were possible, to English valour, than the battle of Cressy,
and more disastrous in its results to France. The three es-
tates, who took upon themselves the government after the
capture of the king, prepared two great fleets, in the hope of
rescuing him on his passage to England. He was "in a good
* Barnes, 464.
t "La navie du dit roiaulme estoit en toutz portz è bonnes villes sur
meer et sur rivières si noble et si plenteouse, que tous lez pais tenoient et
appelloient notre avaunt-dit seigneur le roi de la meer, et lui et tout son
pais dotoient le pluis par mer et par terre, per cause de la dite navie."-Rot,
Parl. 46 Edw. III. Bree's Cursory Sketch, 176.
Rymer, iii. part i. 238, 239.
§ Ibid. 238.
268
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
ឆ
ship by himself, lest he should conceive any offence or moles-
tation;" this being conformable to that highly honourable
respect with which he had been treated from the time of the
battle; but 200 men-at-arms and 2000 archers kept close be-
side him; and the Black Prince, who was in the fleet, sailed
with such a force, that, though they were eleven days on the
passage from Gascony to Sandwich, no attempt was made to
intercept them.*
This victory led to no peace, though the pope, with a view
of embarrassing Edward, and thereby compelling him to
close upon any terms his dispute with France, demanded of
him the arrears of the tribute which king John had promised,
and which had not been paid since his time, 140 years having
elapsed. "But he who, besides his own courageous heart,
had both a more loving clergy and loyal baronage than had
that unfortunate king John, answered, wisely and roundly,
that he would never pay tribute to any mortal whatsoever,
because he held his kingdom, and would continue to hold it,
freely, and without subjection to any one, but only to Al-
mighty God." A truce, however, was made till midsum-
mer, 1359, and one for ten years with Scotland, by which
David, the king of Scotland, obtained his liberty; and at the
expiration of which term "the Scotch might be free to choose
peace or war, as they should like best." Till now, whatever
truce had been proclaimed between the two nations, it had
never been entirely observed, but had been continually inter-
rupted, "either by the robberies of the borderers on land, or
the piracies of private men by sea." These hostilities were
chiefly on the part of the Scotch, who had most to gain by
them, and were properly considered as the acts of moss-
troopers and pirates, not as national offences. Just at the
time when the two kings were concluding this ten years'
truce, with a sincere desire of peace, three Scotch pirates, in
vessels of such force, that they had with them no less than
300 chosen men-at-arms, infested the coasts, and committed
great depredations upon the English merchant ships; but
about the autumnal equinox "there arose a high and strong
wind, which drove them and many English vessels also, as
well of war as others, altogether into Yarmouth haven, where
it pleased God the Scots were taken every man, and brought
to a just account for all their piracies." If English ships
of war had not been driven thither by the same stress of
weather, they might have remained there in defiance of any
local force.
* Barnes, 526.
† Ibid. 528.
Ibid. 529.
COAST OF SUSSEX RAVAGED.
269
1359.
The captive king of France had agreed upon terms
of peace, and signed and sealed the agreement; but
the three estates and the dauphin refused their consent, and
Edward prepared once more for invading that unfortunate
country. While the preparations were going on, he, and the
Black Prince his son, visited most of the celebrated shrines
in England, offering up prayers everywhere for a blessing
upon their arms, or for an honourable and lasting peace.
And one day when they were in Westminster Abbey, visit-
ing the monuments of their predecessors and ancestors, the
king chose a place for his own burial, hard by the shrine of
Edward the Confessor, charging the prince and his other
children, upon his blessing, that when it should please God
to call him out of this transitory life to a better, they should
lay his body there.* It is worthy of notice, that portable
mills, which Pompeo Torgona, one of Spinola's engineers, is
said to have invented, or some German a little later, and
which were introduced into the French army in the peninsu-
lar war by marshal Marmont, made part of the camp equip-
ment of Edward and the English chiefs at this time. They
had also leathern boats, which being light of carriage were
easily transported, and were capable each of carrying three
men.t
While Edward was in the heart of France, at the
1360.
head of a most formidable army, the French had fitted.
out a fleet of 120 sail under the count of St. Pol, who, land-
ing at Rye and at Hastings, "spoiled the towns, slew the
people, and did much harm to the poor fishers." They made
a descent also at Winchelsea on St. Mathias's day, where,
even in the church, they killed all whom they found, without
regard to age or sex, except such women as they reserved for
worse than death. But there they tarried so long that the
country was roused; some 400 of them were slain before
they could reach their ships; and naval aid also arrived in
time to capture thirteen of their vessels, but not to rescue the
women whom these wretches had reserved alive.
The hor-
† Ibid. 577. Froissart, Chron. 210.
* Barnes, 564.
"To fish in them at their pleasure, the which did the great lords much
pleasure in the Lent season." It should seem, from Froissart's account,
that they were intended for this rather than any military use. The army,
indeed, seems to have been abundantly supplied, though Froissart_must
have followed a most exaggerated report, when he says that they had with
them 6000 carts, and for every cart "at least four good horses brought out
"Also
of England." They had ovens, as well as camp kitchens and forges.
the king had thirty falconers on horseback, with hawks, and seventy couple
of hounds, and as many greyhounds, so that near every day either he hunted
or hawked at the river, as pleased him, and divers of the great lords had
bounds and hawks as well as the king."-Chap. 210. Holinshed, ii. 673,
z 2
270
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
rors which had been perpetrated excited great alarm through-
out England, and yet greater indignation. Orders were
given that along the whole coast, and even as far inland as
Bristol, all ships should be drawn ashore, far enough to be
deemed perfectly secure, but not, however, to be dismantled,
but kept ready for service.* Great exertions were made. A
decree came forth for arraying all men between the ages of
sixteen and sixty, of whom "the lustiest and best armed, and
the tall archers, were to be sent to the king's admirals at the
Cinque-ports, for the defence of the kingdom. Spiritual
indulgences were granted to all who went to sea against the
enemy, and particularly this, that every one might choose
his confessor at his pleasure." The bishops also, them-
selves, the abbots and priors, rectors, vicars, chaplains, and
all clergy whatsoever, were ready on the land to defend the
country, some as men-of-arms, and others as archers, by in-
junction of the church; and every beneficed person who
could not himself serve was bound to maintain a substitute:
for the loss of population in the pestilence was at this time
so recent, that every hand was wanting for the defence of the
country. The city of London, with a spirit worthy of that
martial age, fitted out a fleet of eighty sail to revenge upon
the coasts of France-though not, it is to be hoped, in the
same way-the outrages which had been committed at
Winchelsea. This expedition scoured the seas from Bou-
logne to Harfleur, and wasted all that part of Normandy
lying between the Seine and the Bresle.f
The French were now too wary to engage with king Ed-
ward in the field, though he marched to Paris, and drawing
up his army before that city, sent heralds to the regent,
Charles duke of Normandy, demanding battle, and pledging
himself, if he should lose the day, never more to assume any
right or title to the crown of France. That prince not only
refused the challenge, but forbade any man, on pain of death,
to issue out of the barriers without his order; "so well,"
says Barnes," had he, who was afterwards surnamed the
Wise, learned how to deal with this English Hannibal, not
only by the example of the old Roman Fabius, but of his
own father and grandfather, whose frequent and great losses,
proceeding from their too forward courage, taught him now
to oppose a shield to this conquering sword, and not put his
last stake to the fortune of a battle." Edward had made a
vow never to return to England till he should have brought
* Rymer, iii. part i. 471, 472.
† Fabyan, 473. Holinshed, ii. 673. Barnes, 576.
+ Page 578.
19
THUNDER-STORM AT CHARTRES.
271
France to his terms, either by fair means or by force. He
had retired towards Bretagne, meaning to settle the affairs of
that dutchy and refresh his army there, and then, at the latter
end of the summer, to return, and lay formal siege to the
capital. Necessity, however, compelled the regent to offer
terms when he had marched as far as Chartres; and Ed-
ward's kinsman, the duke of Lancaster, a man of the most
approved courage and conduct, "with courteous words and
sage persuasions," advised him not to repel the reasonable
conditions which the French were now contented to agree
to, seeing that, by the kind of war wherein he was now en-
gaged, his soldiers only gained, and he himself consumed
his treasures; and, further, he might war in this sort all the
days of his life before he could attain to his intent, and per-
haps lose in one day more than he had gained in twenty
years. "This was the counsel of a brave and wise man; for
none better understand the uncertainty of war than those who
have had most experience in it, and are most capable of pro-
fiting by what they have seen. Such fair and subtle words,
says Froissart, that the duke of Lancaster said in good in-
tention, and for the welfare of the king and all his subjects,
converted the king, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, who
was the chief worker in this case. For while the ambassa-
dors were treating for this peace, and had no favourable
answers, there suddenly came on such a tempest of thunder,
lightning, rain, and hail, to which the army were exposed,
that it seemed as if the world would have ended. 66
Many
men and horses were killed by the hail,-some accounts have
said thousands. Certain it is, the hurt was so great, and the
storm, in all its circumstances, so awful, that the haughtiest
hearts quailed, and the bravest were stricken with religious
fear. The king himself was smitten in conscience, and
began, perhaps, for the first time, to apprehend that, however
rightful he might deem his claims, a heavy responsibility
might be incurred to his Creator and his Judge, for the
means by which he had prosecuted it. Turning his face
toward the cathedral church, which was dedicated to the
Virgin Mary, he made a vow that he would consent to the
conditions of peace. While this devotional feeling was
fresh, he eased his mind by a confession of his sins; and
peace was forthwith concluded, with the sincere hope and
intention on his part that it might be lasting."*
The king of France was then set at liberty, after four
years' captivity, giving hostages for such part of his ransom
* Froissart, chap. 211.
F
272
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
༥༨ དྷ
as was not immediately paid, and among them his son
the duke of Anjou. It is proof of no ordinary generosity
in both these kings, that their intercourse, under circum-
stances so little likely to have produced such an effect,
should have led to a true friendship. When they had finally
sworn to the peace in the church of St. Nicolas at Calais,
and the Pax was to be kissed, "by which ceremony
was signified that the peace of Christ, whose image was
before them, was from thenceforth to remain between them,
-the French king, to whom it was first presented, refused
it, in courtesy, till Edward should have taken it; and the
king of England declining it in the same spirit, both at
the same time rose from their knees, and, with an im-
pulse of sincerity more impressive to the beholders than
any ceremony could have been,-instead of the Pax, they
kissed each other, with hearty demonstrations of a mu-
tual friendship." Oaths were taken by the two eldest
sons of England and France, and the chief lords of both
realms, that they would, to the utmost of their power, help
to preserve the peace, and that the injuries on both sides
should never more be borne in mind. In this disposition
they parted. And Edward showed so much courtesy to the
hostages, that he allowed them to go over to Calais, and
from thence, " being near home," visit their friends, and
hasten the payment of the ransom; requiring only that they
should always return to that fortress on the fourth evening.
The duke of Anjou abused this confidence; and, unknown
to his companions, "took the opportunity to ride clear
1362. off, neither well considering his father's honour nor
his own; whereat king Jean was infinitely displeased."*
That king had determined upon making a crusade; and
while preparations for it were going on, he informed his
council that it was first his intention to cross the channel
and pay a visit to his brother of England and the queen his
sister for by those appellations he was wont always to call
them after his release. "They of his council," says Frois-
sart, “could not make him vary from that purpose, and yet
they counselled him sore to the contrary, divers of his pre-
lates and barons saying, that he took on him a great folly, so
to put himself in the danger of the king of England." But
he made answer,
"Sirs, let me believe my own judgment!
I have found in the king of England my brother, and in the
queen and their children, so much truth and honour, that I
cannot praise them too much; wherefore I doubt me nothing
* Froissart, Chron. 218. Holinshed, ii. 678. Barnes, 593. 602. 630.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ESTABLISHED BY LAW. 273
of them, but that they will be to me right courteous and
true friends in all cases." He said also that he wished to
confer with king Edward about the crusade, and also to ex-
cuse his son the duke of Anjou. This was, no doubt, the
moving motive; for feeling his honour wounded, he wished
to prove his own generosity by showing how entirely he
confided in that of the English king. During this
1364.
visit he was seized with a mortal illness, and died at
the Savoy palace in London, greatly regretted by Edward
and his family. The personal friendship between them had
served to counteract that strong feeling of national animosity
which the long course of hostilities had produced in both
countries, and which became stronger as the differences be-
tween them became more marked; for at this time it was,
that, after three centuries, the language of the English peo-
ple finally prevailed over that of their Norman conquerors,
it being ordained, at the suit of the commons, "that men of
law should plead their causes and write their actions and
plaints in the English tongue, and not in the French, as they
had been accustomed to do ever since the Conquest; and
that schoolmasters should teach their scholars to construe
their lessons in English, and not in French."*
At the same
time that English was thus established by law, Chaucer, by
the higher authority of genius, set upon it his sterling stamp,
and breathed into English poetry a spirit which, through
all changes of time and taste, it has continued to preserve.
Largely as our mixed speech has drawn from the French,
not only in its vocabulary, but in its idiomatic forms, there
are no two European languages that differ more essentially
in character; and that difference, by its effects upon the
literature of each, has materially contributed to produce the
marked difference of character between the two nations.t
* Holinshed, ii. 678.
† In the month of June, 1367, Barnes (717.), on the authority of an old
manuscript at Cambridge, says, "There appeared in the Northern Sea a
great navy of Danes, who purposed to come into England, and overrun,
rob, and slay, as their ancestora had done in the time of the Saxon kings.
But they were encountered and met with at sea by a good fleet of English
mariners, and other valiant men, who overthrew and scattered them, and
made them return inglorious into their own country. But, among others,
there was a mighty and strong ship called the Denmark, which, being over-
sailed by the Englishmen, was taken and sunk; and in her was found the
high steward and other great officers and lords of Denmark, who, being
brought into England, were, by word from the king and council, thrown
into prison. Shortly after, there came certain Danish deputies to negotiate
for the delivery of the foresaid lords of their country, with their goods; but
receiving an answer no way pleasing unto them, they returned home again,
having left behind them in their inns, written on scrolls and walls, this
threatening verse:
274
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
1371.
When the war was renewed, France had a powerful mari-
time ally in the king of Castile, Henrique II., who having
been defeated by the Black Prince in the great battle of
Najara, nearly on the same ground where, in our own days,
the not less signal battle of Vittoria was gained by British
valour, had afterwards recovered the throne, and secured
himself in its possession by the death of his brother king
Pedro. An embassy was going at this time from
Edward to the duke of Bretagne; and as there was
some likelihood of encountering the French and Spaniards
at sea, a considerable fleet was sent with it, under the lord
Guy Brian, "an experienced commander both by sea and
land, and one of the most illustrious order of the garter:"
with him was joined sir Richard Sturry, and many other
valiant captains, with a choice number of archers. Prince
Thomas of Woodstock was on board, then about sixteen
years of age, afterwards constable of England, and duke of
Gloucester, under which title he acted a turbulent part in
the history of England, and left an unhappy name. It was
well for them that they went in force, though they did not
fall in with the enemies whom they apprehended; for there
were disputes pending between the English and the Fle-
mings, of that kind which were continually arising between
merchant adventurers who were probably equally ready on
either side to act as pirates whenever a tempting opportunity
presented itself. A large Flemish fleet, under Hans Pieters-
zoon, had been at Rochelle, and there had taken in their lading
of wine on their way homeward they touched at a port in
Bretagne, called La Baye, for which port the English were
bound; and having information of this, the Flemings waited
for them there with the determination of giving them battle-
an opportunity for which they had long desired.* The Eng-
Yet shall Danes
Bring you wanes !*
Which rhymes being seen by an English poet, he immediately wrote un-
derneath them:
Here shall Danes
Fettf their banes.
I have not noticed this relation in the text, because it is as improbable
in all its circumstances as it is unsupported by any other authority.
*"Ils n'avoient désiré toute la saison autre chose, fors qu'ils peussent
trouver les Anglois. Pour lors n'estoient point amis les Anglois et les
Flamans: ains s'estoient en celle saison hariez et envahis sur mer, et tant
que les Flamans y avoient perdu, dont il leur déplaisoit."-Froissart,
Chron. 298.
* Despair or loss, ab A. S. wanian, to wane or diminish.
† Fetch.
PEACE WITH THE FLEMISH TOWNS.
275
lish knew not at first who they were; but seeing that a hos-
tile greeting was intended for them, they made ready for re-
ceiving it accordingly. "So there began a fierce and terrible
medley."
The Flemings were more in number, and better
provided for action, in so far that they were waiting for it
The English had the advantage of having been fitted out
wholly for purposes of war; but for this also the Flemings
were well furnished with men. It was one of those actions
frequent in that age, both by land and by sea, in which,
giving full way to mutual animosity, both sides disregarded
all resources of art and skill, and trusted the decision to
mere strength of heart and hand. The ships were fastened
to each other with grappling-irons; and after a severe battle
of three hours, every Flemish ship, twenty-five in number,
was captured, after a great carnage on both sides.* The
king of England was wonderfully pleased at this unexpect-
ed success; and so much the more, because the Flemings had
been the aggressors, and gave the first occasion, and yet
were so entirely defeated. He sent their admiral to the
Tower, and ordered out a fleet "to make sharp war upon all
the merchants of Flanders, and to block up their ports;
being," says his historian, "resolved by any means to pull
down the pride of those people who had thus presumed to
begin a war against him." This did not continue long.
The men of Ghent, Bruges, and Ypres (which, forlorn as
its appearance now is, was then one of the most industrious
and prosperous cities in Europe) held a council, and con-
cluded it was most for their interest to be at peace with Eng-
land, and not any longer to have the displeasure of king
Edward, for the sake of their lord the earl of Flanders, who
was now again wholly for the French." All the great
towns of Flanders agreed to this, and sent deputies into
England to treat for peace; peace was accordingly con-
cluded, and the prisoners released, to the satisfaction of all
parties except the earl, whose subjects had thus thought pro-
per to negotiate for themselves.†
* "The English," says Barnes, "were more than usually severe when
they had the full mastery, because they (the Flemings) had been so bold as
to begin the assault." I hope that the authority which he follows has been
mistaken in this-as it must be, when it states the loss of the Flemings at
above 4000 slain, and as many taken, which would be giving a complement
of 320 men to each ship.
† Froissart, Chron. 298. Barnes, 821, 822. Sueyro, i. 551, 552. Sueyro's
words are, "Se alteraron grandemente las Ciudades de Flandes, que ante-
poniendo su conservacion y comercio al servicio del conde y rey de Francia
embiaron deputados à Eduardo, confirmando la paz con ciertas condiciones
y restituyendoles el Ingles los presos, con que se bolvieron alegres à sus
casas.
276
NAVAL HISTORY OF England.
7
This was the last of Edward's naval victories. His day
had been long and glorious; but his evening was overcast.
"It seems," says Barnes, who, in minutely recording the
events of his life, had contracted a personal regard for the
hero of his tale-a natural and elevated feeling, whereby we
are enabled, as it were, to form friendships with the dead—
"it seems that God Almighty was willing to prepare this
glorious monarch by some sensible affliction for his final dis-
solution; and that he might, by observing his own weak-
ness, fall to a due consideration of God's power, and learn to
despise the false grandeur and painted glories of the world,
He was pleased from this time to blast both his maturest
counsels and his strongest preparations; whereby, as a father
doth his child, He weaned him from the delights and allure-
ments of this life, and directed him to seek after a better.
From henceforward we shall see his great web of victories
continually to unravel, and the strong spring of his success
to run backward with much more speed than ever it was
wound up.
The people of Gascony and Poictou had solicited
1372. Edward both by their letters and by sir Guichard Dan-
gle, that if he could not spare one of the princes his sons,
yet at least he would send the earl of Pembroke, whom, next
to the princes, they loved and honoured most, for the expe-
rience they had had of his courage and conduct. To this the
king consented; and the earl, whose first wife had been a
daughter of the king's, was appointed accordingly to the com-
mand in Aquitaine. Edward consulted about the expedition
chiefly with sir Guischard, as being a Poictevin lord, in
whose judgment and fidelity he had entire confidence; nor
was that confidence misplaced, though Guischard committed
a fatal error in advising the king not to send a great force
from England, because he might rely upon the loyalty of
his subjects beyond sea. "When once my lord of Pem-
broke appears," says he," he will find a good army in the
field to join him. We shall make up 400 or 500 spears at
least: with their several retinues, all ready to live and die
for your service, so they may have their wages duly paid
them.".
"Sir Guischard, sir Guischard!" replied the king,
"Thus lightly," says Barnes, "can vulgar minds be moved to begin a
war; and when they are beaten, as readily sue for peace." Joshua lived at
a time when it was the policy of a profligate administration to encourage
a most unjust spirit of hostility against the Dutch, and the effect upon his
honest mind is very evident in his relation of this battle. One of the
political poems of those days ends with this pious imprecation against the
Dutch:-
May men un-dam you, and God d—n you all!”
-i
ACTION WITH THE CASTILIAN FLEET.
277
"take you no care for gold and silver to maintain the war,
when you are once come thither; for, I thank God, I have
enough; and I am well content to employ it in that mer-
chandise, seeing that it toucheth me and my realm." There
went with the earl of Pembroke the lords Grandison and
Touchet, sir Thomas of St. Albans, sir John Lawton, sir Si-
mon Whitaker, sir John Curzon, sir Robert Beaufort, and sir
John Grimstone, all English knights, besides the Poictevins,
lord Guischard Dangle, the lord of Penan, the lord of Mor-
tagne, sir Aymery de Tarse, and others. They repaired to
Southampton, where they tarried fifteen days, in expectance
of a wind: "then had they wind at will, and so entered into
their ships, and departed from the haven in the name of God
and St. George ;"-"but most certainly," says Barnes, “in
an unlucky hour!"
For king Charles of France, "who knew the most part
of all the council in England," was well informed now as
to what force was sent, and whither it was bound; and as
he had sent land forces to assist the king of Castile, he ob-
tained from that ally a strong navy, consisting of forty great
ships and thirteen barks, well trimmed, and furnished with
engines and with men. Ambrosio Boccanegra was admiral
of this fleet, a Genoese in the Castilian service; and he had
with him Cabeza de Vaca, Ruydiaz de Rojas, and another
chief whom Froissart calls Ferrant de Pyon.* These lay at
anchor about Rochelle and the isle of Rhé, knowing that the
English and Poictevians intended here to land; and when
the earl of Pembroke arrived off the port, and perceived the
enemy awaiting him, he saw that it was too late to avoid
them, and that he must needs give them battle, though "the
match was nothing equal, neither in numbers of men, nor
bulk, nor strength of ships." Howbeit they comforted
themselves and armed, and put themselves in good order,
their archers before them, ready to fight. According to Fro-
issart, who derived his account of this action from persons
who were engaged in it, the Spaniards had cannon in their
ships: but it is remarkable, that though he expressly men-
tions them, he says nothing of the eff that they pro-
duced; and it appears from his relation that they trusted to
the old artillery, great stones, bars of iron, and balls of
lead. "Anon," says the chronicler, "they began to ap-
* This name I have not attempted to rectify. The two former were easily
restored, being familiar to any person who is acquainted with Spanish
history during the middle ages; the third, which Barnes supposes to be
Rodrigo de Roses, I find in Pedro Lopez de Ayala's Chronica del Rey Don
Henrique II.
VOL. I.
2 A
278
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
proach, making great noise: the great ships of Spain took
the wind, to fetch their turn on the English ships, whom
they but little feared, and so came with a full sail on them;
so thus at the beginning there was great cry and noise of
the one and other, and the Englishmen bare themselves right
well; and the earl of Pembroke knighted several of his
young esquires for honour, and reminded his people that
these were Spaniards, over whom they had triumphed so
signally at Najara.-There was a great battle and a hard: the
Englishmen had enough to do; and, as I have heard report-
ed,” says Froissart, "by them that were there, the English-
men and Poictevins desired greatly to acquire praise in arms,
and there were never men that did more valiantly; for they
were but few people in regard to the Spaniards, and also far
less number of ships, and less in size; therefore it might
well be marvelled how they endured so long: but the noble
knighthood that was in them recomforted them, and held
them in their strength; and if they had been like in ships,
the Spaniards had taken but little advantage of them. They
held themselves so close together, that none durst abide their
strokes, unless they were well armed and pavaised; but the
casting down of blocks of lead, great stones, and bars of
iron, hurt and troubled them marvellously sore, and wounded
divers knights and squires.”
This action was in sight of Rochelle, in the mouth of the
channel leading to that city. The inhabitants were at that
time subjects of the king of England; but they were disaf-
fected, and this the Spaniards knew. No effort, therefore,
was made to assist his fleet, and the action continued till
night, when the fleets separated and cast anchor, the English
having lost two barges, laden with provisions, all the men
on board which were put to death. Unequal as the contest
was, the weaker party made no attempt to escape a renewal
of it, either because they hoped for succour from the city, or
because they were too high-ininded to fly from any danger
however great. Jehan de Hardanne, who was seneschal of
Rochelle, called upon the mayor, Jehan Chanderon, and the
chief burgesses, to muster the strength of the people, and in
such vessels as were there to go and aid their countrymen
and allies, who all the day had so valiantly fought with
their enemies. But they, "who had no mind to any such
matter, replied, that they had enough to do to keep the
town; that they were not men for the sea, and could there-
fore do no service against the Spaniards upon the water; but
that if the battle were on the land, they would then gladly
bear a part in it." When no representations of the senes-
DEFEAT OF THE ENGLISH.
279
chal could prevail over this disposition, he and the seigneurs
de Tannaybouton, Messire Jaques de Surgeres, and Messire
Maubrun de Linieres placed a sufficient garrison in the cas-
tle, armed themselves, and, with such men as would accom-
pany them (an inconsiderable number), went on board four
barks, and at daybreak, when the tide served, went out and
joined the earl of Pembroke. He thanked them heartily for
their good will; and when they told him how the Rochellers
had refused to come to his assistance, he answered and said,
"Well, then, we must abide the grace of God and the event
of fortune; and I trust we shall find a time to make these
men of Rochelle rue their ill dealing.'
""
Early in the morning, when the flood began, the Spaniards
weighed anchor, and with sound of trumpet set themselves
in order, as they had done the day before, and took advan-
tage of the wind to close in the English. They and the
Poictevins prepared to receive them, and drew together, and
set their archers before them. The enemy, whose object it
was to engage as soon as possible in close combat, where the
number and height of their ships gave them a sure advantage,
succeeded in grappling with the English vessels: the action,
nevertheless, continued till three in the afternoon. Already
sir Aymery de Tarse and sir John Lawton had fallen by the
earl's side. The earl's ship was now grappled by four Spa-
nish ships; Cabeza de Vaca being in one, and Ferrant de
Pyon in another of them. On all sides it was boarded; lord
Touchet, sir Simon Whittaker, and the seigneur Jehan de
Mortagne were killed, the earl himself was made prisoner,
and with him sir Guischard, sir Robert Beaufort, sir John
Curzon, and sir John Grimstone; and all on board either
suffered the same fate or worse. Other ships still main-
tained the struggle; but at last all were overmastered, so
that none escaped being either taken or slain. But when
the Spaniards had taken the masters, they slew no more
varlets; for the masters prayed for their people, and en-
treated that they would spare them, saying, they would pay
ransom for all. The ship which had the money on board
for payment of the soldiers, to the amount of 20,000l., was
sunk; and yet great treasure is said to have fallen into
the hands of the conquerors.
"But this was nothing com-
parable to the loss which England sustained in the death and
capture of so many distinguished persons; and yet the ill
consequences of this day were far greater than the loss
itself. King Edward received here the greatest blow that
ever he had felt; for this discomfiture drew after it the
loss of all that he had ever possessed in France, either by
280
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
༣
1
inheritance or conquest, Bayonne, Bourdeaux, and Calais
only excepted.'
99*
"All that day,” says Froissart, "which was the vigil of
St. John the Baptist, and all that night, and the next day
till it was noon, the Spaniards lay at anchor before Rochelle,
triumphing and making great joy. And when noon was
past, and the tide came on, they weighed anchor and spread
their sails, and so departed with a merry noise of trumpets
and clarions; their masts and fore decks being adorned with
long streamers, and rich pennons, and standards, emblazoned
with the arms of Castile, which made a glorious show as
they waved about in the wind; and it was beautiful to behold
them." After a passage which was protracted by contrary
winds, they arrived at Santander; and there they brought
their prisoners into the castle, bound in chains, after the
Spanish manner, says Barnes, of treating their captives,
which was far from that courteous and more humane way of
intercourse held between the French, English, and Scotch
of those days. They received, however, very different treat-
ment from the king, who, when they were brought to Burgos,
sent his eldest son, the infante Don Juan, to meet them, and
entertained them honourably, though he soon placed them
in safe custody, as one who was not conscious enough of
honour in himself to repose any trust in that of others. Pem-
broke was confined in the castle of Curiel awhile, till he
and Guischard, the seigneur de Penan, and some others,
were delivered over to Bertrand du Guesclin, that their ran-
som might be accounted in payment of the sum due to him
for his services, the price of Henrique's kingdom, and of
his brother Pedro's blood. Many of the other chiefs died in
captivity; there were among them, according to the Spanish
account, seventy knights who wore gilt spurs.‡
From this time one ill success followed another, the king
of France following up his advantages wisely and vigor-
ously, and the constable Bertrand du Guesclin being the
greatest commander whom France produced during the
middle ages. In the course of the same year, du Guesclin
laid siege to Thouars, into which place most of the lords who
still remained true to England had retired. The siege was
* Froissart, Chron. 303. 4. Barnes, 829. 832.
"Et estoit moult grant beauté de les veoir,” says Froissart, which lord
Berners translates,-"So that it was great pleasure to behold them;" for-
getting, as perhaps Froissart himself "did, that the author is relating the
defeature of his friends.
+ Pedro Lopez de Ayala, Cronica del Rey Don Enrique II. an. vi. cap. 19.
Froissart, c. 304. Barnes, 834.
EDWARD AGAIN EMBARKS FOR FRANCE.
281
closely pressed, great engines, which played against the
town night and day, having been brought thither from Poic-
tiers and Rochelle; till at length the besieged proposed a
truce for themselves and their land till the ensuing Michael-
mas; they in the mean time to send to their lord the king of
England, and certify him of their condition; and if they
were not by that time succoured, either by him or by one of
his sons in person, they engaged then to yield themselves to
the obedience of the French king. The proposal was ac-
cepted, and the French lords departed from before Thouars
in consequence; for each party seems to have acted in this
case with a just reliance upon the good faith of the other.
When the messengers arrived in England, and Edward un-
derstood from their report" with how little war he had lost
the places and countries that had cost him so much to win,"
he observed, that he had never known a king less addicted to
arms than king Charles V.; who, nevertheless, had given
him more trouble than both his warlike predecessors. And
he declared, that he would cross the seas in such strength as
to be able to give battle to the whole power of France; nor
would he ever return to England till he had recovered all that
he had lost, or, with the residue, lost himself in the endeavour.
This resolution was such as might have been expected from
Edward, and such as became him. Ambition had ceased to
be his ruling passion: since he made peace at Chartres he
seems to have been sincerely desirous of maintaining it, and to
have had no other motive for war than the just one of pre-
serving what that peace was to have secured to him, and of
protecting his adherents.
A summons was sent through the realm, requiring all men
of a certain age and degree to repair in arms to Sandwich
and the adjacent ports by an appointed day, there to take the
seas with the king and his sons, the Black Prince, John of
Gaunt, and the earl of Cambridge. Four hundred great
ships, besides other vessels, were collected for their passage.
Parliament was assembled; and, to prevent, as far as such
precautions can prevent such evils, any dispute concerning
the succession, it was there solemnly declared, that in case
the king or the prince should die in this expedition, the
prince's only living son, Richard of Bourdeaux, was to suc-
ceed, according to right, unto the crown of England: he was
also constituted custos regni during their absence. Prayers
were ordered in all churches for the good success of the
voyage; and on Monday the 30th of August, about nine in
the morning, Edward went on board the Grace de Dieu at
Sandwich, and sailed with as great a fleet" as ever any
2A2
282
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
king before had carried forth of England." Three thousand
men-at-arms were embarked, and 10,000 archers, besides
other foot soldiers. The expenses of the expedition are said
to have exceeded 900,000 marks. The loyal Gascons were
prepared to join him with their utmost forces; and, on the
other hand, the French king assembled all his might, as if,
in the belief that fortune had set in his favour, he had de-
termined upon meeting Edward before Thouars, and there
giving him battle. But Edward had never been elated by
prosperity, and his humiliation was not to be inflicted by the
power of man. The elements in their courses fought against
him. In vain did he beat about, coasting Normandy and
Bretagne, with the intent of landing about Rochelle: "that
strange fortune," says Barnes, "who before was always
ready to waft this prince over, but difficult to convey him
back, was now quite otherwise disposed, and became an emi-
nent hinderer of his designs; so that for this success France
was beholden to the most inconstant of the elements, or
rather to the benign providence of Him who governs both
the winds and the seas. For days and weeks the fleet con-
tended against contrary winds, even till the day appointed
for the relief or the surrender of Thouars came. When it
thus became impossible for him to arrive in time, he turned
homeward, yielding to necessity, and broke up his arma-
ment.*"
1373.
There was a report in the following year that a cer-
tain sir Yvan of Wales, who was in the French king's
service, and who sometime before had made a successful
descent upon the isle of Guernsey, was about to infest the
English coast with a powerful squadron, and to burn and
lay waste the country. The earl of Salisbury, therefore,
William Montagu, was appointed to guard the English seas,
being at that time retained by indenture to serve the king
with 300 men-at-arms, of whom twenty besides himself
were to be knights, 270 esquires, and 300 archers. The fleet
consisted of forty great ships, besides smaller ones. With
these he sailed from the coast of Cornwall directly for St.
Maloes; and finding in the haven seven large Spanish car-
racks, he burnt them all.† Probably the strength of the
intended expedition consisted in these carracks, for it was
not heard of afterwards.‡
* Froissart, Chron. 311. Barnes, 844, 845.
† Barnes, 852.
Ayala, however, says that king Henrique II., sent a great fleet of galleys
and ships to aid the king of France in 1374, don Ferrand Sanchez de Trovar
being the admiral; that they did much damage in the Isle of Wight; and
EDWARD'S Latter days.
283
The remainder of Edward's days were few and evil. He
had, not long before, lost his excellent queen Philippa, after
a happy union of forty years. The Black Prince, who
should have been his worthy successor, was summoned be-
fore him to his account, being consumed in mid age by a
slow and wasting malady. One after another, his bravest
captains had disappeared, cut off by pestilence, or by the
chances of war, or in the course of nature. He had lost the
greater part of his continental possessions-not in conse-
quence of any signal defeat, nor through any defect of policy
on his part, or superiority of it in the French councils; but
by the course of fortune, without any failure of strength, or
want of vigour, or loss of reputation. Never was there a
king in whose history the will of Providence may seem to
have been more clearly manifested: so greatly had his vic-
tories exceeded all bounds of reasonable hope, so much had
his reverses surpassed all reasonable apprehension. Well
might Edward have exclaimed with the Preacher, “that all
is vanity,” when he had survived the wife of his bosom, the
son of his youth and of his proudest and dearest hopes, his
prosperity, his popularity, the respect of his chiefs and the
love of his people; for, after the loss of his son, his moral
and intellectual strength gave way, and he fell under subjec-
tion to an artful and rapacious woman. In this, however,
posterity has been just, that it has judged of him, not by the
failure of his fortunes and the weakness of his latter days,
but by the general tenour and the one great and abiding con-
sequence of his long and glorious reign. The name of Ed-
ward III., as it must always be illustrious in history, so will
it ever be dear to all true-hearted Englishmen; for by him
was that superiority of British courage, by sea and by land,
asserted and proved at Sluys and at Cressy, which, in our
own time, has been confirmed at Trafalgar and at Waterloo.
that a great French fleet joined it under M. Jean de Vienne, and committed
great ravages upon the coast of England. Cronica del Rey Don Enrique
II. Ano 9. cap. 9.
The old printed copies and some MSS. of this chronicle, says the Isle of
Duc; but, in an abridgment, the modern editor, don Eugenio de Llaguno
Amerola, finds it written Duyc; which, he says, "Es mas conforme al
nombre vulgar Inglés Wight, de donde se corrumpio en nuestra lingua
Duyc." After this we need not wonder at finding names so corrupted that
no conjecture can set them right.
I perceive, however, a more material error here: Ayala has here related
what did not take place till three years afterwards.
284
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
CHAP. VI.
FROM THE DEATH OF EDWARD III. TO THE ACCESSION OF
HENRY IV.
A. D. 1377-1399.
It was in honour either of the battle of Sluys, or the
victory which he had obtained over the Spanish fleet off
Winchelsea, that Edward III. caused the noble to be struck,
then the largest and handsomest of all gold coins, whereon
he was represented, armed and crowned, in a ship, and hold-
ing a drawn sword. When, in the peace with king Jean, he
renounced his title to Normandy, the islands dependent there-
upon were expressly reserved, that he might preserve his
jurisdiction at sea entire,* both he and his parliament, on
every occasion, asserting the hereditary right of the kings of
England to the sovereignty of the seas.
That maritime power was necessary for the strength and
security of England, was well understood by the English
statesmen in that age; and that this power could not be sup-
ported but by foreign trade: and if their measures for pro-
moting both were sometimes injudicious, and produced effects
contrary to what were designed, the errors of their inexpe-
rience may appear venial indeed, when we call to mind the
sins of modern legislation. One of their great objects was to
encourage foreign merchants; thinking, as it appears, that
foreign trade might be carried on with more discretion and
less risk through their hands. With this view, the exclu-
sive privilege of importing winest from Gascony was given
them, and of exporting wool; and laws were passed to pro-
tect them from any exactions in the English ports, where
certain persons pretended a right of pre-emption. They
were to be exempted also from that most vexatious of all griev-
ances, the delay of justice; and if any wrong were done
them, the justices were charged to do them speedy right,
"according to the law-merchant, from day to day and hour
to hour, without driving them to sue at common law."||
And forasmuch as murders and robberies upon merchants and
others, passing through the realm with their goods, had be-
come more frequent, an old statute was revived," to the intent
that merchant-aliens might have the greater will and cour-
age" to come into this kingdom: by that statute the hun-
* Campbell, i. 148.
§ 9 Edward III.
† 34 Edward III.
†9 Edward III.
27 Edward III. stat. 2, c. 19.
FIRST NAVIGATION ACT.
285
dreds were made answerable for any felonies and robberies
committed within their bounds; and no longer space than
forty days was allowed them, in which time they were to
agree for the robbery or offence, or produce the bodies of the
offenders.* The exclusive privileges granted to foreign mer-
chants, with a view to the promotion of commerce, proved
injurious to the shipping of the country, inasmuch as they
carried on their trade in foreign bottoms. It was greatly in-
jured also by the inconvenient and oppressive manner in
which, upon any emergency, a naval force was raised at
such time all native ships in all the ports were embargoed for
the public service, and were frequently detained for two or
three months, or longer, without any indemnification for the
owners, or pay for the sailors. From this grievance, which
was often complained of by the commons, foreigners were
exempted; and, owing to this cause, and the great use of
foreign bottoms, though commerce flourished, and the balance
of trade was greatly in favour of this country, the shipping
decayed; and in the latter years of Edward's reign, no secu-
rity was felt either by sea or land§ for want of a sufficient
naval force.
The first of these causes was an evil which, though the
government could not but understand, it was unable to remove.
To have supported an adequate navy was beyond its ordinary
means: the time was come when imposts could no longer
be levied by the king's authority without the concurrence of
parliament; and the commons were more ready in the dis-
charge of their duty to present the grievance, than to grant
the supplies by which alone it could be removed; but which,
by taking the burden from the particular class that it ag-
grieved, and making it general, as it ought to have been,
would have produced more general, and therefore louder,
complaints. The impolicy of encouraging foreign shipping,
to the injury of our own, admitted of an easy re-
1381.
medy; and early in the ensuing reign, it was enacted,
that none of the king's liege people should from thenceforth
ship any merchandise, either for exporting from the realm or
importing into it, in any other ships than those of the king's
liegemen, on pain of forfeiting all merchandise so shipped;
one-third of it to the benefit of the person who should duly espy
and prove such transgression. The reason assigned for this
first navigation act was, "to increase the navy of England,"
*28 Edward III. c. 11.
+ Bree's Cursory Sketch, 176, 177. Henry, iv. 479.
§ Bree, 176.
Henry, iv. 170.
5 Richard II. stat. 1. c. 3.
286
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
which, it was said, is now very greatly diminished.
1382.
In the next year, however, it was deemed necessary
to modify the ordinance, and declare, that it was to be en-
forced only in places where "good and sufficient ships of
the king's liegemen should be found: where there were not
such, it should be lawful for merchants to hire and freight
other vessels."*
Richard II. had succeeded to an uneasy throne. Upon the
decease of his illustrious grandfather, "there was great sor-
row," says Froissart, "made in England, and incontinent
all the passages of the realm were stopped, that none should
issue out of the land; for they would not that the death of
the king should be known in France, till they had set the
realm in some order." When the king of France heard of
his death, he said, that he had reigned right nobly and va-
liantly, and that well he deserved to be placed in the number
of the worthies. And forthwith he assembled a great number
of the nobles and prelates of his kingdom, and performed
obsequies for Edward in the holy chapel in his palace at
Paris. But this generous and natural feeling led not to a
renewal of peace between the two countries. A truce had
just expired, during which France had obtained a great
supply of ships and galleys from her ally the king of Cas-
tile. Don Ferrand Sanchez de Tovart commanded this
Spanish fleet: a French squadron, under Jean de Vienne,
joined him. To this person the vigour which the French at
this time displayed by sea has been chiefly ascribed he
used to say, that "the English were nowhere so weak as in
their own country;" a remark which must hold good of most
nations-because the weak are always found at home, and it
is the strong who are sent abroad to make war. The brave
Welsh adventurer, sir Yvan, was in the expedition. They
made a descent on the Sussex coast a few days after
1377. Edward's death, burned the town of Rye, which so
often suffered in such invasions, and there slew men, women,
and all they found. The festivities of the coronation were
disturbed by this news; upon which the earls of Cambridge
and Buckingham were immediately despatched to Dover,
with a force for its protection; and the earl of Salisbury to
Southampton. Meantime the enemy landed in the Isle of
Wight,§ and burned several towns there; " and though they
* 6 Richard II. stat. 1. c. 8.
‡ Ferraunt Sanse, Froissart calls him.
† Froissart, Chron. 326.
§ Vbyque, lord Berners writes the name, which, as Vb stand for vv, and
vv for w, is making Froissart appear less intelligible than he is. His_to-
pography, indeed, is not so easily adjusted; for he tells us, that in this Isle
J
DECAY OF PUBLIC SPIRIT.
287
were repelled from the castle by the valiant manhood of sir
Hugh Tirrel, captain thereof, who laid no small number of
them on the ground; yet they constrained the men of the isle
to give them 1000 marks of silver to save the residue of
their houses and goods." They burned Portsmouth also,
and, proceeding westward, burned Dartmouth and Plymouth.
Then, coasting back again, they made an attempt upon
Southampton; but sir John Arundel was there, with a
number of men-at-arms and archers, who defended the town,
and chased the invaders to their ships. From thence they
proceeded towards Dover, burned Hastings, and attacked
Winchelsea, a stronger place, where they were bravely re-
pulsed by the abbot of Battle. They then returned back, and
landed at Rottingdean, where the prior of Lewes, sir Thomas
Cheyney, and sir John Fallesley, collected the country peo-
ple, and encountered them with better courage than success;
for the prior and the two knights were taken, and above 100
of the English slain: the enemy, however, suffered con-
siderably in this action, and, being satisfied with the booty
they had gained and the devastation they had committed,
they returned to France.*
A few weeks afterward, while the impression of these in-
sults and injuries was fresh, parliament assembled, and sir
Peter de la Mare, who is the first speaker of the house of
commons upon record, declared, in the name of that house,
that the realm was at that time in greater danger than it had
ever been. He complained, that whereas merchants were
masters of their own ships, and had the free disposal of
them, yet formerly one town had more good ships than the
whole nation had now. And, commending the feats of chi-
valry for which the English had been so renowned, he la-
mented the decay of that spirit; by reason of which, he said,
the honour of the realm did, and would, daily decrease.
"Part of the prayer of the commons was, that the charge
of the king's household might be borne by the revenues
of the crown, so that what was granted for the war might be
appropriated to that use only." The spirit of chivalry had
decayed, because it had lost its leaders. Men whose restless
activity would have been directed abroad under a strong
government, busied it in intrigues at home, at the close of
Edward's reign, and upon the succession of a minor in his
eleventh year. Sea and land forces were now raised, and
of Wyque the enemy burnt the towns of Lamende (Lymington ?), Darte-
monde, Plemende, Plesume (?), and many others; after which they coasted
on, and attacked the port of Poq (?).—c. 327.
* Holinshed, ii. 715.
† Parl. Hist. i. 160.
288
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND
い
great sums borrowed for that purpose, till means should be
provided by parliament. A great navy put to sea, under the
earl of Buckingham, the duke of Bretagne, the lords Lati-
mer and Fitzwalter, sir Robert Knolles, and others: their
object was to intercept the Spaniards, who were gone to
Sluys; but they were twice driven back by storms, so that
the design was frustrated.*
1378. The enemy, meantime, were always active. There
was a Scotchman, John Mercer by name, who, having
been captured at sea, had been imprisoned in Scarborough
castle. His son, in revenge for this, got together "certain
sail of Scotch, French, and Spaniards; came to Scarbo-
rough, and there made prize of all the ships that he found.
So much damage had been done, and so much was appre-
hended from these sea-rovers, that John Philpot, "that
worshipful citizen of London," lamenting the negligence of
those that should have provided against such inconveniences,
"made forth a fleet at his own charges, strongly furnished
with men-of-war and munition necessary." This was more
like an alderman of the Saxon times than of those in which
Philpot held what was then purely a civic office. His ad-
venture was upon a great scale, and fortune favoured it:
"the men-of-war meeting with the same Mercer, accompanied
with his own ships, and fifteen other Spaniards, that were
newly joined them, set upon them, and so valiantly behaved
themselves, that they took the said Mercer, with all that
were then in his company; so recovering again the ships that
were taken from Scarborough, besides great riches which
were found on board, as well in the fifteen Spanish ships as
in the others, that were of the retinue belonging to the same
Mercer." The alderman was called to account for ""
"pre
suming thus far as to set forth a navy of men-of-war, without
the advice of the king's council; but he made his answer in
such wise unto the earl of Stafford, and others that laid the
fault to his charge, that he was permitted to depart without
further trouble for that matter."-Philpot, pleading his own
* Holinshed, ii. 718.
+ Holinshed, ii. 719. It was not till he had applied to the king's council,
representing the great damage done by this piratical fleet, and imploring
their aid, that Philpot took upon himself the duty which the government
neglected; "for which action," says Trussell, “he incurred the hard censure
of most of the noblemen, from whom he seemed to have snatcht, by this
his fortunate attempt, the native cognizance of true nobility." When
Stafford "objected against him the unlawfulness of the act, without au-
thority, he being but a private man, to attempt and levy arms,-Philpot,
with a kind of undaunted resolution, not only justified the act as though
not altogether lawful, yet very expedient, being done for the honour of God
and the king, and the security of the republic, but retorted the objection
CHERBOURG CEDED TO ENGLAND.
289
cause before the council, would have afforded subject for a
noble scene to a dramatist of the Elizabethan age.
John of Gaunt had at that time retired from the court; but,
as the chronicler plainly says, he was yet desirous to have
the money in his hands that had been granted by the last
parliament; and he obtained it upon undertaking to defend
the realm against all invasions for a year's space. He there-
fore provided a navy, and hired nine ships from Bayonne to
assist him: these were fortunate; for, on their way to Eng-
land, they fell in with a Spanish fleet of merchantmen, and
took fourteen sail, laden with wine and other goods. Before
his preparations were complete, the king of Navarre, who
was anew engaged in war with France, demised to the king
of England, by an extraordinary, if not singular, agreement,*
his fortress of Cherbourg for a certain yearly rent," whereby
the Englishmen might have free entry into Normandy when
they would, as well to aid the king of Navarre in his necessity,
as to work any enterprise that should be thought expedient
to the advantage of the king of England, as occasion served."
Accordingly, the earls of Salisbury and Arundel were sent
over to take possession of the place; and an armament was
despatched to garrison it. But the obtaining possession of
Cherbourg "brought not so much joy to the English nation
as the mishap at the going forth of this armament caused
lamentation and heaviness;" for, upon first entering the sea,
"sir Philip and sir Peter Courtenay discovered a certain
number of ships that were enemies, and undiscreetly entered
amongst them." Suddenly the Spanish fleet came upon
them; so that the English ships that were in company with
sir Philip and sir Peter were not able to make their party
good. Sir Philip got away by flight, grievously wounded,
and with the loss of many men. Sir Peter was taken pri-
soner, with a few other knights that were with him and
these, it seems, were, because of their rank, the only persons
to whom quarter was given; "and the most part of all the
of improvidence and slothful neglect upon the earl and the rest of the coun-
cil, so that they were much to seek for a reply."-Contin. of Daniel's Hist.
p. 2.
"I shall
* This part of the agreement is not mentioned by Froissart.
show you,” he says, in lord Berner's language, “how this treaty went be-
tween the two kings. One thing there was: the king of Navarre should
from thenceforth always be true English, and should never make peace
with the realm of France, nor with the king of Castile, without the know-
ledge and consent of the king of England; and if the king of England, or
any of his men, by their puissance, could get any towns or castles that the
king of Navarre ought to have in Normandy, against the Frenchmen, that
the same towns or castles should abide for ever to be English, the sovereignty
ever reserved to the king of Navarre.”—cap. 320.
2 B
VOL. I.
290
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
valiant esquires of Somersetshire and Devonshire, being
there aboard with him, were slain and drowned, which was
esteemed no small loss to the whole commonwealth."*
When war was carried on in such a spirit, it may seem
wonderful that Europe was not brought wholly to a state of
barbarism: and assuredly this must have been the
1379. inevitable consequence, had it not been for the hu-
manizing influence of Christianity.
The duke of Bretagne was at this time in England, hav-
ing been expelled from his own country by the French, and
by those Breton lords who were of the French party: his re-
turn, however, was desired in many places, and some were
still maintained for him. One castle, commanding a harbour
which was frequented by the English, was held for him by
sir John Clarke, "a right valiant knight." There were sev-
eral English vessels lying there; the French were informed
of this, and laid a plan for capturing or destroying them.
With this view, they sent in a galley to set them on fire;
and, "by so doing, if fortune so would, to train the English-
men forth, till they should fall into the laps of four other gal-
leys, which they had laid as it had been in ambush. Even
as they devised so it came to pass: the English, seeing their
vessels in danger to be burnt, ran every man aboard, to save
them and the goods within them: among the rest, sir John
himself hastened on board one of the ships, meaning to take
such part as his men did ;" the galley then withdrew as if
taking flight: he followed the decoy, and presently the incau-
tious English found that they had fallen into a snare, and
were unawares attacked at advantage. Sir John Clarke, per-
ceiving how the case stood, "laid about him like a giant,
causing his company still to draw back, whilst he, resisting
his enemies, did show such proof of his valiancy, that they
were much astonished therewith." He so manfully behaved
himself, that most part of his people had time to recover
land; but, when he that had thus preserved others should
have leaped out of the ship to save himself, he was stricken
on the thigh with an axe, and, the limb being almost severed
from the body, he fell into the enemy's hands, and died pre-
sently, "leaving a remembrance behind him of many worthy
acts that his valiancy achieved, to his high praise and great
commendation. The bark of York was lost at the same
time, "being a proper vessel;" but this was a loss to both
parties; for the enemy having boarded her, and thinking to
* Holinshed, ii. 719.
THE DUKE OF BRETAGNE.
291
carry her away, she sunk, and the captors and prisoners went
down in her.*
Clarke had been fellow in arms with sir Hugh Calverly, the
most distinguished then surviving captain, who had been train-
ed in king Edward's wars, and who, having distinguished
himself when deputy-governor of Calais, was now made ad-
miral, being joined in commission in that office with sir Tho-
mas Percy. Their first service was to convoy the duke of Bre-
tagne home; his people, impatient of the exactions which
they suffered from the French, having earnestly invited him
to return. They landed in the port of Guarande, near St. Ma-
loes; and at his landing he was likely to have lost "all such
furniture, as well of victuals, apparel, hangings, bedding, ar-
mour, and other things, which either he or his train had
brought with them." For the French galleys were hovering
about, espying him; and as soon as he and his company
were landed, before the baggage-ships could enter the haven,
which was somewhat strait, their galleys bore down upon
them, and would have taken them, in Calverly, like his poor
old comrade Clarke, but with better fortune, had not hasten-
ed with his archers to the rescue. He caused the master
of the ship, "even against his will," to turn back in the face
of the enemy, and through his manful prowess the galleys
were expelled, and the ships saved; for, according to his
wonted valiancy, he would not return till he saw all others in
safety; and then, defending himself as well as he might, he
withdrew into the haven, and landed safely.†
When the duke went to Nantes, there came to see him,
says Froissart, barons, prelates, knights, and squires, ladies,
and damsels, offering him their services, and putting them-
selves under his obeisance, complaining greatly of the
Frenchmen, who did much hurt in the country. The duke
appeased them, and said, “My friends, I shall shortly have
comfort out of England; for, without aid of England, I can-
not well defend the land against the Frenchmen, for they are
too big for us, seeing that we are not all one in our own coun-
try. But when the aid that the king of England shall send us
be once come, if they have done us wrong, we shall quit them
again." The succour which he promised was provided, and
was a "sufficient power, undoubtedly, to have done a great
enterprise," if what man purposes were not in a great degree
dependent upon casualties that he can neither foresee nor
forefend. Sir John Arundel had the command of this expe-
dition: there went with him the two admirals, Calverly and
‡ Froissart, ii. 255.
* Holinshed, ik 723.
† Ibid. 724.
292
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
i
""
Percy, sir William Elmham, sır Thomas Morews, sir Tho-
mas Banester, and many other knights and esquires. A more
unhappy fleet has seldom sailed from the British shores.
They set forth from Southampton. "The first day the wind
was reasonably good for them; but against night it turned
contrary, and whether they would or not, they were driven to
the coast of Cornwall: the wind was so sore and streynable
that they could cast none anchor, and also they durst not;
;"
so that, looking "presently to be cast away, they were scat-
tered here and there, and driven they knew not whither.'
The ship where Arundel was aboard was driven to the coast
of Ireland, and they ran it upon an isle just as it was going
to pieces. The master, who was a skilful seaman of Black-
ney, in Norfolk, Robert Rust by name, was the first that got
to land, "giving example to others how to shift for them-
selves." But he did this with no selfish disregard of any be-
sides himself; for when he saw that sir John Arundel had
got upon the sands, and "as one thinking himself past all
danger," was beginning to shake his wet garments there, he,
well knowing the dangerous state in which he yet stood, ran
to him, and "raught to him his hand, enforcing himself to
pluck him to the shore; but, whilst he thus took care for an-
other man's safety and neglected his own, they both perished
together; for through a mighty billow of the raging seas they
were both overthrown," and with the return of the wave
drawn into the deep, so that they could never recover foot
hold again, but were drowned.
To the like end came sir Thomas Banester, sir Nicholas
Trumpington, and sir Thomas Dale, "impeaching each other,
as they leapt forth of the ship." One Musard, an esquire,
"a most seemly personage and a bold," and another esquire
named Denioke, being almost out of danger, were fetched
away by the surge, and so perished with many others. They
that escaped to land in that isle found nothing there to relieve
their miseries but bare ground; so that, wanting fire and
other succour, many died with cold and exhaustion.
"The
residue, that were lusty and wise withal, ran up and down,
and sometimes wrestling, and otherwise chafing themselves,
remained there in great misery, from the Thursday till
Sunday at noon; at what time, when the sea was appeased
and waxen calm, the Irishmen that dwelt over against this
isle, on the main, came and fetched them thence, and re-
lieved them the best they could, being almost dead through
travail, hunger, and cold." Rust, the master, was much
lamented, because he who was an old and experienced sea-
man had seen such signs of ill weather, that he had advised
SIR HUGH CALVERLY'S ESCAPE.
293
Arundel not to put to sea at that time, but had by him been
constrained to do so against his own will and better judg-
ment. "The said sir John Arundel,” says Holinshed, "lost
not only his life, but all his furniture and apparel for his body,
which was very sumptuous, so that it was thought to sur-
mount the apparel of any king; for he had two-and-fifty new
suits of apparel of cloth of gold, or tissue, as was reported;
all the which, together with his horses and geldings, amount-
He
ing to the value of 10,000 marks, was lost in the sea.
was not lamented like the old master; and, indeed, he de-
served a worse fate." The chronicler says, that in this case
outrageous wickedness was justly punished, and that the
catastrophe which befell these men was regarded as a judg-
ment; for not content with abusing men's wives and daugh-
ters in the ports before they took ships, they carried them off
with them to sea-by persuasion or by force-and when the
tempest raged they threw them overboard, "either for that
they would not be troubled with their lamentable noise and
crying, or for that they thought so long as they had such wo-
men aboard with them, whom they had abused so long, God
would not cease the rage of the tempest. The chronicler
who repeats this believed the accusation, which, indeed,
would not have arisen unless the character of the men had
been such as to render it credible: but he perceived how
presumptuous it was to affirm that a particular judgment
should have brought on a general storm; "for where," he
says, "the Spanish and French fleets were abroad at the
same time, being assembled together to annoy the coasts of
this land, their ships were likewise tossed and turmoiled, in-
somuch that the damage that they sustained was thought far
to pass that which happened to the English navy."
""
Five-and-twenty English ships were lost in this storm,
with a great many horses, and above 1000
men.. Sir Hugh
Calverly escaped; "but never in his life before," says
Froissart, "was he so nigh his death, for all who were in
his ship, except himself and seven mariners, were drowned:
they who were saved took hold of planks and masts, and the
strength of the wind brought them to the sands. Howbeit
they had drank water enough, whereof they were right sick,
and evil at ease.” The ships that rode out the storm were
"sore tormented, and in great peril :" they put back to Eng-
land; and "thus broke up that journey, whereby the duke
of Bretagne could have no comfort of the Englishmen,
which was right contrarious to him; for all that season, and
the winter following, the Frenchmen made him right sore
~
2 B 2
294
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
€
war."*
The loss which the enemy sustained by this storm
was only that of the ships and men that perished: none of
their plans were frustrated, and they were soon again in
force upon the seas. Olivier de Clisson, the butcher,
1380.
in command of a number of ships and galleys, French
and Spanish, invaded the western and southern coast,
"making prizes and spoiling and burning sundry towns, and
so continued to endamage the English people that inhabited
near to the seaside all the summer following." Part of
them, however, were driven off by some of our west-country
ships, when the people were roused to exert themselves;
and they were pursued into the harbour of Kinsale, where
the English and Irish assailed them, slew some 400, took
their chief captains,† captured four of their barges with
a ballenger, and recaptured one-and-twenty English ves-
sels. This, however, was but a small part of the enemies'
force: the Spanish fleet alone consisted of twenty galleys,
under D. Ferrand Sanchez de Tovar; and they, "with the
French galleys still lying on the seas, when they espied
any advantage, would land their people, and do what mis-
chief they could, in taking preys, and burning towns and
villages; although now and then they came short to their
vessels again, losing sometimes 100, sometimes fourscore,
that were overtaken by the Englishmen that came forth
against them." Portsmouth, Hastings, Winchelsea, and
Rye, places which generally suffered in such invasions,
were burnt by them; and at Winchelsea the abbot of Battle,
who was a brave soldier of the church militant, was defeat-
ed when he came with his people to succour the town as he
had done before, and "one of his monks that was then in
armour with him was taken." Finally, this boldness so far
increased, that they entered the Thames, and came up to
Gravesend, most part of which town they burnt; and having
burnt and spoiled many places on both sides the river, with-
out receiving any hurt themselves, they returned to France,
carrying with them "both rich spoils and good prisoners."‡
* Froissart, Chron. 356. Holinshed, ii. 725, 726.
I cannot rectify the names, which are thus given by Holinshed:--
“Gonsalve de Verse, and his brother John Martin de Motrigo; Turgo, lord
of Morants; also the lord of Reith, Péers Martin of Vermew (Bermeo);
John Modet of Vermew; the seneschal of Wargarel; the seneschal of
St. Andrew; Cornelio of St. Sebastiano; Paschale de Biskaye; John Mar-
tinis; Sopogorge of St. Sebastiano. The four notable captains who escaped
to do farther mischief were Martin Grantz (Garcia ?), John Peres Mantago
*(Montijo?), John Husca Gitario (Huerta Gutierrez ?), and one Garcias of
St. Sebastiano.
Fabyan, 529. Holinshed, ii. 731. Ayala (Cronica del Rey Don Juan 1.
an. ii. c. 1.) says of the Spanish galleys, of which ten were supplied con-
DISTRESS OF THE PEOPLE.
295
Such hostilities would, in the better days of Edward III.,
have roused a becoming spirit: but there were already
symptoms that this was likely to be a feeble and disturbed
reign; weakness was showing itself in the young king, fac-
tion in his ambitious kinsmen, and discontent among the
people. The prosperity which the war, while it was pros-
perous, had introduced, had not reached the great body of the
population; but the taxation which was necessary for sup-
porting the war bore upon them, and produced that impa-
tience for bringing it to an end, which, whenever it prevails,
must render it impossible for peace to be procured, otherwise
than with dishonour. The commons, when in the second
year of this reign, they were asked for supplies to make
such an expedition as might be for the destruction of their
enemies, replied, that the people were in a lower condition
than ever, by reason of the great sums that they had already
paid, and also because of the murrain among their cattle, and
the enemy's burnings and depredations upon the sea-coasts.
Flour, corn, and cattle, they said, were at so low a rate, that
no money could be raised; wherefore they prayed the king
to excuse them, as not being able of mere poverty to bear
any farther charge. And they expressed a suspicion that the
money which had before been granted could not have been
expended, but that there must needs be a great sum in the
treasury. To this it was replied, upon the testimony of
William Walworth and John Philpot (great names in the
history of London), who had been receivers of the subsidies
of wool," that every penny thereof had been expended upon
the war, and that none of it came to the high treasurer of
England, or any other person, to the use of the king; and
that the revenues of the crown, considering the annuities
and other charges upon them, granted by his father and
grandfather, were so small, that without the customs of
wool and the lands of the priors aliens, the honour and estate
of the king could not be maintained." They demanded to
see the accounts, and the accounts accordingly were laid
before them: the king, it was premised, having
66 so willed
and commanded, of his own motion to please the commons;
not that it was of right for him so to do, or that he was
obliged to do it, but only by reason of their request." When
the commons had examined the enrolment, receipts, and ex-
penses, they declared themselves well satisfied with them,
formably to treaty, and the other ten equipped at the expense of the French
king,-"
-"Ficieron grand guerra este ano á los Ingleses por la mar; é en-
traron por el rio de Artamisa, fasta cerca de la cibdad de Londres, á dó
galeas de enemigos nunca entraron." The Spaniards have not often re-
lated the exploits of their countrymen so modestly.
296
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
as being honourable for the king and kingdom; but they
objected that the sum of 46,000l., which had been expended
in keeping the marches of Calais, Brest, Cherbourg, Gascony,
and Ireland, ought not to be charged upon them; because it
seemed to them that they were not bound to bear any foreign
charge. To this it was answered by the king's counsel,
"that Gascony and the forts beyond sea were barbicans,
and, as it were, outworks and defences to England; and that
if they were well guarded, and the sea well kept, the king-
dom would be quiet,-otherwise it could not be so.
99*
The appearance of an enemy's fleet in the Thames
1381. was so far from kindling an English spirit, that it
seemed shamefully to extinguish it; and the commons peti-
tioned that an end might be made of the war, which was in
great part maintained, they said, by the goods that the enemy
took from the English, to the great dishonour of the govern-
ment and nation, and destruction of the whole realm. Ill
must they have been informed in the history of their own
country, or little must they have remembered it, not to un-
derstand, that peace, solicited from such motives, and in
such a spirit, must produce greater dishonour, and ensure the
destruction that it was intended to avert!
was intended to avert! When they were
told that there was nothing in the treasury to defray the costs
that had been incurred in quelling Wat Tyler's insurrection,
the coronation of the queen who was now coming over,
guarding the seas, keeping the fortresses, and the defence of
the kingdom, they made answer, that, " considering the evil
hearts and rancour of the people throughout the whole realm,
they neither durst nor would grant any matter of talliage.
After the recent experience which they had had of anarchy, this
declaration would have been insane if they had been sincere
in making it; but it seems to have been intended only as
the means of obtaining a declaration of grace and pardon,
concerning which the king said he would advise farther till
they should have done what belonged to them. They then,
considering the great charge of the king, as well here as
beyond sea, granted the subsidies, and the king ordered his
declaration to be made.†
99
The people of Rye, however, and some other ports, who
knew that their best security must be in their own strength
and exertions, fitted out a squadron, put to sea, and brought
home seven prizes, all richly laden with wine, wax, and
other good merchandise, and with 300 men on board. One
of the prizes had been "taken from the English aforetime,
*Parl. Hist. i. 166, et seq.
Ibid. i. 174, 175.
Y
I
NAVAL OPERATIONS.
297
and was called the Falcon, belonging to the lord William Lati-
mer.”*
"* These ships were called pirates, which may, how-
ever, have been used as a common appellation for regular
enemies who carried on a sort of piratical war.
But pirates
were at this time so numerous, the same causes which pro-
duced the White Companies in France sending other ruf-
fians of the same stamp to seek their fortunes on the seas,
that the Hanse towns† found it necessary, a few years later,
to send out a fleet of twenty sail for the purpose of destroy-
ing them. The success of the Rye adventurers animated
others. Portsmouth sent forth a squadron to attack four
French ballengers, which intercepted the intercourse between
England and Flanders, and also annoyed the trade with Gas-
cony: they fell in with them, "fought a sore and cruel battle,
and in the end slew all the enemies, nine only excepted, and
took all their vessels.". "Another fleet of Englishmen took
eight French ships, which had aboard 1500 tons of good
wines, that comforted the Englishmen greatly." At 1384.
this time the king of France, Charles VI., had col-
lected so large a fleet as to excite suspicion of his designs.
"A strong navy" was sent to sea under the lord sir John and
sir Thomas Percy, who gained little honour by their cruise;
"for," the chronicler says, "they did no good; suffering the
French fleet divers times to pass by them, and not once of-
fering to set upon them. But the ships of Portsmouth and
Dartmouth bestirred themselves better; for, entering the
river Seine, they drowned four of the enemy's ships, and
took other four, with a bark of the lord Clisson's, one of the
fairest that was to be found either in France or England. In
these vessels the Englishmen had a rich prize of wines and
other merchandises."S
When Richard succeeded to the throne, France counted
upon the naval aid of Portugal as well as of Castile; king
Fernando of Portugal having engaged himself, by treaty,
to furnish five galleys toward the succour with which Cas-
tile had promised yearly to assist the French. Upon the
death of Fernando a change in the order of succession took
place; and, among many most important consequences, led
to those friendly relations between Portugal and England,
which, with little interrruption, have subsisted from that
time till the present. As soon as the Portuguese, after the
* Holinshed, ii. 754.
↑ Jacobus a Mellen, Hist. Lubecensis, ab anno 1300 and 1400, c. 2. § 21.
‡ Holinshed, ii. 762.
§ Ibid. 765.
Ayala, Cronica del Rey Don Enrique II. an. viii. c. 6.
298
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
most heroic struggle in their eventful history, had succeeded
in expelling their Castilian invaders, they sent, six galleys
to the king of England, "to aid him against his adversa-
ries:"-" the which," says the chronicler,* "were well re-
ceived and highly made of by the Londoners and others; so
that the Portingales had no cause to repent of their coming
hither." England had a nearer ally in Flanders, where,
after the fatal battle of Roosebeke, and the death of the
younger and greater Arteveld, the popular party had recovered
sufficient strength to maintain a resolute war against the
duke of Burgundy, Philip the Bold, to whom that province
had fallen upon the death of count Louis de Male. Philip
was powerfully assisted by his nephew the king of France;
and no war was ever carried on with circumstances of more
atrocious cruelty,t-those on the duke's part setting an ex-
ample which the commons were not slow in retaliating. The
French king, Charles VI., thought to prevent the English
from taking any further part in these troubles, by pursuing
the old policy of stirring up hostilities on the side of Scot-
land. With this object he sent the admiral Jean
1385. de Vienne to that country, with considerable supplies
of men and money: the Scotch, thus encouraged and aided,
crossed the border, and began to rob and spoil; for which
severe vengeance was speedily taken by the king himself,
at the head of an army. The result was, that when, after
many cruelties and great mischief, both armies had retired
into their respective countries, the Scotch, imputing their
losses to the ill conduct or ill counsel of their French allies,
despoiled them of their goods, and sent them away.
* Holinshed, i. 767.
The
†“Fue, si la huvo jamas en Flandes, atroz y sangrienta la guerra.'
Sueyro, ii. 7.
Holinshed, ii. 767. Sueyro, ii. 6. The story, as Froissart relates it, is
an edifying one:-"When the admiral and his company were returned into
Scotland, and were come to Edinburgh, they had endured great pain, and
they could find nothing to buy for their money: wine they had but little,
and but small ale or beer; and their bread was of barley or of oats, and
their horses were dead for hunger, and foundered for poverty; and when
they would have sold them, they wist not to whom, nor there was none
would give them one penny neither for horse nor for harness. The soldiers
showed to their captains how they were dealt withal, and they knew it
right well by experience of themselves.-The admiral,-he saw well the
evils of the Scots, and considered the peril of his people; then he gave
leave to depart all such as would; but at their departing was the mischief,
for the lords could find no passage for themselves nor for their men. The
Scots would that such knights and squires as were but poor should depart,
to the intent that they might rule the remnant at more ease; and they said
to the admiral, Sir, let your men depart when they will; but as for your
self, ye shall not depart out of this country till we be full satisfied of all
such charges as we have borne this season for your army.' And when the
admiral saw that it would be none otherwise, be considered well how he
THE ENGLISH BESIEGE BIERVILET.
299
English were thus enabled to direct their attention towards
Flanders; and, invading the isle of Cadsant, which held
the duke's part, they laid it waste with fire and sword. A
fleet of Easterlings, with some ships of Holland and Zee-
land, coming from the north, being, by stress of weather,
driven to that coast, and ready, as all ships seem in those
times to have been, for any adventure that promised profit or
plunder, joined them; so that, with their allies from Ghent,
above 100 sail were collected. Sluys was then garrisoned
for the duke by the French: they took one of the Easterling
ships, and put to death the whole crew,-in return for which
all the French on board were, in like manner, slain when
the English recaptured the vessel. The fleet now separated;
the English making for the French coast to make prize of
ships which they heard were loading at Abbeville and St.
Valery; the Gantese, with thirty sail, to make an attempt
upon Antwerp. They failed in it, and with considerable
loss; and, by orders of Guy de Tremouille, who seems to
have been the French commandant there, the eyes of some
of the prisoners were put out; for which, cruelty as usual
provoking cruelty, such French as happened to be prisoners
in Ghent were put to death.
The English, after having succeeded fully in their expe-
dition, returned to the Flemish coast; and, having landed
their succours at Sas de Gant, the Gantese, with their aid,
laid siege to Biervilet by sea and land. A force of Holland-
ers and Hainaulters compelled them to retire. On their re-
treat they burnt Hugevliet, Isendyck, Oostburgh, and wasted
with fire and sword most of the eastern part of that fertile
district called the Vrye, and did still greater hurt by break-
ing down the dikes.* Frans Ackerman, one of the ablest
was without comfort, and closed in with the sea, and saw how the Scots
were of a wild opinion; wherefore he was fain to agree to the Scots' intent,
and caused a cry to be made, that all manner of persons should come to the
admiral of France, and prove that any of his men had done them any
damage, and he would recompense them to the value thereof; which cry
appeased the Scots, and so the admiral became debtor to them all, and said
how he would not depart out of Scotland till all the complainants were fully
satisfied and paid. Then divers knights and esquires had passage and so
returned, some into Flanders, and as wind and weather would drive them,
without horse and harness, right poor and feeble,-cursing the day that
ever they came in Scotland,—wishing that the French king had peace with
England one year or two, and so both kings together to go into Scotland,
utterly to destroy that_realm for ever; for they said they never saw so evil
people, nor so false traitors, nor more foolish people in feats of war.”—B. iii:
c. 16.
* Sueyro (ii. 8.) ascribes this to the English; Sanderus (ii. 208.) to the
Gantese, of whom he says a great part perished in the inundation which
they thus occasioned,
300
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
+
demagogues of that age, but also one of the most moderate
and least cruel, commanded the forces of Ghent: he had re-
cently failed in an attempt upon Aardenburg, where he hoped
to have taken the lord of Merlemont, Hans Van Jumont, a
monster, who used either to put out the eyes or cut off the
ears and noses of all the Gantese that fell into his hands,
and whose name was, for many generations, deservedly exe-
crated in those countries.* Ackerman had promised the
people of Ghent not to return till he had taken some town;
and, having failed there, he turned his thoughts towards a
place of more importance. He learnt from his espials that
Roger Van Ghistelles, the governor of Damme, was gone
from thence to Bruges: he approached Damme that same
night, succeeded in passing the ditch, and setting up his
scaling ladders unperceived. Some of his people who had
to recover their reputation were the first to enter: they
opened the gates. The garrison was not strong: they who
resisted were slain; but no others were injured: and to this
then rare instance of humanity Ackerman added an example
of courtesy such as was more likely to have been learnt in
the camp of the Black Prince than in the war of the White
Hoods. Seven of the principal ladies of the country had
come thither to be with the wife of Roger Van Ghistelles, who
was about to lie down in child-bed: Ackerman treated these
ladies, not as captives, but as guests: he made a banquet for
them, and assured them, with an oath, that no wrong should
be offered them; for though he waged war with men, he
knew how to respect the virtue and the modesty of women.
This assurance was faithfully kept; and he won thereby the
respect, and even the good will, of the party to which he
was opposed.†
He lost no time in demanding succours from Ghent, to
keep a place, for the recovery of which, as being the port of
Bruges, he knew that the utmost exertions would be made.
The bayley of Ghent was immediately sent thither with
some chosen men and a body of English archers. The duke
of Burgundy might have found the reconquest an achieve-
ment beyond his strength, defended as the place was likely
to be by such men, and being within the reach of English
* Sueyro, ii. 7.
"were
† Sueyro, ii. 8. Froissart, ii. 163. "The cellars here," he says,
full of malvoisie et de garnacher," which last word lord Berners renders
"wine Granade." This we are sure must be wrong. Roquefort says it
was a foreign white wine, and states the duty, which, at the commence-
ment of the fourteenth century, it paid in France, where it was also known
by the names of Galrigache and Galvache: from the latter name it may be
conjectured that it was a Spanish wine from Gelves.
1
SIEGE ON DAMME.
301
aid: but he had great influence over the counsels of the
young king of France, who was, just at this time, in Amiens,
celebrating his marriage. There the news reached him; and
a representation from the duke, that the Gantese, if they got
possession of Sluys also, might probably put the English in
possession of it for the sake of ruining the trade of Bruges,
induced him to declare that he would never see Paris again
till he had laid siege to Damme. His orders were forthwith
sent through all the land: "men of war came to him from
all parts:" the place had been taken on the 17th of July,
and on the 1st of August he was before it with army of
80,000 men, and these, ere long, were joined by 20,000 Fle-
mings. "So they laid a goodly siege about Damme; and
the king lay so near to it that the gunshot passed over his
head"—for at this siege cannon certainly were used. Frans
Ackerman "bore himself valiantly," in a manner answer-
able to his reputation: every day there was either skirmish
or assault, unless it were a truce. The Bruges men drained
the foss; their post was on the north of the town. The
French blocked up the canal, so that no succours could reach
the besieged from the sea, and they broke the water-courses,
by which the place was supplied with fresh water from Male,
so that the townsmen had none to drink but what was either
stagnant or brackish. The heat of the weather rendered this
worse; and from this cause the besieged suffered greatly,
and from the fatigue which they endured in repairing by
night the damage done to the walls by the French artillery
by day.*
Guillaume, the heir of Hainault, served at this siege, and
was knighted by the king of France, before one of the as-
saults. "That day," says Froissart," he reared up his ban-
ner, and quitted himself like a good knight; but at that
assault the Frenchmen lost more than they won, for the arch-
ers of England, who were with Frans Ackerman, greatly
grieved the assailants; and also he had great plenty of artil-
lery, for when the town was won it was well furnished, and
he had caused much to be brought from Ghent, when he knew
that siege would be laid to it." He looked for aid from
England; and if there had been that vigour in the govern-
* Froissart, ii. 168. Sueyro, ii. 9.
† "Surely," says Froissart," the king of England's uncles had come over
the sea sufficiently garnished with men of war and artillery to raise the siege,
but that they were let because of the admiral's being in Scotland; and also
it was said that the constable of France should come into Scotland with a
great power for to make war into England, whereby the Gantese were not
rescued; wherefore it behoved them within the town of Damme to make an
evil bargain."—ii. 166.
VOL. I.
2 C
302
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
*.
ment which always excites a correspondent spirit in the na-
tion, aid would not have been withheld on so momentous an
occasion. Almost every day there was an assault, and skir-
mishing at the gates and barriers. "The Frenchmen could
not well come to the walls, because the ditches were full of
mire; for if it had been rainy weather, the host should have
had much ado, and should have been fain to have dislodged,
whether they would or not; but for the space of a month
that the siege endured, it never rained, and they had victual
enough. Howbeit, because of the evil air, and the stinking
of dead beasts and horses, the air was so corrupt, that divers
knights and squires were thereby sore sick, so that divers
went to refresh them at Bruges, and other places, to forsake
the evil air. The king himself went and lay at Marles;
howbeit his tents were still pight up in the field."*
Ackerman still thought to hold out till succours from Eng-
land should come and raise the siege. But, instead of an
English armament, there lay a French fleet in the harbour of
Sluys, laden with provisions for the enemy. He had, how-
ever, another and nearer hope. There were few places in
Flanders which were not divided by factions: some of the
principal persons in Sluys were of the popular party; they
were in correspondence with Ghent, and had engaged to set
fire to the ships, and, on the same night, to cut the dikes,
which would have inundated the greater part of the French
camp; but the design was discovered, and all the persons
concerned in it were immediately put to death. Ackerman
then lost all hope: his artillery also began to fail; and,
"lest the townsmen," he said, "should make a shrewd mer-
chandise, and deliver him and his men to the enemy," he
placed the women and helpless people in the churches, under
pretext that an assault was expected on the morrow; then,
sallying as if to beat up the enemy's quarters in the night, he
and his people effected their escape to Ghent. When the
men of Damme knew that they were forsaken, they that could
fled out of the town; and, in the pursuit that presently fol-
lowed, some 500 of them were slaughtered. Meantime the
town was entered without opposition. The French thought to
have taken great riches there-"they found nothing but poor
people, men, women, and children, and great plenty of good
wine; and so, for despite and displeasure, they set fire to the
town, so that it was wellnigh all burnt. The king and the
duke of Burgundy were sore displeased, but they could not
amend it; howbeit, with much pain, the ladies and gentle-
* Froissart, ii. 165.
JEAN
DELENNE.
303
men were saved from hurt." The French then turned their
vengeance upon the tract of country called the Vier Ambach-
ten, or four bailiwicks, and laid it waste, putting to death,
with execrable torments, those who fell into their hands, and
destroying every thing that could be destroyed.*
The French fleet suffered greatly when it departed from
Sluys. Eleven sail were wrecked on the coast near Calais;
and 500 men who escaped from the wreck were made pri-
soners. The ships from Calais encountered seventy-two of
the enemy's navy; and "behaved themselves so manfully,"
that they took eighteen of them, "besides a great bark, in
which threescore armed men were slain before it could be
taken." Three days afterwards, they attacked a detachment
of forty-five others, and "after a six hours' fight obtained the
victory, taking three of the most powerful vessels; whereof
one, being a hulk of Eastland, had been hired by the Nor-
mans to guard the residue. The other two were of such
mould, that they could not enter into the haven at Calais;
and, therefore, were sent to Sandwich. One of these was
a new ship, which the constable Olivier de Clisson, the
butcher, had bought at Sluys; and which was so tall, big,
and large a vessel, that it is said to have been valued at
20,000 florins." The French suffered also great loss by
shipwreck. But their admiral, Jean de Vienne had returned
from Scotland, with a poor opinion both of his Scotch friends
and his English enemies; and he encouraged the young
king, then flushed with his success at Damme, to think of
invading and conquering England. "He had rather," he
said, "be count of Savoy, or of Artois, than king of Scots;
and for England, he had seen its whole force brought into
the field, which he estimated at 60,000 archers, and 6000 or
7000 men-at-arms: the Scotch had assured him, that was all
the power of England, and that there was none abiding
behind. The king and his council replied, that such a
force was a great thing; and Olivier de Clisson observed,
"they might well be as many as that; but yet,” he added,
"I would rather fight with them at home in their own
marches, than with half the number here; and so I
heard my master say oftentimes when I was young.". By
999
66
* After speaking of the atrocious cruelties which they inflicted upon men
and women,
"entre los incendios y ruinas de sus casas," Sueyro adds, "los
templos y otros edificios, los arboles y frutor sintieron, si se halla sentimien-
to en plantas y piedras, la violencia conque lo dexaron como desierto todo,
hasta las puertas de Gante.”
† Holinshed, who states this on Knighton's authority, says that the con-
stable gave 3000 francs for it: if there be a zero too much in the one state.
ment, or too little in the other, the difference might be intelligible.
304
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
፡
my faith," quoth the admiral, "if you had been there with
a great number of men, as I supposed you would have been,
I think we had famished all Scotland!" The discourse
ended in possessing the duke of Burgundy with a strong
desire of invading England; and a determination of moving
the French king to such an attempt.* He had little difficulty
in this; "for,"
"for," says Holinshed, "the Frenchmen never
showed more vanity than they did this year, since the lineage
of the Capets began first to rule in France."
The way was prepared for this by making terms with
Ackerman and the other heads of the popular party, thus
terminating one of the most destructive wars in the middle
ages; "which, during the last seven years of its con-
tinuance, had cost the lives of more than 200,000 men.”
The duke's next object was to obstruct that easy communi-
cation between Ghent and England, from which this formi-
dable party might otherwise, upon any future occasion, have
again derived confidence and support; and this could only
be done by fortifying Sluys. The place belonged, not to the
duke, but to his kinsman Guillaume, eldest son of the count
of Namur; who, upon the first proposal of an exchange,
was marvellously displeased; "for the town of Sluys," says
Froissart, "with the appendants and profits of the sea, was
a fair and profitable heritage, and it was fallen to him by his
ancestors, wherefore he loved it the better:" however, he
was so sore desired by the duke, and his council, that there
was no remedy, and he was fain to exchanget it for the
lands of Bethune, "which is a fair and a great heritage.
The duke immediately began to erect a fortress there, which
he called the castle of Burgundy; his intention being
subdue all comers and goers, entering into the haven of
Sluys, and to keep it with men of war; so that none should
enter by the sea into those marches without their danger:"
and to make a tower so high "as to command sight of the
sea for twenty leagues' distance." For its further security,
the king of France also, at the duke's suggestion, erected
another castle, to be garrisoned by Frenchmen; not that it
was the duke's intention to give the French this hold upon
Flanders: his policy was to inflict what injury he could
upon England by an invasion, as a sure means of confirming
* Froissart, iii. 17.
""
66 to
† P. Daniel, with that cool reliance which certain historians place upon
the ignorance or the indolence of their readers, asserts that Charles VI.
made a present to the duke of Burgundy of this place; "le meilleur port
que le France eût alors sur l'océan," as if it had ever belonged to France.
v. 332.
Froissart, iii. 7. Sueyro, ii. 14.
THE FRENCH ARMADA.
305
his own authority at home; and, at the same time, to en-
gage France in designs which might give her full employ-
ment, on which he depended more for his own safety than
on consanguinity or treaties.
Among the persons whose advice had most weight in de-
termining the king to so great an undertaking as the inva-
sion of England, were the admiral and Clisson the butcher.
In the former it was the project of a brave and enterprising
enemy; and the latter was not a man to feel that, by the
asylum which he had found in England after his father had
been put to death, and by the education which he had then
received there, he had contracted a moral relationship to-
wards that country, which made it a sin for him to bear arms
against it in any other cause than in defence of his native
land. The count de St. Pol, also, heartily encouraged the
design, though he had married a sister of the English king.
But the duke was the chief mover in this weighty business.
In addition to the obvious incitements of taking vengeance
for so many calamities as the English had brought upon
France, and of showing the superiority of that kingdom in
men and means, they urged the politic consideration that
great part of the strength of England was at this time absent,
engaged, under John of Gaunt, in an expedition to Castile:
England would, therefore, be taken, if not unprovided, yet
without its best soldiers and its most experienced command-
ers it was for the interest of France to effect this powerful
diversion in favour of its ally, the king of Castile; and for
her honour, also, thus to return the service which the Spa-
niards had rendered her in the destruction of the English fleet
off Rochelle.* If farther encouragement were required, it
was to be found in the dissension that prevailed among the
king of England's counsellors, and in the evils which had
been brought upon that country by the late popular rebellion.
A young king, whose enterprises had hitherto always been
successful, was easily persuaded by such representations;
and "the lords, and the most part of the chivalry of France,
said, why should not we for once go to England to see the
country and the people, and to learn the way there, as they
have learnt it in France ?"
1386.
Accordingly, preparations were made upon the most
extensive scale; and, while the public feeling was
under the excitement of eager expectation and hope, "taxes
and tallages, such as had not been imposed in France for 100
years before, were set and assized in the cities and good
* Sueyro, ii. 17.
2c2
306
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
towns, and in the plain country: they that were rich were
taxed and rated to the third and fourth part of their goods for
the aid of this voyage; and many people paid more than
they were worth beside to make up the payment for men of
war."—" All manner of ships that could do any service,"
says the contemporary chronicler, "were sent for to Holland,
Zeeland, Middleburgh, Zierikzee,* Dordrecht, Schoenhoven,
Leyden, Harlaam,† Delft, the Brille, and all other towns
upon the sea-coast, and upon the rivers entering into the sea;
and all were brought to Sluys. From Spain, and the port of
Seville, to Pruce (as Prussia was then called), there was no
great ship on the sea that the French could lay their hands
on, but was retained for the king of France and his people.
But the Hollanders and the Zeelanders said to those who
retained them, "If you would have our services, you must
pay us outright, or we will not go: so they were paid,"
says Froissart, "before they would leave their havens or
their houses, and in this they were wise."" I trow,” he
continues, "that since God created the world, there were
never seen so many great ships together as were that year at
Sluys and at Blankenburg; for in the month of September
there were numbered 1287 ships at Sluys: their masts
seemed, in the sea, like a great wood." The report in
France was, that vessels enough for bridging the channel
were assembled. At Sluys it was the king's intention to
take sea, and so to enter into England, and destroy that
country. And till the month of September they did nothing
else but grind corn and bake biscuit on the sea-coast, and at
Tournay, Lisle, Douay, Arras, Amiens, Bethune, St. Omers,
and in all the towns about Sluys. No other such great en-
terprise was projected against England from the time of the
Norman conquest until that of the Spanish armada; and the
full and lively account of the stir of preparation cannot, even
"It was a won-
at this day, be perused without interest.
der," says Froissart, "to consider from whence all such
provision came, what by land and sea, into Flanders. Whoso
had been that season at Bruges, at Damme, or at Sluys, and
seen the business there in charging of ships with hay, sack-
ing of biscuit, and lading in of onions, pease, beans, barley,
candles, hose, shoes, spurs, knives, daggers, battle-axes,
axes to hew withal, mattocks, nails, beds, couches, horse-
* Zerechiel in the original, which, in the modern edition of lord Berners'
translation, is conjectured to be Overyssel; but there can be no doubt that
Zierikzee is meant.
† So I venture to write for Herpen.
↑ Juvenal des Ursins, quoted by P. Daniel.
THE FRENCH ARMADA.
307
shoes, pots, pans, candlesticks, and all manner of necessaries
for kitchen, buttery, and all other offices and of every thing
that could be thought of, necessary to serve man and horse,
for all was had into ships in one thing or another;-whoso-
ever had seen it, if he had been sick, I think he would clean
have forgotten all pain. The companions of France reckoned
none otherwise among themselves, when they spake together,
but that the realm of England should have been utterly
lost without recovery; and all the men, women, and chil-
dren therein slain, or taken, and carried into captivity in
France."
But it was not the French and their Flemish allies alone
who exulted in such expectations. Men of prey-for that
designation ought not to be confined to beasts and birds-
were attracted from far and near. "Lords, knights,
esquires, and men of war were invited to come and serve
the king of France in this journey, out of Savoy, Germany,
and from the going down of the sun to the land of the earl
of Armagnac; and these lords, though they were of far coun-
tries, and knew not what end this war should come to, yet
they came, and made their provisions so great and costly,
that it was great marvel to think thereof."-" Such prepa-
ration as was made was not had in remembrance of man,
nor in writing; never none like seen," says the great chro-
nicler," nor heard of. Gold and silver was no more spared
than though it had rained out of the clouds, or scummed
out of the sea.* The great lords of France sent their ser-
vants to Sluys, to apparel and make ready their provisions
and ships. The king himself, young as he was, had more
will than any other to this journey, and that he always show-
ed to the end thereof. Every man helped to make provision
for other, and to garnish their ships, and to paint them with
their arms. Painters had then a good season, for they had
whatsoever they demanded, and yet there could not enough
of them be got for money. They made banners, pennons,
standards of silk, so goodly, that it was a marvel to behold
them; also they painted the masts of their ships from the
one end to the other, glittering with gold, and devices, and
arms." The paintings of the lord Guy de Tremouille's ship
cost more than 2000 francs. Then comes the woful truth,
* "Que s'il plust des nues, ou qu'on le puisast en la mer." Lord Berners
has here a livelier expression than that in the original.
† “The French," says Sueyro, “vied with each other, as if they had been
going to a certain victory, or to a wedding, in such wise did they adorn and
gild their ships: pero toda esta fiesta se hazia sin tener cuenta con Dios,
que se reia desde el cielo de las maquinas humanas."
308
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
that "the poor people of the realm paid for all; for the tal
lages were then so great to furnish this voyage, that the rich-
est sorrowed for it, and the poor fled for it." The force to
be embarked here consisted of 60,000 men, of whom 20,000
were men-of-arms, 20,000 arbalisters, and 20,000 "other
men of war." But preparations were carried on in the ports
of Bretagne also, under the superintendence of the constable
Olivier de Clisson; and there, either at his suggestion, or at
the admiral's (for it is imputed to both), a portable intrench-
ment was made, upon a huge scale, for securing the troops
immediately upon their landing. This, which was likened
to the enclosure of a town, or wall of wood, is described as
being of twenty feet in height, and containing in length, or
in compass, when it was set up, 3000 paces; and at every
twelve paces was a turret, large enough to receive ten men,
and ten feet higher than the rest of the wall. The whole was
so constructed that it might be taken in pieces, and moved
with the army; and "a great number of carpenters and others
were engaged in wages to attend thereon."* The materials
for all this were in such abundance that, one writer says, it
seemed as if whole woods had been brought together for it.
The camp, in fact, was to have had the form, and regularity,
and security of a town within this fortification, which com-
prised towers, bastions, and bulwarks, and other defences of
that age. And the enemy did not seem to feel, when their
means and their ingenuity were so ostentatiously displayed
in this remarkable device, that such anxious and costly pre-
parations for defence, on the part of an invading army, were
little in accord with that hopeful and adventurous spirit by
which alone success could be obtained.
Had there been a prince like Edward III. upon the throne,
or his peerless son, the flower of the Plantagenets, the French
armament would have been attacked in the harbour, and a
second battle of Sluys would have been recorded among our
naval victories: but with a young and dissolute king, whose
good qualities were corrupted by his station, and his evil
ones inflamed by ill companions,-with discontented nobles,
* Holinshed, ii. 772. Froissart, iii. 49.
† Sueyro, ii. 17. P. Daniel departs widely from the contemporary writers
in representing these wooden fortifications as a wooden town. He says
"On chargea un grand nombre de ces navires de quantité de bois de char-
pente, qu'il n'y avoit plus qu'à assembler, pour en faire des maisons, où l'on
prétendoit loger des soldats après la descente, en attendant qu'on se fût
rendu maître de quelque bonne ville d'Angleterre; et rien ne fût plus fameux
alors que la ville de bois qu'on avoit fait à l'éclus, pour la transporter en
Angleterre.” (v. 331.) I know not whether more want of fidelity, or of con-
sideration, is shown in this passage.
THE FRENCH ARMADA.
309
some of whom, perhaps, had already conceived those trea-
sonable designs which brought upon their country so many
years of misery and civil war; and, with a people oppress-
ed by imposts, and who had neither confidence in their rulers,
nor respect for their masters," it was no marvel," says Fro-
issart, that this great apparel somewhat, at the beginning,
abashed the Englishmen." There was, however, some
doubt, notwithstanding the loud boast of the French, that
they were about to take vengeance upon England for all former
wars, whether these preparations were not intended against
Calais; “for the English knew well that, of all the towns
in the world, this was the one which the French most de-
sired to have. Great provision, therefore, was sent thither
of grain, salt, flesh, fish, wine, beer, and other things," and
several of the most experienced captains, with 500 men-of-
arms, and 500 archers; and the earl of Arundel and sir Henry
Spencer were ordered to keep the sea with forty great ships,
"well decked, and having on board 300 men-of-arms, and
twice that number of archers. The king's uncles, earls of
Cambridge and Buckingham, afterwards dukes of York and
Gloucester, would fain have recalled their brother John of
Gaunt from his Castilian expedition to the defence of his
own country; but his schemes of ambition were with him
paramount to every other consideration, and they and the
French were equally disappointed by his persevering in his
expedition. Richard was then in the marches of Wales,
with those favourites by whose advice he was governed. But
when "the lords, and the prelates, and the people of the
good towns and cities, and commons of the realm, were
fully and credibly informed, how the French king was ready
to come into England to destroy it," they then drew together
to counsel; and the king was written to by his uncles, that he
should come to London, for the people were "not content
with him nor his advisers." He listened, on this occasion,
to their representations, seeing that there was indeed a great
and imminent danger. A council was held on his arrival,
and the earl of Salisbury, who was “a right valiant and pru-
dent knight," addressed them in a speech which was well
received. "It is no wonder," he said, "if our enemy the
French king intends to come against us; for since the death
of the last king Edward of noble memory, this kingdom hath
been in great adventure to have been destroyed by the vil-
lains; and it is also well known in France how we be not
all of one accord; and thence cometh the present trouble,
which is not light: for he is but a fool that feareth not his
enemy. As long as the kingdom of England was in unity,-
11
310
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
the king with his people, and they with him,-we pros-
pered, and reigned victoriously, and none was found to do
us any great wrong. Wherefore it is now needful, and
never before was so great need, that we bring ourselves
again into love and unity, if we think to come to any honour.
This kingdom hath been a long time in flower; and ye know
that that which is in flower hath more need to be well kept
than when it is turned to perfect fruit. For the last sixty years,
the knights and squires who have gone forth from hence have
been more honoured for all feats of arms than any others of
any nation whatsoever. Let us then take especial care, that
as long as we live, we may keep this honour."
His words were addressed to willing ears; there was no
want of spirit in the king or in the people. The first object
was to guard the coast. Salisbury himself, "because part
of his land bordered near upon the Isle of Wight, was set
there with his men and the archers of that country. The earl
of Devonshire was stationed at Southampton, with 200 men-
of-arms and 600 archers, to keep the haven; the earl of Cam-
bridge at Dover, with 500 men-of-arms and 1200 archers;
the earl of Buckingham at Sandwich, with as many more;
the earls of Stafford and Pembroke at Orwell haven, with the
same number; sir Henry Percy at Yarmouth, with 600 arch-
ers and 300 men-of-arms. All the havens and ports, from the
Humber to the Land's End, in Cornwall, were defended with
men-of-arms and archers; and on the heights along the sea-
coast, opposite Flanders and France, "watchmen and watch-
ers," says Froissart, "were set in diverse manners, I will
tell you how:-Gascony pipes, emptied of wine and filled
with sand, were piled in columns one upon another; and on
the top of these pipes were platforms, upon which men sat
night and day, keeping watch and looking toward the sea.
Their orders were, if they saw the French fleet approach, to
light torches there, that beacon-fires might incontinently be
kindled along all the heights, to raise the country. The in-
tended plan of operations was, that the enemy should be
allowed to land without opposition, and march into the coun-
try some three or four days' journey; that the English were
then to gather towards the point where they had landed, and
to attack and destroy the ships if they could, intercept their
supplies, and then follow the French,-not at once to give
them battle, but to harass them and keep them waking, and
prevent them from foraging, and cut off all that were abroad
in the country, and thereby famish them.'
99
The French admiral had strangely deceived himself con-
cerning the military strength of England. Notwithstanding
THE FRENCH ARMADA.
311
the force which John of Gaunt had led abroad, there were,
at this time, 10,000 men-of-arms, and ten times that num-
ber of archers, arrayed for the defence of the country. “And
whereas taxes and tallages were great in France on the men
of the towns, in like manner they were great that season in
England, so that the realm sorrowed it a great season after;
but now they were glad to pay the soldiers, to be by them
defended: 'It is not against reason,' they said, 'that we are
taxed now, to give of our goods to knights and squires, tha
they may defend their heritages and ours."" At the instance
of the Londoners, Rochester Bridge was broken. That reli-
gious feeling which induced Edward to require the prayers of
his people when he led his armies into France was now
manifested with more unquestionable fitness. Processions
were made thrice a week in every good town and city, with
great devotion of heart, and "with prayers and orisons to
God, to deliver them from this peril. And yet," says Frois-
sart, "there were 100,000 in England who heartily desired
that the enemy might land: such light companions, in com-
forting themselves and them that were abashed, would say,
Let these Frenchmen come! not a cullion of them shall
return again to France!" This was the language of those
who were arrayed for the service of their country,-of brave
but not boastful men, who had heard from their fathers the
noble deeds which, in their days, had been done at Cressy and
at Poictiers. But the excellent chronicler* tells us also,
that "such persons as were in debt, and had no thoughts on
no means of payment, rejoiced at the intended invasion, and
would say to their creditors who pressed them, 'Be easy:
they are coining, in France, new florins, wherewith you shall
be paid!' Upon the strength of this, they lived and spen
largely, credit not being refused them; for if there were any
demur, they used to say, 'What would you have? Is it not
better that we should spend freely the goods of this land,
than that they should be kept for the French to find and take
them?" By such means," he says, "there was spent in out-
rage in England to the amount of 1000l. sterling." The
great lords and the people of the good towns, who had much
to lose, apprehended the danger, and "were in great doubt;
but the commons and poor companions cared nothing, neither
did poor knights and squires: they wished for the invasion,
either to win or lose all. 'God,' they said, 'hath sent a
* Excellent, Froissart may well be called. I should have called him in-
comparable, if I had not remembered some of the Spanish and Portuguese
chroniclers: that epithet belongs to the Portuguese Fernam Lopez.
† Froissart, iii. 36. The sum is probably mistaken.
312
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
:
**
fine time for us, since the king of France will come into this
kingdom: there has not been such a king in France for these
hundred years: he will make good soldiers of his people.
Blessed may he be, since he will come to visit us; for
we shall now either die or be rich: it cannot be other-
wise.' "'*
Meantime the preparations in Flanders were continued
with unremitting activity during three months; "the apparel
of ships, galleys, and vessels of every kind collected there
for passing being so great and sumptuous that the oldest
man then living never saw nor heard of the like."—" Now
let us go against these cursed Englishmen, who have done so
many evils and persecutions to France," was the language of
the French knights and squires,† when they went to join the
host: "now shall we be revenged for our fathers, brothers,
and kinsmen, whom they have discomfited and slain!" In
the middle of August, the king of France, to show his own
eagerness for the expedition, and to hasten the movements
of others, took leave of his queen, heard mass in the church
of Nôtre Dame, and declared that it was his intention not
to return to Paris till he had been in England: this all the
cities and good towns in France well believed, and this, no
doubt, he fully intended. The duke of Burgundy also took
leave of his wife and children: they met at Arras.
" Daily
there came people from all parts in such great numbers, that
the land was eaten up. Nothing was left abroad in the
country, but it was taken without paying any thing: the
poor people who had gathered in their corn had nothing left
them but straw: their waters were fished, their houses
pulled down for fire-wood; and, if they ventured to com-
plain, they were beaten or killed. If the English had arrived
there, they could not, nor would not, have made such de-
struction as the French themselves did. We have no
money now,' they said; but we shall have enough when
we return, and then you shall be paid in full.' But the
people," says Froissart, "when they saw their goods thus
taken, and that they dared say nothing aloud, cursed between
their teeth, and said, 'Go to England, or to the devil, and
never return again!'" The expedition was so far well
ordered, that care was taken not to incumber it with any
inefficient persons.
It was the constable's intention that
* Froissart, iii. 14.
6
"Leur ardeur," says P. Daniel, "les mesures qu'on avoit prises, la
consternation qui commençoit, à serépandre parmi les Anglois, tout pro-
mettoit un heureux succès de cette expédition, quelque dangereuse qu'elle
parût."
99
THE KING OF ARMENIA.
313
no man should enter England unless he were a chosen man-
of-arms; and he enjoined the admiral not to let the ships be
charged with varlets and boys, who would be of more damage
than profit. This wise precaution was so rigorously ob-
served, that, if two or three knights hired ships at their own
cost, unless they were great lords, they were allowed but one
additional horse and one varlet. The preparations, indeed,
were so complete, and the arrangements in all respects such,
that many were of opinion, and Froissart himself agreed
with them, that if they could effect their landing, as they
intended, in the Orwell, "they should sore abash the
country. That they would effect a landing, indeed, no
doubt was entertained in England, for there was no naval
force to prevent it; and when the whole coast was threat-
ened, it was impossible that any part could be guarded in
sufficient strength against so powerful an armament. Sir
Simon Burley, the governor of Dover Castle, thought that
Dover and Sandwich were the likeliest points of attack; and
he advised the monks of Canterbury to deposite Becket's
shrine in his castle, which was so strong a place, that he
said it would be in safety there though all England were
lost. The monks, however, whether owing to their trust in
Becket, or their distrust of Burley, would not consent to be
deprived of such a treasure: they took his advice in great
despite: "If ye be afraid," they said, "make yourself sure;
for though you shut yourself up within the castle of Dover
for fear, yet the Frenchmen will not be so hardy as to come
hither." Angry words ensued; and Burley, by his well-
intended proposal, drew upon himself a degree of unpopu-
larity which contributed to his destruction.*
A singular personage at this time took upon himself the
office of mediator between the two countries: this was king
Leon of Armenia, who had been driven from his kingdom
by the Turks, and was then residing in France, where the
king had assigned him a pension of 6000 francs. The me-
diation was voluntary, but not altogether disinterested. He
set out from his residence at St. Audoin, near St. Denis,
with only his own company, and no great apparel; took ship
at Boulogne, and sailed for Dover, where he had good cheer,
because he was a stranger; and so he came to the king's
uncles there, who received him courteously, as they well
knew how to do, and at convenient season asked of him
whence he came, and whither he would. He replied, that
in hope of good he was come thither to see the king of Eng-
VOL. I.
* Froissart, iii. 41.
2.D
314
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
!
land and his council, and to treat for peace between France
and England, the war between them being unmeet: by
reason of its long endurance, the Turks had waxed proud,
there being none to wage war against them, and by occasion
hereof, said he, "I have lost my kingdom, and am not like
to recover it, unless there were firm peace throughout Chris-
tendom." This, as a matter concerning all Christian peo-
ple, he wished to represent to the king. He admitted that
he had no commission from the French king, but had come
on his own motion. They represented to him, that if he
were conveyed to the royal council, according to his desire,
and in the mean time the French should land, his person
might be in great jeopardy. To this he made answer, that
he had requested the French king not to depart from Sluys
till he should have seen the king of England;" and I repute
him," said he, "so noble and so well advised, that he will
grant my desire, and not put to sea till I come to him;" he
pressed them, therefore, either to forward him to London, or
answer him themselves, if they had authority. Their instruc-
tions, they replied, were to keep and defend that passage and
the adjacent frontier: farther authority they had none, and
were not of the king's council; but to London they forwarded
him, under a good escort, for fear of danger. The Londoners
were fortifying the city when he arrived: he, however, in
riding through was well regarded, because he was a stranger,
and had good cheer made him, and was brought before the
king. Four days after the first interview (during which
time Richard had communicated with his uncles to know
their opinion), the Armenian king was sent for to the palace
at Westminster, a seat beside the king was given him, and
there, before the council, he declared his business.
“All
Christendom," he said, "was sore decayed and feeblished
by occasion of the wars between England and France: the
knights and squires of both countries were wholly engaged
on one side or the other, who before were wont to adventure
themselves against the misbelievers: for this cause, the em-
pire of Constantinople had lost much, and was like to lose
more, and he himself had lost his kingdom of Armenia;
wherefore he desired, for God's sake, that some treaty of
peace might be made between these realms.' The arch-
bishop of Canterbury was the person charged to answer him;
and the answer evinced the wisdom and proper spirit of those
who advised it. "Sir, king of Armenia," said the primate,
"it is not the manner, nor hath it ever been, between two
such enemies as the king of England and the king of France,
that peace should be proposed to the king of England with
THE COMMONS IMPEACH SUFFOLK.
315
an armed hand, in his own country. We will tell you
what may be done, if it please you. You may return to the
French king, and cause him and all his puissance to return
into their own countries; and when every man is at home
again, then, if it please you, you may return hither, and
we will willingly attend to your treaty."
This was all the
answer he could obtain; but he dined with the king that
day, and had "as great honour as could be devised;" and
Richard offered him great gifts of gold and silver, none of
which he would take, "though he had need thereof,"
accepting only, for courtesy, a ring of the value of 100
francs.*
A parliament met at Westminster on the 1st of October,
and the chancellor, Michael de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, told
the houses that the principal cause for which they had been
called together at that time was to acquaint them with the
resolution of the council, that the king should pass the seas
in person, with a royal army, being moved thereunto by
these four causes :-that he might at less expense attack the
enemy abroad, than wait to defend the country against them
at home; that he might take off the reproach blazed abroad
as how he durst not go over in person; that he might assert
his right to the crown of France, and thereby acquire both
renown and honour; and, lastly, because the French them-
selves were daily threatening an invasion. Richard's sin-
cerity is not to be suspected in a resolution so conformable
to the temper of a young king, and the spirit of a Plantage-
net; that of his council may: it would have been sound
policy to have sent a fleet against the enemy's ships at
Sluys, if a fleet could have been provided; but to withdraw
a royal army from the country when an invasion was, in
fact, daily to be looked for, would have been to leave Eng-
land at the mercy of the invaders. The commons seem to
have regarded the communication in this light; and, instead
of taking it into consideration, they proceeded to impeach
the earl of Suffolk; upon which the king withdrew from
parliament to Eltham, that he might not seem to counte-
nance that measure. Both houses then addressed a message
to him, requiring that the chancellor and the treasurer might
be removed from their offices, which they occupied not to the
advantage of him or his kingdom: he returned an imperious
answer, commanding them not to make mention of any such
thing for the future, but forthwith proceed to the business
for which they were summoned. It has too often been seen,
* Froissart, iii. 42.
316
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND:
in the troubled times of history, that peers and princes have
been active in exasperating differences, which, if they duly
understood their own interest as well as their duty, they
would diligently endeavour to compose. The king's uncle,
Gloucester, and the bishop of Ely, were now deputed to de-
liver the sense of both houses to him; and the duke's cha-
racter renders it certain that he was nothing loath to be so
deputed. With most humble submission, and wishes that he
might be successful in the course of honour, and invincible
against his enemies, and united to his subjects by the most
firm bands of peace and hearty love, as well as for his own
advantage and the salvation of his soul as for the unspeak-
able comfort of the people whom he governed-they inti-
mated, on behalf of that people, how one old statute and
laudable custom was approved, which no man could deny,
that the king, once in the year, might lawfully summon his
high court of parliament, and call the lords and commons
thereunto, as to the highest court of his realm, in which
court all right and equity ought to shine, as the noon-day
sun, whereof poor and rich may take refreshing. There,
also, reformation ought to be had of all oppressions, wrongs,
extortions, and enormities within the realm, and there the
king ought to take council with the wise men of his realm
for the maintenance of his estate, and conservation of the
same; and if it might be known that any person within the
realm or without intended the contrary, there also must be
devised how such evil weeds may be destroyed. There,
also, must be studied and foreseen, if any charge do come
upon the king and realm, how it may be honourably borne
and discharged. Further, they declared that his subjects
had lovingly demeaned themselves, in aiding him with their
substance to the best of their power, and that their desire
was to understand how those supplies were spent. And,
farther, they had this to declare, how by an old ordinance it
was enacted, that if the king, not being sick, should absent
himself forty days, and refuse to come to the parliament,
without regard to the charges of his people, and their great
pains, then they may lawfully return home to their houses;
wherefore, seeing he had been absent a long time, and still
refused to come among them, it was greatly to their discom-
fort.
It is related that Richard made this reply:-"Now we do
plainly perceive that our people and the commons go about
to rise against us; and in such case nothing seems better for
us than to ask aid of our cousin the king of France, and
rather submit ourselves to him than to our own subjects."
REMONSTRANCE TO RICHARD II.
317
With Richard's clear knowledge of the character of his
uncles, and his reasonable suspicion of their designs, and
with the horrors of a popular rebellion fresh in remembrance,
it is very probable that such a thought passed across his
mind, but most unlikely that he should have given it utter-
ance; and as, among the accusations which afterwards were
heaped upon him, this was never laid to his charge, we may
fairly regard it as disproved.* The lords, however, are said
to have replied, that this would be no wise course, for the
French king was his old enemy, who, if he might once set
foot in England, would rather despoil him of his kingdom
than lend a helping hand to support him. They proceeded
to speak of the great burden which had been laid upon the
necks of the people for the supportation of the wars: by
reason whereof they were brought so low that they could
not pay their rents, and by such means was his power de-
cayed, his lords brought behindhand, and all his people sore
impoverished. And as that king cannot be poor that hath
rich people, so cannot he be rich that hath poor commons;
and as he took hurt by such inconveniences chancing through
evil counsellors, so the lords sustained no less, and each one
after his estate and calling. And if remedy were not in time
provided, the realm must fall to ruin, and the cause would
be imputed to him and to his evil counsellors. This remedy
consisted in their setting-to their helping hands. They are
said to have proceeded thus:-"There is yet one part more
of our message remaining, to be delivered on the part of
your people, and it is this: we have an ancient constitution,
and it was not many ages since experimented (it grieves us
that we must mention it), that if the king, through any evil
counsel, or weak obstinacy, or contempt of his people, or out
of a perverse and froward wilfulness, or by any other irregular
courses, shall estrange himself from his people, and refuse
to govern by the laws and statutes of the realm-but will
throw himself headlong into wild designs, and stubbornly
exercise his own single arbitrary will, that from that time
it shall be lawful for his people, by their full and free con-
sent, to depose that king from his throne, and establish upon
the same some other of the royal race in his stead." In
fact, a member had been encouraged to call for the record
containing the parliamentary deposition of Edward II.
* This is Hume's opinion, who, upon the same ground, discredits a decla-
ration imputed to Richard, that he would not, at the instance of parlia-
ment, remove the meanest scullion in his kitchen. Both rest upon Knygh-
ton's authority; and I agree with Hume in thinking it plain that they
were either intended by him merely as an ornament to his history, or are
false.-Vol. iii. 8vo. edit. note B.
7
2 D2
318
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
Richard submitted now, because he was unable to resist : he
only obtained a respite for his other ministers, by stipulating
that they should content themselves with carrying through
their impeachment against Suffolk; and on that condition he
returned to the parliament.*
or
Unsuccessful as the king of Armenia's mediation had
proved, there had been nothing in his reception to mortify him;
he had received all the respect and attention due to his good
meaning and to his rank. But when he arrived at Sluys,
"the French king and his uncles took no regard to his say-
ing, but sent him back again into France; for their full in-
tention was to invade England, as soon as they might have
wind and weather." There was, however, something more .
than wind and weather to be waited for. The king was now
at Sluys; and every day's report throughout Flanders and
Artois was, that the expedition would sail on the morrow,
on the next day after; but one of Charles's uncles, the duke
of Berry, was not yet arrived: he moved "but fair and softly,
for he had no great appetite for the adventure; and his long
tarrying was displeasant to the king, and the duke of Bur-
gundy, and the other great lords: they would gladly he had
been come. ""
They who were not great lords had far more
cause to be impatient at his delay: the great were duly paid
their appointments; but other poor companions, says Frois-
sart's translator, "bought the bargain." The treasurer of
the war, and the clerks of the chamber of accounts, said to
them, "Wait till the next week, sirs, and then ye shall be
paid;" and they had the same answer when the next week
came; "and if any payment were made them, it was but for
eight days, when as many weeks were due." Men began to
suspect that the expedition would altogether fail, or perhaps
had never been sincerely intended; but that when the taxes,
which had been imposed upon this pretext, were collected,
some excuse would then be found for breaking it up. The
suspicion, as it affected the king and his advisers, was inju-
rious; their hearts were set upon the enterprise, and their
honour pledged to it: but every day rendered the expectation
more reasonable: and the chronicler says that they were wise
who cast such doubts, and provided for themselves accord-
ingly. But the poor knights and companions that were re-
tained by the great lords, spent all they had: " every thing
was so dear, that hard it was to get either bread or drink;
and if they would sell their pay or their armour, none would
purchase, unless they took them at their own iniquitous ten-
* Holinshed, ii. 775. Hume, iii. 15. Parl. Hist. i. 186, 187.
FRENCH FLEET DISPERSED.
99
319
der; whereas for all that they had to buy exorbitant prices were
required. When the lords, who lodged at Bruges, sent to the
king to ask when they should depart, the answer always was,
"within three or four days, or when the duke of Berry is come,
and the wind may serve. So ever the time past, and the
days shortened, and the nights grew long, and the weather
began to be foul and cold. "The duke of Berry, meantime,
had heard mass at Nôtre Dame, preparatory to his solemn
departure from Paris, and had declared, like the king his ne-
phew, that he would never enter that capital again till he had
been in England. He set out for Flanders; and all the way
as he came he had letters from the king and from the duke
of Burgundy to hasten him, certifying him that they tarried
for nothing but his coming. So he rode always forward
but it was by small journeys."
The constable, meantime, sailed from Treguier to join the
armament with a fleet of seventy-two ships; the wind became
"fierce and great :" when they were off the mouth of the
Thames the fleet was dispersed; and the English cruisers
were upon the alert to profit by every opportunity of fortune.
Seven of his vessels, having the provision on board, were
driven to Zeeland, and there captured. The lord William
of Beauchamp, captain of Calais, made two prizes, one of
which was laden with "divers great guns and engines to beat
down walls withal;" and there was on board a great quantity
of powder," that was more worth than all the rest. The
other was laden with a part of the great enclosure or wooden
wall; and in her the master carpenter of that extraordinary
work was taken, being an Englishman who had been banish-
ed his country for some offence. Three other ships, like-
wise, fell into their hands, carrying parts of the same enclo-
sure. These, because of their lading, were brought to Lon-
don, "whereof the king had great joy, and so had all the
Londoners;" and when their curiosity had been satisfied, as
there was enough of this turretted palisade to be rendered
useful, it was sent to be set up round the town of Win-
chelsea.*
The constable thought himself fortunate in reaching Sluys
with the remainder of his fleet. Upon his arrival, the king
was earnest with him that they should speedily set forth,
saying, "the duke of Berry would arrive in one or two
days."
But the constable replied, "We cannot depart, sir,
till the wind serves; for it is so sore against us, and so
strainable,' that the sailors say it has not been so unfavour-
* Holinshed, ii. 773. 777. Froissart, iii. 43.
320
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
鲁
99
able for a great while as now. "Constable," said the
king, "I have been in my ship, and the air of the sea pleas-
eth me greatly I believe I shall be a good sailor, for the
sea did me no hurt."-" In God's name, sir!" the constable
replied, "it hath done hurt to me; for we were in great peril
by fortune of the sea and of the winds that rose against us
off the English coast; and we have lost of our ships, where-
of I am right sorry, if that might amend it; but it is without
remedy for this time." The wind came round before the
duke of Berry arrived: his delay had now exhausted the
king's patience; and it was deemed better that he should be
left to follow them, than that the execution of this mighty
enterprise should be deferred longer. Accordingly, on the
even of All Saints, the fleet weighed anchor, and launched
from the haven of Sluys; but they had not proceeded above
twenty miles upon their course before it veered again to its
old point, and drove them back with such force, that several
of them were disabled before they came again to anchor.*
Thus "always the time past, and the winter approached,
and the lords lay there in great cold and peril." And yet
they were not so eager to be gone as the Flemings were desi-
rous to be relieved from the burden of such sojourners. The
people of the country asked, in language more characteristic
than reverent or complimentary, "why the French king tar-
ried there so long, instead of crossing over to England; and
if they were not poor enough already that the French must
make them poorer ?""They will not cross this year," said
they, "for the realm of England is not so easily to be won.
What would they do in England? Englishmen are not of the
condition of Frenchmen. When the English were in France,
and over-rode their country, they hid themselves in their for-
tresses, and fled before them as the lark before the hawk!"
There was great danger that this temper might show itself
in something more than murmurs; for the remembrance of
the battle of Roosebeke was rankling in the minds of the
common people, whose fathers, brethren, and friends had
there been slaughtered. A quarrel began at Bruges, through
the insolence of some of the French lackeys; and if the
lord of Ghistelles had not happened to be there, and exerted
himself with the help of the better citizens in time, it is said
that not a lord, knight, nor squire of France in that city,
where so many of them were lodged, would have escaped
unslain; so bitter was the resentment of that yet recent
wrong, and the indignation which the French had excited by
*Froissart, iii. 43. Holinshed, 777.
DUKE OF BERRY.
321
their conduct towards the women. Ghistelles, by his exer-
tions and his persuasions, for he spoke to the people in their
own tongue, not only saved a great part of the French from
being massacred that day, but that beautiful city also from
the destruction with which such an outburst of popular feel-
ing would have been revenged.*
At length the duke of Berry arrived, having purposely
protracted the time, that, by the excuse of winter, he
might cause the expedition to be put off. "Ah, fair uncle,”
said the king, "how greatly have I desired to see you! Why
have you tarried so long? We had been now in England,
and should have fought with our enemies, if ye had been
come. "The duke," says Froissart, "began to smile, and
to excuse himself, and did not show at once what lay in his
heart. November being far advanced, he trusted that the
weather would aid his advice, and waited only a favourable
opportunity for giving it." Every day it was said, that the
fleet would sail on the morrow, and when the morrow came,
the wind still continued as contrary as this duke wished it.
Many of the ships were ready to weigh anchor upon the
first signal, and not a few of the chief persons had embarked,
emulous who should be the first to land in the enemy's
country; but when the duke had been a week at Sluys, and
December had begun, and even the most adventurous could
not but acknowledge that "it was no good season for so
many noble men to take the sea," the king's council assem-
bled to deliberate whether they should proceed with the ex-
pedition, the very object of their meeting disclosing a de-
sire that it might be given up.
"The duke of Berry then,"
says Froissart, "brake all, and showed so many reasonable
reasons, that they who had most eagerness to go were all
put out of heart. He said it was a folly and a great wrong
to counsel the French king, who was yet but a youth, to put
to sea at such a time of year, and to make war upon peo-
ple in a country where no one knew the ways, and which
was a poor country, and a full evil one to make war in.
Suppose that we were all arrived there, and had landed,
they would not fight with us till they listed; and we should
not dare leave our provision behind us, for if we did it
would all be lost. They who would make such a voyage,
66
* Sueyro, ii. 18. Froissart, iii. 43.
"Wherein," says Holinshed, "he showed more wit than all the counsel
lors which the French king had about him; for if he had not politicly
shifted off the matter, the king had landed here in England, to the great
danger of his person, and loss of his people."
"Tant de raisons raisonnables."
322
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
#
and to such a country (for the way from France to England
is not so long), ought not to begin it in the heart of winter, but
in the heart of summer. Call together all the mariners that
are here, and they will tell you that my words are good; and
that great as our power is now, though we have at present
1500 vessels assembled, there would not be 300 in company
when we arrived there: behold, then, the peril we should
put ourselves in! I say this by way of counsel, and not
that I would excuse myself from the enterprise: and since
the greater part of the kingdom of France inclines in this
to my way of thinking, I would that you and I should go,
fair brother of Burgundy, but I would not have the king go,
for if any ill should befall him it would be laid to us."*
The young king, who was present, listened to this with no
good pleasure; and when his uncle had ceased, he replied,
"In God's name! if none else go, I will." Upon which the
lords began to smile, and say, "the king is of a brave will!”
They agreed, however, to defer the expedition till April or
May; and that such stores as were not perishable should
be reserved till that time. Accordingly, orders were given
that every man should return to his home, and there be
ready at the king's commandment early in the spring.
"Then might have been seen lords and knights sore dis-
pleased, especially such as came from distant parts, and
had travailed their bodies, and spent their money in trust to
have had a good season. The counts of Savoy and Ar-
magnac, and the dauphin of Auvergne, and many other great
lords, departed in ill will, because they had not been in Eng-
land. This dauphin told Froissart that the provision for
the expedition which he left at Sluys, and all of which he
lost, had cost him 10,000 franks; he did not consider how
likely it was,-how all but certain,-that if he had landed
on the desired shore, such an allotment of English ground
as Harold Hardrada's would have been his portion there! So
* Froissart, iii. 44.
+ "Este golpe del cielo," says Sueyro, "el invierno y el temor dieron
por buenas sus razones; assi se dissipò la empresa, haviendo sufrido el
pueblo los danos en lugar del enemigo." P. Daniel most unjustly imputes
the duke's conduct to jealousy. He says, "Le duc de Berri n'avoit point
été d'avis de cette entreprise; mais on avoit eu peu d'égard à son sentiment,
et après qu'elle eut été resolue, on ne l'avoit consulté que par cérémonie.
Il en fût offensé, et dit à quelques-uns de ses confidens, qu'il trouveroit bien
les moiens de la faire échouer. Il en vent à bout-par l'entêtement d'un
seul homme, et peût-être par son avarice (car le bruit courut alors qu'il
avoit reçu de grandes commes du Roi d'Angleterre), tous ces grands pré-
paratifs, et les dépenses infinies qu'on avoit faites, ne servirent qu'à rendre
la France ridicule, quand tous ces projets, qui avoient tenu toute l'Europe
dans l'attente d'un grand évènement s'en furent allés en fumée."-v. 331,
332. De Serres omits all mention of this armament.
MISGOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND.
323
the army broke up, some with light hearts and some with
angry ones.
The officers remained behind to dispose of
what stores they could for their master's profit, though they
knew not to whom; and well were they if they could obtain
ten franks for what had cost an hundred; very many lost
every thing which they could not carry with them. Such
was the pitiful result of an armament which cost the king-
dom of France, in Froissart's words, 100,000 franks thirty
times told. When this was known in England, some were
" right joyful and glad thereof, thinking they had escaped a
great peril; and others were angry and displeased therewith,
which were such as thought to have had some promotion
and profit by the enemies' coming; and divers of them said
that they would never set by the Frenchmen more."* Men
whose fathers had fought at Cressy and at Poictiers might
rightly feel this confidence whenever they met the French in
battle; but they ought to have remembered now that their
own courage had not, in this instance, been the means of
their deliverance, neither had the wisdom of their rulers con-
tributed to it; but that it was overruling Providence alone
which had abated the pride of the enemy, and confounded
their devices. At the very time when the danger appeared
most imminent and inevitable, parliament, or, more truly, the
great nobles by whom it was directed, were making terms
with the king; nor did they grant the supplies which were
necessary for the defence of the country, till by an act pre-
luded with the lying assertion that it was framed for the
reverence of God, to nourish peace, unity, and good accord
within the realm, and specially for the common profit and
ease of the people, and which the king was compelled to
acknowledge as of his own free will, and to swear to,—they
had transferred the sovereign power from him to a council
of fourteen, who were all of his uncle Gloucester's faction.
"O dear country!" says Speed," hadst thou not then been
apparently in God's protection (for the French having staid
for a wind till Hallowtide, and then having it half way, were
beaten back, and the voyage made utterly void), certainly
thy ruin had then been certain! God, indeed, turned from
us the merciless point of the French sword; but here began
the seeds of innumerable other worse miseries, never to be
remembered without sighs and tears."t
* Froissart, iii. 44. Sueyro, ii. 18.
† Speed, 601. "What," says the honest chronicler, “shall we think or say
of those popular lords, by this gentle king armed, to his own bane, with
power and greatness, who, under the specious pretext of reforming abuses,
did satisfy their envy and inbred insolency? The king tells them that
324
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
The seeds of those fearful calamities were indeed, as the
same honest writer has remarked, then sown; but the people
were not without some present taste of the evils which are
always brought upon them whenever the government falls
into the hands of a reckless faction. A great force had been
assembled round the metropolis, that they might be ready to
march against the enemy wherever a landing should be
effected: all the towns and villages for twenty miles round
about were full of men-of-arms and archers, " lying as it had
been in camp ;" and wanting both victuals and money, for
they received no pay, but were left to live as they could,
"they were driven to spoil, and to take by violence what
they could get. And when at length they were licensed to
depart home, many of them were constrained through ne-
cessity to sell their horses and armour, and some to rob as
they went homeward.”* When at length, upon the earnest
suit of some of those great lords who had the service of the
country at heart, a scanty supply was granted, the earl of
Arundel, being lord admiral, was appointed to receive it, and
fit out therewith a fleet. To this use it was faithfully appro-
priated; the lord admiral knew that his men would be in-
spected, for the prevention of such abuses as had been too
common in the navy;† he was careful therefore to procure
1387. good men, and went to sea as well trimmed and ap-
pointed as was possible. The number of his ships is
not stated, but according to Froissart there were 500 men-of-
arms on board, and 1000 archers. The earls of Devonshire
and Nottingham were in his company, and the bishop of
England is, as they saw, in manifest danger, and prays their succour in
money. What is the answer? That the Duke of Ireland (for now the mar-
quis of Dublin was made a duke), and Michael at the Pole (so they scorn-
fully called the earl of Suffolk), and others, must be removed. Things are
badly carried at home, say they, and they said perhaps truly; but where
was now the care of our country? Strange colours, for subjects to capitu.
late with their king, upon giving their joint aids against the common
enemy, now ready with one destruction to overwhelm them all."
* Holinshed, ii. 773. Speed, 602.
t "He spared for no costs," says Holinshed (778.), "to have the most
choicest and pickedst fellows that might be gotten, not following the evil
example of others in times past, which received tag and rag to fill up their
numbers, whom they hired for small wages, and reserved the residue to
their purses. And when, to the advancement of the realm's commodity,
they should have encountered the enemies, they shifted off all occasions
thereto, and only prolonged time, without atchieving any enterprise avail
able, to the end they might receive the whole wages, and keep themselves
from danger; which they should hardly have avoided when they had not
about them such able men as were like to match the enemies. But the earl
of Arundel, contrarily, got the ablest men he might, not sparing his own
purse; to the end that, by their service, he might atchieve some worthy en-
terprise, to redound unto the commodity of his country.'
FLEMISH FLEET.
325
Norwich,—a prelate of most martial propensities, who may
have been a good sailor, though he must needs have been a
bad bishop, and had shown himself to be no better as a ge-
neral. Another and more remarkable person embarked as a
volunteer in this fleet, Pieter Vanden Bosch, one of the most
distinguished, intrepid, and remorseless of the demagogues
of Ghent. When that city submitted to the duke of Bur-
gundy, he deemed it prudent to withdraw to England, where,
by John of Gaunt's means, he had a pension of 100 marks
assigned him from the duties paid on the exportation of wool
by foreign merchants. He was an expert seaman, and
repose* seems not to have suited one who had so long been
accustomed to the strong excitement of revolutionary strug-
gles. They lay off the mouth of the Thames, "abiding
their adventure," in the beginning of March, and looking for
the return of the Flemish fleet from Rochelle. The mer-
chants of that place, of Flanders, Hainault, Holland, and
other countries, standing in fear of the English, consorted
together before they sailed from Flanders; and the duke had
appointed them a convoy of six galleons under his admiral
Hans Buyck, one of the best sea captains in those seas. They
had engaged to keep company out and home, and stand by
each other; and when they had taken in their lading at Ro-
chelle, they were joined for security by certain French and
Spanish ships consigned to merchants at Bruges. When
they came opposite the mouth of the Thames, having gone so
far without danger, they descried the English fleet; and
"they in the tall ships said to their company, 'Sirs, advise
ye well; we shall be met by the English army: they have
perceived us; they will take the advantage of the wind and
tide, and we shall have battle ere it be night." "—"The
tidings," says Froissart, "were not pleasing to some, and
specially to the merchants who had their merchandise aboard;
they would gladly have been thence if they could. Howbeit,
sith they saw that fight they must, and could not pass with-
out it, they arrayed themselves thereto; there were there,
arbalisters and others all armed and defenceable, more than
700 men. And Hans Buyck, who was right sage and hardy
in arms, and had done great damage on the sea to the Eng-
lish, he set every thing in good order, and decked his ships
well and wisely, as he could right well do, and said, 'Sirs,
be not abashed: we are men enough to fight with the Eng-
lish army, and the wind will serve us, so that even while we
*
Aquel animo inquieto," says Sueyro, "buscava qualquier occasion en
qui empliarse, aunque fuesse con dano de la patria y de los suyos."
VOL. I.
2 E
326
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
be fighting we shall coast Flanders, and approach nearer and
nearer to Sluys.' Some took good comfort with these words,
and some not; so they put themselves in good order and de-
fence, and made ready their cross-bows and their guns.
99*
It was on a Sunday, and the eve of Lady-day (for war
keeps neither holiday nor Sabbath), that the Flemish fleet
had been descried far off from the mast of one of the English
ships; and the earl of Arundel, "greatly rejoicing at the
news," immediately put to sea. The Flemings are de-
scribed, when they approached, as making show of a deter-
mination to engage them, and the English as feigning to
retire in seeming mistrust of being able to match these ad-
versaries, who, coveting a safe passage rather than battle,
passed by; but by this manoeuvre the English "got the
wind fit for their purpose." Their galleys came foremost
with stress of oars, and the archers, with whom they were
well-manned, began to shoot fiercely, and lost much of their
shot; for the Flemings kept under their decks, and would
not expose themselves to the arrows, but drove along with
the wind; and some of their cross-bowmen, who were out
of the archers' reach, discharged their quarrels at advantage,
so that the galleys lost many men, and were distressed; but
then came up Arundel with his company, and the bishop of
Norwich with his, and the main fleet. The enemy, how-
ever, inferior as they were in force, defended themselves
bravely, and with right good will, Hans Buyck demeaning
himself with equal skill and courage. He was in a great
strong ship, and had three cannon, which discharged such
great and heavy shot,† "that wherever they lighted they did
great damage; and ever as they fought, they drew by little
and little toward Flanders; and there were some of the mer-
chant ships which took the coast and the shoal water, and
saved themselves, where the great ships could not follow
them."
But the engagement was continued with great
eagerness on one side, and great resolution on the other, and
there were "ships broken and sunk on both parts;" for out
of the tops they cast down great bars of iron, which where
they fell carried every thing before them down to the bottom.
This was a hard battle and well-fought, for it lasted three or
four hours, and when day failed they drew apart and cast
anchor, and rested all night, and drest their wounded men;
* Holinshed, ii. 778. Froissart, iii. 52. Sueyro, i. 21, 22.
↑ "Carreaux si gros et si grans," which lord Berners renders great stones.
This may, probably, be right, but I have not ventured to follow him, be.
cause Froissart expressly says, quarrels, using the same word as for the
cross-bow shot.
ACTION WITH THE FLEMISH FLEET.
327
and when the tide came they disanchored, and drew up sail,
and returned fiercely and resolutely to the battle. Vanden
Bosch, who had a command there of archers as well as sea-
men, is said to have "given the Flemings much to do that
day, being sore displeased that they and the merchants should
have resisted so long." No men, indeed, could have be-
haved better against such odds, but the stronger side pre-
vailed more and more; and when they came between Blank-
enberg and Sluys, near Cadsant, "there was the discomfiture:
where the Flemings, now close to their port, might have
looked for succour, they found none, for there were no men-
of-arms at Sluys, neither in ships nor in the town. Only
the bailey of the place, Arnulf by name, got into a good bark
of his own, with a few bold men of the place and twenty
arbalisters, and rowed till he came to the fleets, just as the
victory was completed. When he perceived this, he made
his men discharge their cross-bows thrice in bravado, and
was then chased into the haven with little danger to himself,
his vessel being able to keep nearer the land than the Eng-
lish could follow him."*
Some of the Flemings got into Blankenberg, and some
into Sluys; others, which were cut off from either place,
Arundel pursued for two days, till he captured them; so that
what in the battle and in the chase about 100 ships were
taken. Buyck was made prisoner; and it is more honour-
able to him than to the English government, that they would
consent neither to ransom nor exchange this brave and enter-
prising seaman. He was detained in London, as a prisoner
at large, with all courtesy, under no other restriction than that
of always sleeping in the city; and there, after three years,
he died. This would not have been done in the days of the
Black Prince. Vanden Bosch, whose old feelings seem to
have recovered all their strength, would have had Arundel
follow up his success, and make an attack upon Sluys; and
Froissart says that if he had done so he would have won it,
for the people of the town were greatly dismayed at the loss
of the fleet, and doubted whether they should abandon the
place, or go on board the ships, and defend the haven: but
the English chiefs were of opinion that this would be a rash
enterprise; for if they entered Sluys and got possession of
* Froissart, iii. 52.
↑ "Mais les Anglois ne l'avoient point eu courage, ni en conseil." This
imputation of want of courage is remarkable as coming from Froissart.
He would not have read that sentence to the bishop of Norwich, who seems
to have been much such another "good Christian" as my Cid's bishop,
Don Hieronymo, "that perfect ono with the shaven crown," who used to
328
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
it, the people of Bruges, of Damme, and of Hardenburg
would besiege them there, and they might lose all that they
had won. They kept off the harbour, and attempted to burn
the ships that were lying there; for this purpose they took
the worst of their prizes, payed them well both within and
without, and set them on fire, and so let them drive with
wind and tide into the port, not caring to what_nation the
vessels belonged which might be consumed. But the at-
tempt altogether failed. They remained some days off the
coast, landing every day, and foraging on foot for want of
horses, and burning towns and villages along the coast,
and sometimes entering into the country; and when they
were tired of this sort of warfare, in which there was little
danger and no glory, they sailed for England with their
prizes.
The booty taken in the fleet is estimated by Froissart at
200,000 franks. The quantity of wine is variously stated at
9000 tons or at 19,000, "whereby," it is the good chroni-
cler's remark, "wine was the dearer all the year after in
Flanders, Holland, and Brabant, and the better cheap in
England, as it was reason: such are the adventures of this
world; if one hath damage another hath profit." Before
the earl of Arundel left the Flemish coast, the citizens of
Middleburg came to him, “and requested that they might
buy these wines of him, and pay for the same after the rate
of 100 shillings the tun, alleging how they were the king's
friends, and stood in need of wines. But the earl, thinking
it," says Holinshed, "more reason that those which had
borne the charges of the journey, to wit, the commons of the
realm of England, should have the commodity thereof than
any other, he denied their suit; but yet to show them some
pleasure as his friends, he gave them twenty tuns to make
merry with." The merchants of Zierickzee were more for-
tunate: they claimed part of the wines as being their pro-
perty; their claim, it appears, was valid, and they had it
smite the Moors, "for the love of charity," till the blood ran down from his
upraised hand to his elbow.
"The earls,” says Trussell, “in this service, for their valour and courtesy,
got great reputation; and their actions did by so much appear the more
honourable, by how much the unfortunate insufficiency of other generals,
by whose either rashness, or cowardice, or both, many soldiers had been
defeated every year, had been famous before for one loss or other. At their
return, the king (more inclinable to revenge displeasure than reward desert,
for it is troublesome to be grateful, but revenge is pleasant, and preferred
before gain) entertained them with strangeness of speech, and by his coun-
tenance seemed he was ill pleased, for that they had deserved so well." (10.)
It is evident, from this passage, that some blame was imputed to the com-
manders, for the vulgar-minded imputation upon the king is unworthy of
notice.
HENRY PERCY.
329
restored. "Good cause there was," says Froissart, "why
the English should deal courteously by them; for they of
Zierickzee never would agree with the French to go against
England, but roundly declared that they should take neither
ships nor barges of theirs, whereby they came greatly into
love and favour with the English."-" As for that which
fell to the earl's own share, he used," we are told, "such
bountifulness in bestowing it among his friends, that he left
not to himself so much as one tun. He won, therefore, no
small praise, that, forbearing his own commodity, which he
might have reaped in selling those wines to strangers, he
had more regard to the profit of the commons, whereby they
might understand, that that which they had laid forth to-
wards the setting forward of his journey was not altogether
lost, nor cast away. By these means, besides the commen-
dation which he drew to himself, he also won the hearts and
good will of the people, whose friendship is purchased by
gifts and good deeds, since they make profit the mete-rod
amity, and bound in benevolence with received benefits."
Richer captures have been brought home, but none, perhap
ever before or since, that so literally gladdened the hearts
the people; for the rich wines of Poictou and Xaintonge,
which they thought to have drank that year in Flanders, in
Hainault, in Brabant, in Liege, and in many parts of Pi-
cardy, were sold in London and in other parts of England:
and being uttered abroad there, made it so plentiful that, ac-
cording to our own chroniclers, it was sold for a mark the
tun, and the choicest for twenty shillings.†
While the invasion had been apprehended, Henry Percy-
ever to be known by the appellation of Hotspur, given him by
the Scotch, but fixed upon him by Shakspeare was stationed
at Calais, for the defence of that then most important place.
"And, indeed," says Speed,‡ "his nature did answer his
by-name, for he made such ridings into the quarters about
Calais, that they could never wish a worse neighbour."
Afterward, when it was well understood that this fortress
would not be attacked, he who was justly described as the
pattern of all virtue and martial prowess, returned home, "to
be present where the greatest danger was expected." If the
king's favourites are not calumniated in this (as certainly
they have been in other points), his zeal for the service of
the country was but ill requited: they are charged with send-
ing him to sea "to beat back the attempts of the enemy,"
* Holinshed, ii. 778.
† Ibid. Fabyan, 533. Froissart, iii. 53.
+ Page 601.
2 [2
330
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
but slenderly appointed to achieve any great enterprise; and
this they are accused of having done "of some envious pur-
pose, because he had got a name among the common people
to be a very hardy and robust gentleman, as well among
Englishmen as Scots." Whatever was the object of his ex-
pedition, or of those who sent him on it, he, "either ignorant
of what had been devised against him, or disregarding it,
boldly and valiantly executed the business enjoined him;
and having remained abroad during the whole time of his
appointed service, returned safely home."*
When the armament at Sluys was broken up, it was or-
dained, "to show courage and good will," lest it might be
said that the French were recreant to undertake this voyage,
that early in May, when the sea should be fair and pleasant,
an invasion should be effected. For this purpose the consta-
ble was to assemble 4000 men-at-arms and 2000 arbalisters
at Treguier, where the chief preparations were to be made;
every man was to take with him a horse, for without horses
it was thought that they could not enter the country so as to
carry on a successful war; and stores were provided for four
or five months' consumption, the constable well knowing that
the English, as soon as they knew of the coming of a host
against them, would destroy every thing in the plain country,
rather than that the enemy should profit by it. While one
fleet was collected there, the admiral was to embark an equal
force on board another at Harfleur for the same destination.
These preparations were serious; yet in England they seem
to have been little regarded, either because the last year's
show of invasion had ended so pitifully, or because it was
believed that the real purpose of the French was to withdraw
John of Gaunt from his enterprise upon Castile,-or, which
is more probable, because those whose duty it was to attend
to the cares of state were wholly occupied in factious com-
binations and commotions. Of this the French were well
informed, and they expected to profit accordingly. They
intended to land in two bodies, one at Dover, the other in
the Orwell; every thing was on board; the day for the de-
parture of the expedition was fixed, and close at hand; and
the men had received fifteen days' wages in advance, when
the whole scheme was frustrated by one of those sudden
strokes‡ of policy or passion which we read of only in the
* Holinshed, ii. 779.
† Froissart, iii. 63, 64.
1 "If I should say that such matters fell in that season, and not open the
matter clearly, which was great, perilous, and horrible, this might be a
chronicle, but no history. I might let it overpass if I list, but I will not
do so; I shall declare the cause, sith God hath given me the knowledge
thereof, and time and leisure to chronicle the matter at length."-Froissart.
JEAN DE BRETAGNE.
331
history of barbarous times. During the siege of Calais,
Charles de Blois and his two sons had been taken prisoners
before Roche-darian by sir Thomas Dagworth, and sent to
England. At the intercession of his cousin, queen Philippa,
and against the opinion of the council, he was, after four
years, set at liberty, upon engaging to pay a ransom of
200,000 nobles, for which he left both his sons as hostages.
The sum, though large, was not deemed excessive for one
who claimed the dutchy of Bretagne, and, if he had won the
dukedom, it would have been willingly raised by the people,
among whom he was deservedly popular. In this pursuit,
however, he failed; and when, twelve years after his deli-
verance, he fell in the battle of Auray, his ransom was still
unpaid, and his sons were still detained accordingly. Theirs
was a hard lot: the one died, and the other, Jean de Bre-
tagne, though held in such easy and honourable custody as
befitted his rank, looked upon his condition, after five-and-
thirty years, as desperate. At this time, however, when
utter hopelessness and a deep resentment of the indifference
with which his relations regarded his fate, had made him
weary of life, the duke of Bretagne, Jean de Montfort, made
peace with the French, and did homage to the king of France.
The very circumstance which thus seemed to leave Jean
de Bretagne no chance for deliverance brought it about.
Montfort had solicited and obtained English aid just before
he came to these terms with the French. The promises
which he had made to the English, and in reliance upon
which they had marched into the country, were, of course,
broken; but instead of endeavouring, by his personal con-
duct, to convince them that, though this had become neces-
sary for him, his amicable and grateful feelings towards
England had undergone no change, he let them suffer the
utmost privations: their horses perished for want, and the
men were reduced to gather thistles in the fields and pound
them in mortars for food, and to bruise their corn in the same
This treatment excited great indignation in Eng-
land; insomuch that the government offered to put Jean de
Bretagne in possession of the dutchy to which he had inhe-
rited his father's claims, and to give him John of Gaunt's
daughter, Philippa, in marriage, if he would consent to hold
manner.
To the same purport, and touching this same subject, he elsewhere ex-
presses himself thus characteristically:-"En si grand et si noble histoire
comme ceste est (dont je sire Jehan Froissart ay esté augmenteur et re-
citeur, depuis le commencement jusques à maintenant, par la grace et
vertu, que Dieu m'à donnée de si longuement vivre, que j'ay en mon temps
veu toutes les choses d'abondance, et de bonne volonte), n'est pas raison
que j'oublie rien qui à ramentevoir face.”—iii. 50.
332
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
that dutchy from the king of England. The noble hostage
refused to do any thing injurious to the crown of France; but
he declared his willingness to marry the lady Philippa, and
his desire to be set free as a consequence of that marriage.
Here this negotiation ended: the lady Philippa was reserved
to become, like the queen her grandmother, whose fortunate
name she bore, the wife of an illustrious king, and the mother
of an illustrious progeny. Another personage had at this
time turned his thoughts towards the deliverance of Jean de
Bretagne, and with intentions which were, perhaps, not less
inimical to duke Jean de Montfort. This was the constable
Olivier de Clisson. When the duke made his peace with
France, one of the conditions was, that he should ransom
Jean de Bretagne, a charge properly belonging to the dutchy,
and more especially now to him, as a point of honour and just
feeling towards the son of his brave competitor and his own
near kinsman. No steps, however, had been taken towards
this; and Clisson, who was then on such terms of familiarity
with the duke as their fellowship in the English court had
occasioned, and as seemed to imply friendship, ventured to
tell him, that the performance of his engagement was looked
for, and that the people liked him the less for delaying it.
The duke asked where he was to find money for such a ran-
som; and Clisson made answer, that the people of Bretagne
would make little objection to a tallage or a hearth-tax for
such a purpose. "Messire Olivier," replied the duke, “my
country shall not be so taxed. My cousin has great princes
of his lineage-the king of France and the duke of Anjou-
they ought to aid him, for they supported his cause in the
war against mine; and when I swore that I would use my
endeavours for his deliverance, my intention was that the
king or his other relations should pay the money, and that I
would aid with my words."*
If there were any latent enmity between these two per-
sons, such a representation on the one part, and such an
avowal on the other, were sure to quicken it. The constable,
who was well informed of the state of affairs in England,
believed that he could make an easy composition for the pri-
soner, and raise his own family by so doing; accordingly he
* Froissart, iii. 50.
† "Le connestable de France ne pouvoit nullement aimer le duc de Bre-
caigne, ni le duc luy grant temps avant quelque semblant qu'ils se monstras-
sent.' When the English complained of their treatment in Bretagne
"bien savoit le connestable que telles parolles et murmurations, estoient
communement entre les Anglois, sur le duc de Bretaigne; dont il n'estoit
pas courroucé, car, pour un mal qu'on disoit de luy, il vousist autant qu'on
en dist douze.”—Froissart, iii. 5Q.
JEAN DE BRETAGNE.
333
sent an agent over to communicate with Jean de Bretagne,
and ask him whether, if the constable procured his deliver-
ance, he would engage to marry his daughter? To this a
consent was given as readily as to the proposed marriage
with the lady Philippa, and no doubt the more willingly, be-
cause the proposal was clogged with no conditions. The
more delicate part of the transaction was easily managed by
means of the king of England's favourite, Robert de Vere,
whom he had successively created earl of Oxford,* marquis
of Dublin, and duke of Ireland. The constable offered him.
30,000 marks; and at the king's earnest instance, parliament
authorized the bargain, and made a formal grant of this sum
to the favourite, on condition that, being furnished with this
money, he should pass over into Ireland before the next Eas-
ter, there to recover such lands as the king had given him.
For as well the lords as the commons were so desirous to
have him gone, that they wished the realm rather to spare so
inuch treasure than to have his presence about the king."
Here, then, was what, in modern language, is called a job,
which had the rare fortune that it pleased the public as well
as all the other parties concerned: the nobles who were dis-
contented with Richard's government had the satisfaction of
sending his favourite into a sort of exile; the nation thought
itself well rid of an unpopular minion; Richard was gratified
by obtaining such a grant for his friend; the duke of Ireland
had the money which he wanted; Jean de Bretagne obtained
his liberty after five-and-thirty years' captivity in a foreign
land; and the constable effected for his daughter an ambi-
tious marriage, after his own heart's desire-however it may
have accorded with hers.
A more important consequence, which no one had antici-
pated, resulted. This transaction averted from England an
invasion, which, though prepared upon no great scale, would
certainly have inflicted great evil, and might possibly, in the
disordered state of the country, have obtained sufficient suc-
cess to have drawn after it more formidable forces. The
duke of Bretagne had hoped that his kinsman might die a
prisoner, and that the claims of Charles de Blois would die
with him he saw him now enlarged, and connected by mar-
riage with the most powerful person in that dutchy, and in-
deed, so far as personal ability and reputation constituted
power, in France; and if the English should take up his
cause, for which he was conscious that he had given them
* Of all the metamorphoses which English names have undergone in
French, I do not recollect any one that has a stranger appearance than that
of Oxford into Acquessuffort, which is Froissart's way of writing it.
334
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
sufficient provocation, he apprehended the greatest danger to
himself.*. He cast about, therefore, how to prevent this
danger, and at the same time render such a service to Eng-
land as should make amends for his late conduct.
"He
knew well," says Froissart, "that the man in the world
whom Englishmen most hated was sir Olivier de Clisson,
constable of France; for, indeed, sir Olivier de Clisson ever
studied night and day how he might do displeasure to the
English." This armament had been by him planned; he
had directed the preparations, and by him it was to be com-
manded. The duke considered, therefore, that nothing could
so certainly gratify the English, and recover for him their
good will, and show at the same time that he made no great
account of the love and favour of the French, as to break up
the expedition; and this he might do, not by prohibiting the
Bretons to take part in it, but more surely and safely by
seizing the constable or slaying him. "In this purpose he
settled himself, and rested."+
To effect this treacherous intent he summoned his council
to meet him at Vannes, and the constable among them,
especially requiring him in his letters not to fail in his at-
tendance, and saying, "he should gladlier see him than any
other." He came accordingly the council met, and de-
bated at length upon many affairs, only the armament was
not touched on; that being an affair of which the duke, as
still in alliance with England, was supposed to take no cog-
nisance. The duke entertained them that day at dinner, and
"fed them afterwards with fair loving words till it was near
night." The constable then invited the knights and squires
of Bretagne to dine with him on the morrow: some did so,
and some departed to their own homes, to take leave of their
wives and parents; for his intention was, as soon as he de-
parted from Vannes, to go straight to the fleet and embark
forthwith. Most of the lords of the country were at this din-
ner: unexpectedly the duke joined them. Upon his entrance,
every man," says the chronicler, "rose, as reason was,
and sweetly received him, as they ought to do their lord;
and he demeaned himself right courteously, and took his seat
with them, and ate and drank for good company, and showed
them greater semblance of love than he had ever done be-
46
* Froissart makes him soliloquise thus:-" Voire! me cuide messire
Olivier de Clisson mettre hors de mon heritage? Il en monstre bien les
signifiances. Il a mis hors de prison Jehan de Bretaigne, et luy a donné
sa fille par mariage. Telles choses me sont moult fort déplaisantes; mais
par Dieu, je luy remonstreray, un jour qui viendra, qu'il n'a pas bien fait,
quand il s'en donnera le moins de garde."-iii. 50,
† Froissart, iii. 64,
335
fore. And he said to them, 'Fair sirs, my friends and com-
panion God send you well to go, and well to return, and
give you joy, and that you may do such deeds of arms as
may please yourselves, and be honourable to you all.'
Greatly were they pleased that he had come thus affably to
visit them, and take leave of them at their departure."*
LISSON TREACHEROUSLY SEIZED.
The duke had built a castle called Ermine, near Vannes:
it was nearly finished at this time; and he invited the con-
stable, with his brother-in-law, the sire de Laval, the sire de
Beaumanoir, and others, to come with him and see it—what
he had done there, and what he designed to do. Most of them
mounted their horses and rode thither with him. When they
arrived at the castle, the duke led them from chamber to
chamber, and from building to building, and made them drink
in the cellar. At last he brought them to the keep, leading the
constable by the hand; and stopping at the entrance of the
door, he said to him, "Sir Olivier, there is no man on this
side the sea that understands works of masonry better than
you; I pray you, fair sir, go up, and tell me what you think
of the building of this tower. If it likes you, I shall be
satisfied if any thing be amiss, it shall be reformed." The
constable, who thought no ill, replied, “I will go willingly,
sir; please you to lead the way."—"No," said the duke,
go by yourself, and I will talk here the while with the sire
de Laval." The constable then went up the stairs: when
he had gone past the first story, armed men, who had been
concealed in a chamber, appeared from it; some of them
went down and bolted the door below; others seized him,
led him into an apartment on the upper story, and there fet-
tered him with three chains-and then asked pardon for what
they had done, saying, "they must needs obey the orders of
their lord the duke."
64
When the sire de Laval, being beneath at the stair-foot,
saw the door closed, and heard it bolted, his blood began to
tremble, and looking at the duke, who "waxed pale and
“Ah,
green as a leaf," he knew that the matter went amiss.
sir," he cried, "mercy, for God's sake! take no evil will
"Sire de Laval,”
against my brother-in-law the constable !”.
was the reply, "take your horse and depart: you may go if
you will; I know well what I have to do."—" Sir," replied
Laval, “ I will never go hence without my brother-in-law."
At these words, the sire de Beaumanoir came up, and he also
asked for the constable. The duke, who had a hatred towards
him also, drew his dagger, and said to him, “ Beaumanoir,
* Froissart. iii. 65.
336
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
wilt thou be in the same point as thy master ?"—“ Sir,” he
replied, "I trust my master is in good case !"—" I demand
of thee," the duke answered, "if thou choosest to be in the
like case ?"—" Ay, sir,” said Beaumanoir;—upon which
the duke, taking his dagger by the point, said, If this be thy
choice, it behoveth thee then to put out one of thine eyes!"
Beaumanoir then, seeing how "green he looked," knelt on
one knee to him, and said, "Sir, I hold there is so much
goodness and nobleness in you, that if it please God, you
will do us nothing but right. We are come here at your bid-
ding; do not dishonour yourself to accomplish any ill will
against us, if such you have, for that would be too strange a
thing."—"Go to," replied the duke, "thou shalt fare neither
better nor worse than he!" so he was taken into another
chamber which had been assigned for that purpose, and there
fettered with three chains. "If he were then dismayed, it
was not without sufficient cause; for he perceived well that
the duke loved him but little, and the constable as ill.
Anon tidings passed through the castle, and through the
town, that the constable and the sires de Beaumanoir and La-
val were taken prisoners, but that Laval might depart at his
will, for the duke had no quarrel against him: touching the
other two, the opinion was that the duke would put both to
death, he hated them so mortally. "Then was the duke
greatly blamed of all knights and squires that heard thereof :"
they said "there was never a greater defamation on any
prince, than there was now on the duke of Bretagne. He
invited the constable to dine with him, and the constable
went; after this he went to visit him at his lodging, and
drank of his wine, and asked him to go with him and look at
his building, and then he seized him there. Never was such
a thing heard of; he was entirely infamed; and never was
man more dishonoured. No man will ever again put trust
in any great prince, seeing that the duke has by such crooked
and deceitful ways entrapped these brave men. What will
the king of France say, when he shall hear the news, and
that his expedition is broken up? Now hath the duke shown
openly that he is English, and will hold the king of Eng-
land's part, when he hath thus broken up the army that
should have gone against England. What ought the knights
and squires of this dutchy to do when they shall hear this?
what, but incontinent to leave their houses, and lay siege to
the castle of Ermine, and there beleaguer the duke till they
take him alive or dead, and then carry him like a false prince
and a disloyal to the king of France, and deliver him into
his hands?" This was the language of knights and squires
CLISSON THREATENED WITH DEATH.
337
in the market-place of Vannes, and of the lords who had
attended the duke's parliament. Most of them verily thought
that the prisoners would be put to death; others said that
the sire de Laval would prevent it; for he was so wise a
man, and so prudent, that he would dissuade the duke from
such wrong.
Laval, indeed, gave good proof of his wisdom in remain-
ing with the duke: three times in the course of that night
the constable was unfettered and brought forth to be put to
death; once the duke was for beheading him, and twice for
having him drowned; and to one of these deaths he would
have been put, if Laval had not knelt before the duke, weep-
ing, and with uplifted hands, at once entreating and reasoning
with him. "Ah, sir," he said, "for God's sake, mercy! ad-
vise yourself, and use no such cruelty upon my brother-in-
law; he can in no way have deserved death. Of your grace
I beseech you to tell what it is that moves you to be so
grievously incensed against him! I swear to you, that for
any misdeed which he hath done toward you he shall make
such amends with his body and goods, or I for him, or both
of us together, as you yourself shall determine and think suf-
ficient. Remember, sir, for the love of God, how in your
youth you were brought up together in the duke of Lancaster's
house, that loyal and gentle prince. Mercy, sir, for God's
sake! Call to mind how faithfully he served you before he
made his peace with the king of France! and how he aided
you to recover your heritage, and how you ever found in him
good support and good counsel. Though you be now moved
against him, he hath not deserved death.". “Sire de Laval,”
the duke replied, "let me do my will, for Clisson has often
displeased me, and it is now time that I should show him my.
displeasure go you your way; I ask nothing of you, and let
me show my cruelty, for I will that he shall die." The dili-
gence of the great chronicler of those times in collecting infor-
mation was such, and his opportunities so good, that he may
not unlikely have reported here the substance of the words
which really were used; but even if the dialogue be as ficti-
tious as that of a drama, it faithfully represents the character
and feeling of the age, and of the individuals; for Froissart
passed his life in the society which he so admirably de-
scribes.* "Ah, sir," the sire de Laval made answer,
"for
* The chapter in which he relates how he obtained all the particulars of
this transaction, begins with this characteristic passage:-" On me pourroit
demander qui voudroit, dont telles choses me viennent à savoir, pour parler
si proprement, et se vivement. Je respondroye à ceux qui m'en demande-
royent, qui grande cure et grande diligence j'ay mis en mon temps, pour le
VOL. I.
2 F
338
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
God's sake have mercy; refrain yourself; moderate a little
your courage, and regard reason. If you put him to death,
never was prince so dishonoured as you will be. There will
be in Bretagne neither knight nor esquire, city nor castle, nor
good town, nor any man whatsoever, that will not hate you
to the death, and do their utmost to disherit you. The king
of England and his council will give you no thanks. Will
you thus lose yourself for the sake of taking away the life of
one man? For God's sake take some better imagination: it
is too great dishonour to put to death so great a baron and
so gentle a knight as the sire de Clisson; it would be a trea-
son and a reproach here, and before God, and through the
whole world. He came here at your bidding, he drank of
your wine, and he did whatever you asked him to do. Was
this great love shown him that you might put him to death?
Never so great reproach came upon any lord as will be
brought upon you, if you do this thing. All the world will
reproach you, and hate you, and war upon you. I will tell
you what you shall do, since you hate him so much. You
shall put him to ransom for a great sum of florins; this you
may well do. And if he hold any town or castle that should
be yours, demand them of him, and you shall have them.
Whatever covenant you make with him, I will be pledge for
it on his part."
Laval never left the duke during the whole night, but still
kept close to him; and when he made this proposal, it
wrought upon the duke, and made him somewhat refrain his
evil will. At last he said, "Sire de Laval, you have been
a good mean for him, and I would have you know that the
sire de Clisson is the man in the world whom I most hate,
and if you had not been here he should not have escaped
death this night: your words have saved him. Go to him,
and demand if he will pay me 100,000 franks, incontinently.
I will neither have you, nor any other to pledge, but the
savoir, et ay cherché maint royaume, et maint païs, pour faire juste enqueste
de toutes les choses, qui cy-dessus sont contenues en ceste histoire, et qui
aussi en après descendront. Car Dieu me donna la grace et le loisir d'en
veoir en mon temps la greigneur partie, et l'avoir la cognoissance des haux
princes et seigneurs, tant en France comme en Angleterre. Car sachez qui
l'an de grace mil, trois cens, quatre vingtr et dix, j'y avoye laboure trente et
sept ans, et à ce jour j'avoye d'age cinquante et sept ans. Si peut un homme
beaucoup veoir et apprendre durant le terme de trente sept ans, quand il est
en sa force, et qu'il est bien de toutes parties. Or fu-je, des ma jeunesse,
cinq ans de l'hostel du roy d'Angleterre et de la royne; et si fu bien venu en
l'hostel de Jehan roy de France, et du roy Charles son fils. Si peu bien, sur
tel terme, apprendre et concevoir moult de choses; et pour certain, c'estoit la
greigneur imagination et plaisance que j'avoye, que tous jours enquerir
avant, et du retenir, et tantost escrire, comme j'en avoye fait les enquestes."
-iii. 75.
CLISSON COMPLAINS TO THE KING.
339
ready money; and then if he will moreover put me in pos-
session of castles Brot, Josselin, and Le Blanc, and the
town of Jugon, that done, I will deliver him to you." Laval
thanked the duke for thus yielding to his entreaties, and
readily undertook that his brother-in-law should consent to
these terms; Clisson consented to them before he knew
what they were, and asked Laval to go and raise the money,
and see that the places were given up.
"That will I not
do," replied Laval, "nor ever depart from this castle till I
take you with me; for the duke is right cruel, and if I were
absent he might repent of what he has agreed to, upon some
vain thought or information that he may have against you,
and then, all would be broken." They agreed that Beau-
manoir should go, who was released accordingly from his
chains, and was despatched with letters from the constable
authorizing what was to be done. The whole country was
by this in commotion; and if they had not now been assured
by Beaumanoir that the constable's life was safe, the knights -
and squires of Bretagne, assembled as they were for the ex-
pedition against England,-all thought of which was at once
abandoned,-would presently have besieged the duke in his
castle. The armament at Treguier dispersed without waiting
for orders; that at Harfleur was kept together only for a few
days, till it should be seen whether it would be necessary to
march against the duke. The places were given up, the
money paid; Clisson was then set at liberty; and, going
with all speed to Paris, he made his complaint to the king,
telling him how greatly this wrong affected his royal ma-
jesty, and how it had entirely broken up the expedition on
which he had been ordered. "Your father," said he,
"whom God pardon, made me constable of France, which
office I have to my power well and truly exercised; and if
there be any, your grace and my lords your uncles alone
excepted, who will say that I have not acquitted myself
truly, or have done any thing contrary to the crown of France,
I am here ready to throw down my gage in that quarrel.
But this wrong having been done me when I was in the ex-
ercise of my office, I here yield it up: provide, sirs, another
constable, such as shall please you. I will no longer bear
the charge thereof; I should have no honour in bearing it!"
The king raised him up, assured him that the peers of France
should immediately be assembled upon this matter, and that
justice should be done him: "Constable," he added, "we
will not that you depart from your office in this manner, but
that ye use it till we take farther counsel." The constable
knelt down again, and replied, "Sir, this matter touched me
340
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
so near, that I cannot use it: the office is great; for I must
speak with and answer every man, and I am so troubled,
that I can answer no man: wherefore I request your grace to
provide another for a season, and I shall always be ready at
your command.”
The king had manifested towards him the generous feel-
ing of a young and noble mind; but when the constable
went to prefer his complaint before the dukes of Berry and
Burgundy, as governors of the realm, he perceived that their
feelings were not so soon moved; they appeared less dis-
posed to resent the wrong which he had received, than to
censure him for having gone to Vannes upon the duke's
summons. He replied it was a summons from which he
could not excuse himself: but to this the duke of Burgundy
properly made answer, that he might have done so, because
his fleet was ready, and the expedition waiting for him.
"Moreover," he said, "when the parliament was over, and
you had dined with him, and returned to your own hotel, and
all had gone well, what business had you to make any longer
tarriance, or to go to his castle of l'Ermine ?"-" Monseign-
eur," replied Clisson," he showed me such fair semblances
that I durst not refuse him."—" Constable," said the duke,
“in fair semblances are great deceptions. I thought you
more subtle than you are. But go your way: the matter
shall be well settled: we will look to it at leisure.' This
treatment was so much harder and ruder" than what he
had met with from the king, that Clisson thought they were
ill disposed towards him; and under that persuasion, he re-
tired to his own lands, to abide the issue, the important
office of constable remaining void. Their conduct, however,
proceeded from a different motive. France had just received
a declaration of war, couched in the haughtiest terms, from
the duke of Gelderland, who found it for his interest at that
time to enter into alliance with, and receive a subsidy from,
England. No doubt was entertained that the hostilities
thus unexpectedly announced were designed to favour an
invasion by the English; and such a project the French
statesmen knew would accord equally with the interest of
the English government and the inclination of the people.
The state of society in that age was such, that no country,
unless it were engaged in foreign war, could hope to be free
from domestic troubles; and this was peculiarly the case
with England, which, when it carried the war into an
enemy's country, was, by reason of its insular situation,
safe. Richard II. was not so weak a prince but that he saw
this was the best means of employing men who would other-
THE ENGLISH EAGER FOR WAR.
341
wise endanger his throne: it accorded with the feelings in
which his ambitious uncles had been trained up; and the
threatened invasion from Sluys had called forth a cry in the
nation, in which, though it has been ascribed to "such as
loved evil rule rather than good," there can be no doubt that
"Where
many a brave English spirit generously united.
be now," it was said, "those great enterprises, and those
valiant men of England, that were in the days of king Ed-
ward, and of the prince his son? Then we were wont to
enter France in such guise, that none durst make battle with
us, or if they did, they were soon discomfited. Oh, what a
deed was that when that noble king Edward discomfited
king Philip and all the power of France at Cressy; and
when the Black Prince took the French king John, and dis-
comfited his puissance, at Poictiers, with a handful of people,
against the numbers that king John had with him! In those
days, England was feared everywhere, and we were spoken
of, through all the world, for the flower of chivalry; but
now no man speaketh of this. The king in France is but a
boy, and yet he hath done more against us than any of his
predecessors, and hath shown great courage to have come
into England: and the let thereof was not by him. The
time hath been that, if such an apparel of ships had been
made at Sluys, they should have been fought withal in the
haven; and now the noblemen of England are joyful, if
they may sit at rest! The time hath been when great con-
quests have been made in France, and the riches gained there
were spread abroad in this realm. But it appeareth well
that we in England are feebled of wits: we were wont to
know every thing that the French intended three or four
months beforehand, whereby we had time to provide accord-
ingly; but now our counsels are known by them, not theirs
by us. This was the language, not of the common people
only, but of knights and squires; of those alike who thirsted
for honourable employment, or who were greedy for plun-
der; and the feeling became dangerous, because there went
with it an ignorant persuasion, that the glorious wars of the
preceding reign had been carried on without any extraordi-
nary imposts upon the people, and a belief that they suffered
by the peculation of the king's ministers, and the king him-
self by their treachery.
""*
Knowing the state of affairs in England, the French rulers
gave the English government credit for a policy which,
under like circumstances, they would have pursued. They
* Froissart, iii. 63.
2 F2
342
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
knew also that the duke of Bretagne had applied to England
for support, and was storing all his strong places, and levying
troops. For these reasons, they deemed it necessary to dis-
semble their deep resentment of the outrage committed upon
the constable ;* and in the wisdom of this course, the ad-
miral and the sire de Coucy, though they warmly took up the
constable's cause, agreed. They sent, therefore, his kins-
man, the count d'Estampes; who, under pretext of making
the duke a friendly visit, was to assure him, that the king
and his uncles were in the best disposition towards him; that
it would be much for his honour to restore the constable's
places, which he had taken with such slight cause; and that
the king would give him, in exchange for them, others as
good, at his own choice, in any part of the kingdom. The
count watched his time, and insinuated the matter of his em-
bassy with the desired address; but the only reply he could
obtain was, that the duke would think about it; and that he
had not yet sufficiently considered it. After a fortnight's
tarriance, in vain expectation of a favourable answer, the
count took his leave; but, to show that he had been no un-
welcome ambassador, the duke presented him at his de-
parture with a jewel worth 1000 franks, and a white palfrey,
with trappings fit for a king. The duke of Bretagne had
shown no want of courage or of decision in his conduct till he
acted dishonourably: that crime brought with it, if not con-
dign punishment, secret shame and miserable irresolution.
He was now sensible that neither France nor England could
ever again place confidence in him; that if France were in-
clined to deal leniently towards him respecting his late out-
rage, it was only because present circumstances rendered it
useful to conciliate him; and that, on the other hand, though
England was ready to assist him, none of that feeling would
be called forth in English hearts which had manifested itself
so gloriously in his mother's cause and in his own, while he
was without reproach. From France he had much to fear;
and from England much to hope, in case those fears should
be verified. While, therefore, he let his kinsman return to
Paris with an impression that he might be induced to obey
the king's will, he continued his preparations for defence,
and brought over most of the great towns to his party, though
the nobles of the province manifested a resentment of his
conduct which he was not likely to overcome. He procured
*"Si ne vouloient pas les nobles du royaume de France, qui le royaume
avoient à conseiller, laisser telle bruine de Bretaigne, qu'elle ne fust ab-
battue, ou ostée aucunement, par bon conduit bon incident, pourquoy le
royaume fust hors de celle doute."-Froissart, iiį. 107.
† Froissart, iii. 107.
THE DUKE OF BRETAGNE.
343
a promise of aid from the young king of Navarre, engaging
to assist him_in_recovering the family possessions in Nor-
mandy, which France had conquered from his father; and,
distracted with factions as England at that time was, his
representations there were deemed of such weight, that the
earl of Arundel was sent, with 1000 men-at-arms and 3000
archers, to hover off the coast, and land whenever opportunity
should be ripe for them.*
The English were too early with this aid: it had the
effect, not of determining the duke to resist the king of
France's authority, but of confirming the French princes in
their purpose of temporizing with him, strengthening the
opinion of those who dissuaded the king from marching
against the duke of Gelderland, and drawing attention to the
coast. Measures were taken for the defence of Normandy;
and Clisson, acting with his wonted decision, placed garri-
sons in St. Malo and St. Matthieu in the king's name.
These important places, on which the duke had counted,
were thus secured against him; and his hope of co-operation
from the king of Navarre was also frustrated, because that
project had depended upon the support to be derived from
John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, then in Spain: but this
could no longer be expected, because that ambitious prince
was openly treating for the marriage of his daughter with the
duke of Berry. Taking advantage of this, the French rulers
sent the sire de Coucy, the sire de la Rivière, and the admi-
ral Jehan de Vienne, to require restitution from the duke.
Troubled at the report of their coming, and at the aspect of
his affairs, he convoked his council, and they gave him such
advice as was to be expected from upright men who con-
demned his conduct. The projected marriage of the duke of
Berry was likely, in its immediate consequences, to lead to
a peace with England, or at least a long truce. It was evi-
dent, by the choice of the ambassadors, that the king of
France considered this business a weighty one; and the army
which was then raising, as if for Gelderland, might be
directed against him. What in that case could he do? His
aid from Navarre must fail with the change in the duke of
Lancaster's views. The English had enough to do at home,
and would only serve him when by so doing they could
serve themselves: this he ought to know, for he had expe-
rienced it before, and had been bred among them. Moreover,
the better part of the prelates, barons, knights, cities, and
good towns of the country, were all against him in this
* Froissart, iii. 109. Holinshed, ii. 796,
344
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
matter. "We tell you," said they, "since you ask our
advice, that it is more than ever time for you to bethink
yourself; and take means for preserving that inheritance
which has cost you so much blood, and labour, and pain, and
to abate a little the edge of your hatred. We know that you
hold messire Olivier de Clisson in great hatred, and that he
has often grievously offended you, as you have him, albeit he
is not your peer. But, seeing that the king of France and
the king's uncles, and the barons of France, take up his
cause, it is not our advice, nor would it be that of any man
who loves you, that you should engage in war against the
French. What, then, is to be done with those castles that
you have taken from him? They would cost you more, even
in peace, to keep them, in three years, than you could profit
from them in twelve. If you restore them now, simply, and
while it is known-(for nothing can be done but what is
known) that you do it amicably, and without constraint,
you will overcome the angry will of many; and the duke of
Burgundy will render you all the service he can, for the sake
of my lady of Burgundy, your good friend and cousin, their
children being those who, at present, are nearest to you.
Think well of it, therefore, and do not alienate yourself from
those towards whom you ought to draw; for this would be
folly, and you would be little pitied for the consequences."
When the duke had heard them represent, thus reasonably,
the peril in which he stood, he was greatly abashed, and
remained for some time in silence, leaning upon a window
that looked into the court. At length he turned to them and
said, "Sirs, I believe that you have counselled me to the
best of your power: and there is nothing but good counsel
that I need. But how may perfect love be nourished where
there is nothing but hatred? How can I love Olivier de
Clisson, who hath done me so many displeasures? The
thing in the world of which I most repent me is, that I did
not put him to death when I had him in my castle of l'Er-
mine." Upon the propriety of such an act, or of such
repentance, they offered no opinion." He ought not to have
ransomed him," they said, " nor to have taken his castles.
The constable hath entered his quarrel and plea against you
in the parliament of Paris; sentence will be given against
you there, for there is none to answer for you; then he and
his heirs will have just cause to make war upon you in his
own right; and if the king, with others of your own country,
will aid him, ye will need to have more power for defending
yourself than you are like to have. Wherefore, while the
plea is depending, it is better for you to deliver up the castles
THE DUKE OF BRETAGNE.
345
than abide the sentence. Agree, sir, as well as you can, for
such damage as you have done; so will you put away the
scandal of the people, which ought greatly to be feared be-
cause of the dishonour; and so will you bring yourself again
into a state of peace and love, such as beseems you, with the
king of France, your sovereign and natural lord, and with my
lord of Burgundy, and your cousins his children."—" Well,"
replied the duke, "I see plainly, that since I have asked
counsel it behooveth me to take it. I will do as ye have
advised."*
The places were given up accordingly without delay to the
constable's people; but the duke's humiliation was not yet
complete. Restitution of the money which he had exacted
was yet to be made; and it was determined that he must
present himself before the king and the peers of France at
Paris, to make his excuse before them, and there abide such
sentence of amends as they, after due deliberation in council,
might think proper to deliver. Some art, however, was to be
used for effecting this, lest they should provoke him to a re-
sistance which might be the more dangerous after he had so
far made amends, and thereby set himself right in the opinion
of his people. The three barons, therefore, who were on
their way, were instructed to persuade him that it would be
sufficient if he went to Blois, where, being half way to Paris,
the dukes of Berry and Burgundy would meet him. He
was not easily induced to consent; and when at length he
yielded to their joint opinion, and more especially to the art-
ful management of the sire de Coucy, it was with a declared
determination that he would go no farther; and the sire de
Coucy said they desired nothing more. But the royal dukes
met him there with a full intention that he should proceed to
Paris, whether he liked it or not. He came with no greater
train than his rank required,—some 300 horse,-not appre-
hending that any violence would be offered him; after what
his own conduct had been, he could reproach no one for
entrapping him: but their purpose went no farther than that
of compelling him to make full restitution, and the most
public submission to the king. The meeting was courteous;
they made him good cheer, and thanked him for having taken
the trouble of coming so far; he, on his part, making the most
of the fatigue, and saying that, to show his love for them, he
had performed a journey which nothing else could, in his
state of health, have induced him to undertake. They soon
let him know that since he had come so far, and was there,
* Froissart, iii. 112.
346
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
1.
it was doing nothing unless he went on to Paris to pay his
respects to the king, who was most desirous of seeing him.
From this he would full fain have excused himself.
"He
was too unwell," he said, "for such a journey; neither was
he, in other respects, prepared for it, having left Bretagne
with so small a train, and with the intention of immediately
returning thither." They, on the other hand, more courte-
ously than agreeably, replied, that, "saving his pleasure, too
large a train would not have been becoming when he was
going to the presence of his sovereign lord: that if he was
not well enough to perform the journey on horseback, they
were provided with chair* or litter, in which he might
travel more easily; and that he was bound to do homage,
and had not yet performed it." Still he would have de-
clined. "When the king should be of age," he said, “and
have taken upon himself the government, then he would go
to Paris, or whithersoever else the king might please to
summon him, and perform homage as he ought." An unte-
nable argument ever weakens the cause which it is meant to
support. The royal dukes disposed of this by replying, “ that
the king was of sufficient age and judgment to receive
homage; that all the other lords of the realm who held under
him had done their homage, and made relief, and that the
king was in the twenty-first year of his age.”
66
Thus pressed, and finding that no excuse would be admit-
ted, the humbled duke said, "Well, sirs, if I go to Paris it
will be greatly against my will, and to my prejudice; for
messire Olivier de Clisson either is there, or will come there,
and I neither love him nor ever shall, nor he me; and he will
assail me with unpleasant and impetuous words: see, now,
what great mischiefs may ensue !""Nay, nay, fair cousin,"
they made answer, "make you no difficulty on that score !
we will swear to you, solemnly and veritably, that you shall
neither see nor speak with the constable, nor Jehan de Bre-
tagne, unless you wish it; but see the king, who is desirous
of seeing you, and the barons and knights of France, who
will make you good cheer: and when you have done that
for which you go thither, you shall return without peril and
without hurt." In reliance upon their word and oath, which
were sincerely pledged, he consented to what he plainly felt
he had no power of refusing. To Paris accordingly he pro-
ceeded; and having slept the preceding night at Bourg-la-
Royne, entered it in full state the following morning at ten
* Chair is the word used by lord Berners; the original is char. Some
sort of chair or palanquin is more likely than any kind of wheeled carriage
that could then have been in use.
HUMILIATION OF THE DUKE.
347
o'clock. It was Sunday, so that everybody was at leisure to
behold an entrance which had occasioned much talk and
much expectation; every one being desirous of seeing the
person who had seized and put in danger so great a person-
age as the constable of France. He rode to the Louvre, and
there alighted, having been duly instructed as to the cere-
mony which he was to perform. The great lords who were
of his kin, or of his council, accompanied him: there was a
great press to see him; and the hall into which he was intro-
duced, and in which the tables were spread for the king's
dinner, is described as being but small. The king was
standing before the table, and his uncles of Berry, Burgundy,
and Bourbon, beside him. As soon as the duke entered, the
way was opened for him, every man on one side or the
other making place, that nothing might intercept their view
of each other. First, the duke knelt on one knee, then rose;
passed on some ten or twelve paces, then knelt a second time;
arose again, and advanced till he came before the king, when
he knelt for the third time, bareheaded, and saluted the king,
saying, "Sire, I am come to see you; God maintain your
prosperity!"—" Gramercy," the king replied, "we have a
great desire to see you, and we will see and speak with you
at leisure." So saying he took him by the arm and made
him rise. The duke then inclined himself to all the princes
who were present, one after another, and then remained stand-
ing before the king, and in silence, the king looking on him
steadily. A sign was then made that the maître d'hôtel
should bring the water, and the duke put his hand to the ba-
sin and towel while the king washed: this done, he was
reconducted to the court, where his horses stood, and so
went to his lodging.
In the interviews which he afterwards had with the king
and his uncles, all passed off well: the promise which had
been made to him concerning the constable and Jehan de
Bretagne was faithfully kept. As long as he was in Paris,
they knew that nothing serious would be attempted by the
English; and in Paris they were determined to keep him as
long as they thought fit, not by imposing any forcible re-
straint upon him, but by the forms of law attendant upon
the process that was instituted against him, and which
might be indefinitely prolonged.* While, therefore, he was
* "Or le roy de France se departit de Paris, quand on eut parlementé et
traitté aucunement au duc de Bretaigne, et nompas encores tout accomply:
car la court du roy de France est moult longue, quand on veut; et tres bien
on y fait tenir les gens, et faire le leur despendre, et petitement besongner."
-Froissart, iii. 116.
H
348
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
treated with all marks of respect, he had this mortification to
endure. How long he was thus detained is not stated; but
when all purposes of policy had been answered, and it was
thought that he had been sufficiently humiliated, the king sent
for him to Montereau sur Yonne, where he was received with
the same courtesy, and the final adjustment was made. The
sum which he had extorted from the constable had been ex-
pended in storing and garrisoning his strong places, and in
raising foreign troops for designs which had now been frus-
trated. Present payment was not in his power; it was agreed,
therefore, that he should repay it by instalments of a fifth
part annually for five years This having been settled, he
was well entertained, and dismissed with presents of jewels
by the king; after which, having discharged his heavy costs
at Paris, he returned into his own country, there to chew the
bitter cud-not of repentance, which had been wholesome,
but of humiliation and of hatred.
Arundel, meantime, with the English fleet, kept hover-
ing off the coasts of Normandy and Bretagne, in expectation
of advice from the duke when and where to land When
the season advanced, aud they deemed it certain that their
summons could not long be delayed, they came to anchor off
an island on the Breton coast: and when they had lain there
more than a month, obtained intelligence at last that the
duke had gone to confer with the king's uncles at Blois; and
that, in consequence of what had passed with them, he had
proceeded to Paris. He had frustrated the proposed inva-
sion of England; and it was evident now that the English
armament, which had been sent out at his solicitation, was
to be rendered equally vain by his change of purpose. Ur-
gent as the motives might be which induced him to act thus,
and necessary as it was to brook such treatment, Arundel
* Froissart, iii. 116. 121. "Now," says Froissart, "in this place let us
leave to speak of the duke of Bretagne; for, as far as I could hear, he has
held well the agreement made with the French king and his uncles, and has
done nothing since to be spoken of, up to the time that I finshed this book.
I cannot tell if he will do any thing more; if he do, I shall speak thereof ac-
cording as I shall know." (iii. 121.) He had a great deal more to relate of him
in the subsequent volume, and of his continued hatred to Olivier de Clisson,
which, mutual and hearty as it was, gave way at length to a sense of inter-
est on the duke's part, and of generous feeling on that of his enemy.
"They had with them," says Froissart, "vessels called balniers cour-
siers, qui flotterent sur la mer, and went before them seeking adventures,
in like manner as certain knights and esquires a-land, mounted upon the
flower of the horses, go before the main battles and prick forward to disco-
ver ambushes." (iii. 110.) In another chapter, speaking of this same fleet,
he calls these vessels balleniers, "qu' escumeurs de mer par coustume ont
volontiers, et qui approcherent les terres de plus pres, que les autres vais-
seaux ne font."-iii. 116.
THE ENGLISH SAIL FOR ROCHELLE.
349
deemed it unbecoming to return from a bootless expedition:
he held a council of war, and it was resolved that they
should approach Rochelle, and land in the Rochellois; see-
ing that, although they had no strong place to support them,
they were enough to meet in the field the whole power of
Xainctonge and Poictou. They hired, therefore, a trusty
messenger, who was to make his way into the Lemosin, and
direct Perrot le Bearnois, who held a command there for the
English, to collect what force he could there and in Au-
vergne, and make such movements in those provinces as
should prevent any force from being despatched from thence
against them. There was little reason to doubt the speed
of their agent, who was a Breton, perfectly conversant in
the French, English, and Spanish languages, as well as in
his own tongue, and who carried with him nothing by which
his errand could possibly be discovered. This done, they
weighed anchor and made towards Rochelle full sail," at
the will," says Froissart," of God and the wind.
They had
the weather and the tide with them; for it was so fair and
serene, and the wind so to a point for them, that it was a
goodly sight to behold these ships upon the sea. One and
another they were about sixscore, with banners and stream-
ers* waving in the wind, richly emblazoned with the arms
of the lords, which glittered against the sun.
Thus they
went on sailing over the fair and favouring sea, that seemed
as if it had great delight in wafting them. And as a horse,
well-rested and well-fed, when he comes out of the stable,
neighs in the feeling of his strength, so the sea, with the aid
of the wind, which was at their wish, seemed to move on-
ward, and might, by a figure, be thought to say, merrily
and boldly, I am for you; I will bring you safely to
harbour." "+
* " Venteloient sur estrainniers." Denis Sauvage says in a marginal
note, "Verard dit estrannieres; mais je confesse n'entendre ne l'un, ne
l'autre." The context, however, explains the word, which was understood
by lord Berners, and which is found in Roquefort's Glossary,—Estrain-
niere, estrannere; drapeau, étendard.
↑ So characteristic a passage should be given in its original language, for
it must needs lose something in translating. "Quand-se furent departis
des bendes de Bretaigne, ils singlerent, à l'entente de Dieu et du vent à
plain voile. Car ils avoient le temps et la marée pour eux, et faisoit si bel
et si sery, et vent si à point, que grand plaisir estoit de veoir ces vaisseaux
sur la mer, car ils estoient environ six vingts voiles, uns et autres; et ven-
teloient sur estrainnieres trop gentement armoyées des armes des seign-
eurs, qui resplendissoient contre le soleil. Ainsi s'en vindrent ils, tout
nageant et flottant, parmi celle mer, qui lors estoit haitée, et monstroit
qu'elle eust grande plaisance d'eux porter. Ainsi comme un cheval, agrené
et sejourné quand il est hors de l'estable, a grande faim de henner, ainsi
la mer, avec l'aide du vent, qui luy estoit si à point comme à son hait,
VOL. I.
2 G
350
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
廿
They anchored in the harbour of Rochelle opposite Marant.
Some 200 adventurers, without waiting for high water, got
into their boats as soon as the tide served, and so entered that
town. The watch from the castle, seeing the fleet arrive,
and the boats making for the river, blew the alarm, and the
inhabitants lost no time in removing their best effects into
the castle; " and well for them," says the chronicler, “ that
they did so, otherwise they would have lost all. When they
saw the English at their heels, they left the rest, and thought
only of saving themselves. The invaders immediately fell
to pillage, as for pillage they were come; and little they
found there except large empty chests: but of corn, bacon,
and other provisions, they found good store, and more than
400 pipes of wine, in guard of which seasonable supply they
determined to remain there that night. On the morrow the
main force landed, leaving the great ships, which could not
approach the shore, at anchor, with 100 men-at-arms, and
200 archers, to protect them. They encamped between Ma-
rant and Rochelle, which was four short leagues distant.
The news soon spread; and not the open country only, but
the towns and castles were alarmed, and kept good watch;
and the villagers began to take flight and remove their goods
into the woods, or wherever they could, with all speed.
If the English had been provided with horses, they might
have overrun the country, for it was altogether unprepared
for defence. Though an enemy's fleet had so long been
lying off the coast, there was no commander in the province.
The seneschals were not in their respective districts; the
barons and knights, who might have brought together a suf-
ficient force to have encountered these invaders, looked only
each to the preservation of his own; the people followed
their example, hastening only to gather in the harvest, and
secure it where they could; and if there were any who were
disposed to take the lead for the defence of the land, they
were distracted between the alarm of the debarkment and
that which Perrot le Bearnois excited by his incursions.
The seneschal of Rochelle was employed by the duke of
Berry at a distance; but there were two brave knights in the
town, by name messire Pierre de Jouy and messire Taillepié,
whom the seneschal had left to perform his functions during
his absence. Rochelle was a populous place: these knights
called together the mayor and the principal inhabitants, and
said to them," Sirs, we must go look at these Englishmen
monstroit cheminer. Ce pouvoit elle dire par figure, liément et hardement :
'Je suis pour vous. Je vous mettray en havre et port, sans peril.'”—iii. 116.
ATTACK ON THE ENGLISH QUARTERS.
351
in their lodging, and give them a welcome; for which they
shall either pay us, or we will pay them! We shall be
blamed if we let them remain there at their ease. And there
is one point which is right good for us; they have no horses;
they are men of the sea, and we are well mounted. We will
send our arbalisters before, to wake them with their quarrels,
and, when they have done this, to return. The English will
issue out against them on foot: we will let the arbalisters
pass into the town, and receive the enemy at the spear's
point; and, being on horseback, we shall have them at such
vantage that we may do them great hurt." The proposal
was thought good, and, before daybreak on the morrow, some
1200 arbalisters and tall men sallied from Rochelle; while
the horsemen, 300 in number, made ready to follow and sup-
port them. The plan was not so well laid but that the Eng-
lish, if they had had any initimation or suspicion thereof,
might have laid an ambush and cut off the whole party.
There was a want of due vigilance in the English camp:
strict watch was kept there during the night; but no sooner
had the sun risen (and this was at the beginning of August),
than, as if all danger of a sudden attack were over, the sen-
tinels went to their quarters, where the army lay upon straw,
in huts constructed of green boughs. They were roused
there by a shower of viretons from the cross-bows: six dis-
charges the enemy made, which rattled through the boughs,
and wounded many, before the English knew that the enemy
were upon them. They were presently upon their feet: the
arbalisters retreated as they as they had been instructed, and
more than apace when they saw with what alacrity the men
whom they had thus roused came out against them, for they
feared the English arrows. The horsemen covered the re-
treat, falling back as fast as they could, while making head
against an eager enemy. Arundel, himself, was foremost in
the pursuit, with about 400 men-at-arms, each having "his
spear in hand, or on his neck; the two knights, at whose
advice the sally had been made, did their devoir in present-
ing themselves to the brunt of the danger, and both narrowly
escaped death just as they reached the barriers. Pierre de
Jouy had his horse killed under him there, and was with
great difficulty drawn in by his people. Taillepié was pierced
through the thigh with a spear, and wounded with an arrow
through his bacinet, and the horse which bore him into the
town fell there dead under him. About forty were slain or
wounded there; but the townsmen "got above the gate,
and by the stones which they cast down, and by their
352
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
guns, prevented the English from pursuing their advantage
farther."*
The men of Rochelle did not repeat an adventure which
had succeeded so ill, and in which both their captains had
been wounded; and the invaders made three or four incur-
sions into the Rochellois towards Blesvire, and into the land
of Thouars, to the great damage as well as dismay of the
country. It was well for the French that they came without
horses and found none; and well, perhaps, for themselves
also—or the little resistance which they met with might have
tempted them to proceed so far that they might have found it
difficult to retreat. Arundel, however, conducted himself with
great prudence. He stored himself plentifully with wine and
fresh provisions; and, contenting himself with this, and with
having done enough by this debarkation to show that no dis-
credit could be attached to him for the failure of the expedi-
tion, but that the English had performed their part, and were
ready and able to have done much more, had the support
which had been promised been given them-he re-embarked,
after a fortnight's tarriance on shore, and continued to cruise,
as if to make it appear that he had been sent out rather to
keep the seas than with any more serious views. Perrot le
Bearnois, meantime, had performed his instructions well.
Taking the field with 400 spears, and as many more attend-
ants, who were denominated by the more significant than
honourable appellation of Pillers, he passed through the Le-
moisin, entered Berry, and came into the town of Le Blanc,
on fair day, with his unexpected and ugly customers, who
carried off not only the goods but the merchants also.
"There," says Froissart, "they had great profit and good
prisoners." The whole country, as far as the Loire, and be-
yond that river, was sore dismayed; and the counties of Blois
and Touraine partook in the alarm, apprehending that this
force would form a junction with that which had landed at
Marant, and that some great enterprise was designed. Be-
fore they were roused to exert themselves in their own de-
fence, Perrot had plundered the land; and when he and his
comrades were satisfied with their booty, they retired with it
in safety to their own strongholds."+
Such was war during the age of chivalry: except when
royal armies took the field in strength, it was carried on in
the spirit of privateering by sea and by land, and by the same
persons; to all whom it seems to have been indifferent in
which service they engaged, and, to most of them, in whose.
Courage was carried to its height, and, in some better na-
* Froissart, iii. 117.
† Ibid.
NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE.
353
tures, the principle of honour also; but these unhappily were
few; and fewer still were they in whom it was always con-
nected with humanity; there were too many who, like the
old Vikingr, seemed to think that it became the brave to be
merciless; but those who were the most honourable were
generally the most compassionate. One who, in those ages,
should have asserted that our natural state is a state of war-
fare, would have been borne out in that philosophy, if men
were to be regarded only as they then were.
There was no
other occupation for restless spirits, no other education than
what directly related to it, for the great and the wellborn ;
no other field for ambition except that of the church-into
which ambition never ought to enter. Government was no-
where strong enough to maintain order at home, when this
outlet for the turbulent and the lawless was closed; and, there-
fore, every country was sure to be disturbed by factions, or
convulsed by civil wars, when it was at peace with its neigh-
bours, and had no foreign enemies to contend with.
Of this the history of the Plantagenets supplies abundant
proof. If the duke of Bretagne had been firm of purpose like
his mother, and continued steady to his engagements with
England, Richard II., instead of being ignominiously deposed
and barbarously murdered, might have ended his days as a
victorious and popular king. His inclinations were for peace,
and in this his uncle, John of Gaunt, concurred with 1393.
him; but when that prince was sent to confer with
the dukes of Berry and Burgundy, and "conclude a perfect
peace, both by sea and land, between France and England
and all their allies," his brother Gloucester was sent with
him, "for he rather desired to have had war than any peace,
except such a one as should be greatly to the advantage and
honour of the realm of England; and, therefore, the commons
of England, understanding his disposition, agreed that he
should be sent rather than any other. For where, in times
past," says Holinshed, "the Englishmen had greatly gained
by the wars of France, as well the commons as the knights
and esquires, who had, by the same, maintained their estate,
they could not give their willing consents to have any peace
at all with the Frenchmen, in hope by reason of the wars to
profit themselves as in times past they had done.' The first
demand which the French made was, that Calais should be
rased; they did not require that it should be given up, but
that the place should be utterly demolished, so "as there
should never be any habitation there after that time." But
Calais was all that remained of Edward's conquests: it was
not in the opinion of the English alone, but also of foreign
2 G 2
354
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
powers, a possession of the greatest importance, as command-
ing the narrow seas; and the French princes were told, that,
if they wished to proceed with the treaty, such a proposal
must be spoken of no more. * A truce for four years was
concluded during that interval Richard lost his "good
queen Anne" of Bohemia, and contracted a second marriage
with the king of France's daughter, Isabelle, a child not past
eight years of age, upon which occasion the truce was ex-
tended to thirty years. Better had it been for both countries
to have continued at war, than that this ample scope should
have been given to the factions by which both were soon to
be afflicted.
1395.
The seas, however, were not safe, though this truce
was faithfully observed on both sides. The Danes are
said by our chroniclers to have done "much hurt to the Eng-
lish merchants; and, when the haven towns along the coast of
Norfolk made forth a number of ships, and ventured to fight
with those pirates, they were vanquished by them, so that
many were slain, and many taken prisoners, which were con-
strained to pay great ransoms. The enemies also found, in ran-
sacking the English ships, 20,000/., which the English mer-
chants had on board to buy wares with in the places whither
they were bound." The affairs of the Baltic had so little
relation to those of England or France at this time, that it is
not surprising to find our chroniclers altogether unacquainted
with them, and taking it, as it were, for granted, that any
pirates who came from that quarter must be Danes. But
there can be no doubt that these piracies were committed by
the Vitalians, under which dignified appellation northern his-
torians have rendered either the homely name of messmates,
as assumed by the sea-rovers themselves, or of victuallers, as
given them by the people upon whom they foraged, and per-
haps because they professed at first to seize food for the pur-
pose of victualling Stockholm, which was, at that time, be-
sieged by the Danes. These are the only pirates since the
days of the Vikingr,,who were openly encouraged, and indeed
raised, by a regular government. The duke of Mecklenburg
caused it to be proclaimed at Rostock, that all who chose to
fit out ships and make war by sea and by land upon Danes,
Swedes, and Norwegians, subjects of the great queen Mar-
*Holinshed, 823.
† Ibid. 830.
↑ "Hi prædones voce vernaculâ Fetalybrodre Danis vulgo dicti, quod in
illo mari passim de commeatu sibi ipsi prospicerent.”~(Pontanus, p. 520.)
Latomus says they agreed to share equally whatever they took, and called
themselves Vittalien-Bruder, and Gleichebeuter (Genealochronicon Mega-
politanum apud Westphalin, iv. 320.) Holberg (1. 503.) derives the name
from their intention of relieving Stockholm.
THE VITALIANS.
355
garet, should have the use of his ports, and find there a free
market for their plunder. Upon this nefarious invitation, one
Bartel Voet offered himself as a captain; outlaws and des-
perate adventurers from all the Baltic shores joined him in
great numbers: they were soon strong enough to take pos-
session of the isle of Gothland, and making that their station,
from thence infested the seas with their cruisers, and “ taking
a hand's breadth where only a finger's had been given them,
they made prize of whatever they met, unless the ships be-
longed either to Rostock or Wismar, those places being their
marts; and this had nearly broken up the union between
Mecklenburg and its allies. Their depredations became so
injurious, and the devastation which they made in their de-
scents was so great, that all parties, and especially queen
Margaret, who was far the most powerful, were induced to
make peace, more for the sake of clearing the seas from these
pirates than for any other motive. The Vitalians no sooner
apprehended their danger than they forsook Gothland, sailed
for the coast of Norway, and entering Bergen by force, would
have made that place another Jomsburg, if time had been al-
lowed them. But from thence the Danes drove them, and
having captured one of their ships with eighty men on board,
put them all to death. The loss of that station caused them
to disperse; some of them directed their course towards the
then undiscovered parts of the north and eastward, from
whence very few returned; a larger part got into the Frisian
ports, and from thence, as if emulating their ancestors, began
to infest, not only Belgium, England, and France, but Spain
also with their piracies. Thus they existed ten years, to the
great hurt as well as reproach of the states which had at first
encouraged them, and to the great injury of other nations, till
at length Hamburgh sent a squadron to pursue them in what
the people of the Baltic call the Western Sea, and bring home
for execution, according to the laws enacted against them, all
whom they did not sink, burn, or otherwise destroy. Their
most notorious captain, Klaas Stortebekker, and another by
name Wichman, were then off the mouth of the Elbe, wait-
ing to intercept the English and other ships: the Hamburg-
ese came down the river in company with some merchant-
men, taking care to keep out of sight every thing that could
make the pirates apprehend they were prepared for action ;
and in this they succeeded so well, that the freebooters at-
tacked them, expecting to find an easy prey. Forty of the
Vitalians fell in the desperate action that ensued; seventy,
including the two captains, were brought prisoners to Ham-
burgh, and there executed, and their heads set upon poles
356
NAVAL HISTORY OF England.
along the banks of the Elbe.
bold and Gotke Michael, took
such as fell into their hands.
arts; an outcast, therefore, or renegade from some clerical
state; he retained, however, his superstition when he had
dispensed with his religion, and trusted for security to a relic
of St. Vincent the Martyr. These men, who were noted for
their depredations upon the English, were met with off He-
ligoland, captured, and with their surviving crews, to the
number of fourscore, beheaded, their heads also being ex-
posed upon the shore. After the loss of their leaders the Vi-
talians no longer existed as a body, but the name long con-
tinued, in those parts, to be synonymous with pirates.*
Two other captains, Weich-
vengeance for their deaths upon
The former was a master of
The inclination to piracy could seldom be wanting among
sailors of that age: and it is probable that many acts of this
kind ascribed to these freebooters were committed by men
who passed with the reputation of fair traders. Ambassa-
dors came to Richard II. from Conrad von Zolner, the twen-
tieth grand master of the Teutonic order, complaining of
various wrongs and outrages inflicted upon his subjects, not-
withstanding the old amity between the kings of England
and the masters of that order, and the assistance which they
had received from the barons, knights, and other nobles of
this realm in their conquest of the infidels. His subjects
and merchants, he said, had sustained sundry damages and
ablations by divers inhabitants of England, and that very
often, and both by sea and land." Some of these injuries
were in king Edward's time; they had since become more
frequent; and having been duly put down in registers, and
recorded in his cities in the land of Prussia, the sufferers
had obtained his letters both to the late king, and sundry
times to Richard also, praying for restitution, "whereby,
however, they nothing at all prevailed, but heaping loss upon
loss, mispent their time and their charges. He had there-
* Pontanus, 520-534. Holberg, i. 503. 505. 515. Bern. Latomus, Genea-
lochronicon Megapolitanum, apud Westphalin, iv. 320. 329, 330. Lamb.
Alardus, Res Nordabengicæ, ibid. i. 1822. Ibid. iii. Præf. 86. There is one wri-
ter in Westphalin's valuable collection who glosses over the origin of these
pirates, and keeps out of sight the remainder of their history. This is Corn.
Hamisfortius, in his work De Rebus Holsatorum Vicinarumque Gentium
præclare gestis. He says (i. 1722.), “Holsatis tulere opem ob Danorum pi-
raticas excursiones, Hamburgenses, Lubecenses, Vismarienses, Rostochien-
ses, Sundenses, et alii maritimarum urbium incolæ, qui Vithaliani sunt
dicti." Latomus says of them (iv. 320), "Es stehet nicht zu beschreiben,
wie viel des, losen und bösen volcks, als ihnen der raub zugel los gelassen
ward, zusammen lieff, aus allen landen von bauern und burgen, und an-
dern desindlein. Dan alle so keine lust zu arbeiten hatten, die liessen
sich beguncken von den Dænischen und Norwegischen bauern reich zu
werden."
DISPUTES WITH PRUSSIA.
357
fore repeatedly been solicited to afford these his subjects
such restitution as was in his power, seeing that so much
wealth of the English merchants was every year to be found
in Prussia, as if it were seized might afford them some reason-
able satisfaction." But he and his predecessors had always
deferred this, out of "mere and principal respect to the spe-
cial courtesies and favours" which they had received from
the kings of England; nor had there yet in retaliation for
these injuries been any manner of offence or molestation
offered to any of the king's subjects, noble or ignoble. He
complained especially of an outrage committed the preceding
summer upon six Prussian vessels in the Zwijn, aggravated
by circumstances of great treachery and insult. The Eng-
lish ships anchored beside these Prussian merchantmen as
friends,"" protesting unto them that they should in no sort
be molested or damnified by any of their company, but that
they would faithfully defend them, as if they were their own
people, from the hands of their adversaries," meaning, no
doubt, the Vitalians. Under this pretext, and "for t r
further security and trust," they sent some of their own men
on board; after which, they first took from them "all kind
of armours, wherewith they were to protect themselves
against pirates, plundered them of money, jewels, garments,
and all the goods and merchandises they could find, burnt
one of the ships, and carried two of the captains away with
them to Sandwich." These captains were not permitted to
land there; and when released, were made to swear that
they would make no complaint to the king of England, his
council, or his chancellor. "Go your ways home," it was
said to them: "in your own country of Prussia there are
English merchants and goods sufficient: recover your losses
upon them, and take two for one!" The solicitations of
these men, and of other sufferers, were such, that "full sore
against his will," the grand master had found it necessary
to arrest the English goods and merchants in his cities of
Elburg and Dantzic, and detain them in sure places, till the
whole premises could be laid before the king of England.
There were some Englishmen, who, "not seeking for peace,"
had falsely informed the king and his counsel that these
merchants were "barbarously entreated, cast into loathsome
prisons, where they were drenched in mire and water, fed
like dogs, and restrained from all conference and company
of men;" and, in consequence of this slanderous represen-
tation, certain inerchants of Prussia and of other regions of
Germany had been apprehended as malefactors in London,
and imprisoned there, till the truth had been made known.
358
NAVAL HISTORY OF ENgLand.
This seems to have been done by some former ambassadors;
and with these, for not entering England till they had ob-
tained a safe-conduct, the grand master said he was exceed
ingly offended, "because there is no need of safe conduct
between special friends." He now prayed that such enemies
of truth and concord as had thus slanderously devised con-
cerning him and his people might be chastised in such man-
ner that they might be an example to others; and he prayed
also that mutual restitution might be made, and all wrongs
redressed.
99
as
Ambassadors* accordingly were sent to Prussia to
1388. accommodate these differences, and an agreement was
then concluded,-" forasmuch," the preamble stated, "
the Author of peace will have peacemakers to be the sons
of blessedness, and the execrable enemy of peace to be
expelled out of the dominions of Christians."
By this agree-
ment, all arrests, reprisals, and impignorations were to be
released, all demands in consequence of them declared void,
and all actions arising therefrom "extinct and of none
effect: -a provision which left the injured parties with
their loss. Prussian claimants upon England for injuries
sustained in the Zwijn or elsewhere, were to repair to Eng-
land, or send their procurators, and there propound their
complaints to the king, who was bound to do his endeavour
that they should have restitution of their goods, or "at least
complete justice and judgment without delay." English
claimants were in like manner to have recourse to the grand
master. So, too, where any criminal complaint was to be
propounded, as that a brother, or other kinsman, had been
slain, wounded, or maimed; in such cases, the ambassadors,
after full inquiry, were authorized to ordain "a friendly
reconciliation, or honest recompense between the parties;"
and if the principal offender should be dead, the complainants
were to have their remedy against the goods or heirs of the
offender. This agreement was not carried into effect when
the grand master died; and as the Prussian merchants at
the end of ten years were still aggrieved in England, his
successor, Conrad von Jungingen, in consequence of
1398. renewed complaints, and, perhaps, also finding it
advisable to commence his administration by a measure
that should render him popular with the mercantile part of
his subjects, refused to stand bound by the engagement,
and by his letters to the king of England declared it
* They were master Nicholas Stocket, licentiate of both laws, Walter
Sibel, and Thomas Graa, citizens of London and York.
same:
DISPUTES WITH PRUSSIA.
359
void "from henceforth, and for the time heretofore also."
This, however, was done in no hostile temper: a year from
the date of such renunciation was allowed for the English to
remove their goods, provided the Prussians were allowed the
"and in any affairs whatsoever," said the grand mas-
ter, "both ourselves and our whole order are right willing
devoutly to submit ourselves unto your highness's pleasure
and command; and also to benefit and promote your sub-
jects, we will endeavour to the utmost of our ability." Mat-
ters remained in this state, when Richard II.'s reign was
brought to its✶ disastrous termination.
* Hakluyt, i. 148-154.
な
NOTES.
Richard I. in Cyprus, p. 154.
THIS part of Cœur de Lion's history is thus curiously related in
Robert Barret's Sacred War, a Poem Epike, containing between
50,000 and 60,000 lines, which the patient writer intended for
publication in the year 1613, and of which what is, no doubt, the
only existing manuscript is in my possession. Some former speci-
mens of it, which were inserted in the notes to Roderick, have had
the rare fortune of being translated into Dutch verse, by the mas-
terly hand of one who could transfuse the peculiarity of its unique
style.
It seem'd them good to stay king Richard's coming;
Who later had sails hoisted from Messine,
Having with Tancred ended quarrels humming,
Bringing along with him his spoused queen,
Berengar, daughter to Barcelon's duke,
And Joan his sister, late Sicilia's queen,
Out lanched on seas, nought fearing the rebuke
Of blusterers' king, and king of liquid main.
When lo, unlooked for, in a time serene
The blusterers' king, up stirrings bengle tines,
Caused the king of green waves greenish reign
To swell, and swelling blanch his brinish crines.
Puffeth full-cheeked Æol; Neptune pouts ;
Puffing and pouting, ships tempested are.
The pilots call, the matelots run about,
And every one surcharged is with care.
With storms increase, increaseth care and toil,
And care and toil surtoileth marine crew.
One ship tiremes, two fail in this coil,
And failing, sink under sea's mantle blue.
In fine, don Æol husht, and Neptune calm,
Descryed is the isle of lovers queen.
The fleet regathered with a joyful palm,
Their cleave-wave prows bend toward Cyprus green,
Accosted near the shore, shorist unkind
Landing deny to Lion-hearted king,
King lion-like gurleth and teeth doth grind,
Threat'ning revenge with a Rhamnusian sting,
VOL. I.
2 H
361
•
362**
NOTES.
Shore re-attempteth, and shore entereth on;
Shore seized, seizeth island victor-like.
In Mavors' teen setteth islanders on
Some slaughtering, slaving some, revenger-like,
And so by Mavor's sword he masterizeth
Isle signiorized by Isaac Cominen,
Who in Byzantine's name isle tyrannizeth;
Which Isaac falls in hands of Albion's men,
Enlarged, yields up scepterage's sway,
To the swayer of the ocean-clipped isle;
So Albion's crownest beareth crown away,
Of Cyprus' crown and entereth royal file;
And so that isle, once ennead-crowneted
Falls under shelter of Tourlion's shield.
Isaac released and by king favoured,
Refalls to 's vomit, 'sturbing Cyprus field,
But soon regorged is by Albion great,
And brought unto the swinge of Albion's lure.
This done, there hymenizeth Berengaret,
And king becomes of Great Paphista's ure.
The Paphian diadem resettled thus,
Richard, retaking seas, arrives at camp,
Refiling camp with joys of joyful use,
His rays dechasing fogs of foeman's damp.
Damme, p. 169.
The work from which this town derived its name was considered
of such importance in that age, that Dante has introduced it for a
simile in his Inferno.
Ora cen' porta l'un de' duri margini,
E 'l fumo del ruscel di sopra aduggia
Si, che dal fuoco salva l'acqua, e gli argini.
Quale i Fiamminghi tra Guizzante e Bruggia
Temendo 'l fiott, che in ver lor s'avventa,
Fanno lo schermo, perchè 'l mar si fuggia
E quale i Padovan, lungo la Brenta,
Per difender lor ville e lor castelli,
Anzi che Chiarentana il caldo senta:
A tale imagine eran fatti quelli,
Tutto che nè sì alti, nè sì grossi,
Qual che si fosse, lo maestro felli.
Canto XV.
Cadsant is the place which, mendose et typographe forte incu-
riâ, Ludovico Guicciardini says Dante has called Guizzante. And
this has misled Mr. Cary in his admirable translation :—
One of the solid margins bears us now
Enveloped in the midst, that from the stream
*
NOTES.
Arising hovers o'er, and saves from fire
Both piers and water. As the Flemings rear
Their mound, 'twixt Ghent and Bruges, to chase back
The ocean, fearing his tumultuous tide
That drives toward them; or the Paduans theirs
Along the Brenta, to defend their towns
And castles, ere the general warmth be felt
On Chiarentana's top; such were the mounds
So framed, though not in height or bulk to these
Made equal, by the master, whosoe'er
He was, that raised them here.
Sluys, p. 217.
363
As late as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries this was call-
ed the Port of Flanders, as being so much more frequented than
any other, that it needed no other distinction.
"Cum enim Flandriæ littus nullis, fluminum ostiis ad oceanum
nobile sit, portus nullos, extra sinus quosdam maris, accipiendis
classibus idoneos habet, qui et ipsi refluo æquore naves plerumque
in siccum destituunt. Solum illud Sluse aquagium, duplici fosså
contrariæ indolis, et ex re nominis, olim, ut et hodie, optimam
navigantibus stationem præbuisse videtur."-Eyndius, quoted by
Sunderus, Flandria Illustrata, ii. 214.
The people here related as a miracle that, in the year 1441,
when a slight duty was imposed upon the muscle fishery, the
muscles disappeared, but became as abundant as before when the
duty was taken off. Sunt enim inopibus obvium alimentum.
Marchantius affirms this, and Sanderus after him. That the duty
should have stopped the fishery is very likely, and that being re-
pealed, it should be resumed with as much success as before is not
at all surprising.
Fish can no otherwise be affected by fiscal regulations than as the
market is thereby affected. But naval war, since the introduction
of gunpowder, has affected the lobsters: after a great naval action
the fishermen say that those on the adjacent coast are found to
have cast their claws, and for a while they forsake those parts.
Jeanne de Valois, p. 226.
Some of May's best verses are those in which he describes this
lady's interference :-
And now the two incensed kings are met;
And their great cause on one day's tryal set,
(As all believe), all expectations near
Are drawn, nor have they time to hope or fear.
The armies both stand ranged in fair array;
And fierce Bellona, proud of such a day,
#
364
NOTES.
+
(As if it lay not in the power of chance
The storm to scatter) shakes her dreadful lance;
For like two high-swoln seas on either side,
Whose meeting rage no isthmus did divide,
But winds, that from contrary quarters blow,
Together drive, the two battalions show.
But that eternal God, who from on high
Surveys all hosts, disposes victory
(Called thence the Lord of Hosts), and sets the times
Of war or peace, as sinful nations' crimes
Provoke his justice, did not think it good
That clouds should yet dissolve in showers of blood;
But pleased to respite for a time the woes
Of wretched France; and for this purpose chose
An instrument whose weakness might make known
The power that reconciled them was his own.
A veiled nun alone could interpose
And stay the fury of these armed foes:
Jane de Valois, a princely lady, near
To one in blood, as by alliance dear
To t' other mother to great Edward's queen
And Philip's sister; who of late had been,
Since Hainault's death, at Fontenelles vow'd
A holy nun. She, wakened with the loud
Alarms of this so great, so feared a blow,
Her quiet cloister had forsaken now.
Amidst their armed troops her way she took,
And through the rudest breast a reverence strook.
Well did the fame of her chaste life before
Become the sacred habit that she wore.
Pure innocence her snow-white veil profest,
Her black a sorrow silently exprest.
Grave was her comely face; devotion
On beauty's ruins with more beauty shone.
Edward the Third, lib. iii.
Naval Council in Edward III's Reign, A. D. 1341, p. 229.
The places from which deputies were to be sent to this council,
and the number of representatives, are stated as follows:-
Magnæ Jernemuth de duobus hominibus.
Goseford de duobus.
Lenn' de duobus.
Geppewica de uno,
Winchelse de duobus.
Dovorr' de uno.
Rye de uno.
Hastinges de uno.
NOTES.
365
Suthampton de duobus
Plymouth de duobus.
Dertmouth de duobus
Weymouth de uno.
Bristoll de duobus.
De Sancto Botulpho de uno.
Kingeston super Hull de duobus.
De Villa Novi Castre super Tynam de duobus.
Falmuth de uno.
Pevense de uno.
Seford de uno.
Shorham de uno.
Hoke de uno.
Pole de uno
Exmuth de uno.
Tengemuth de uno.
Fowy de uno.
Ravensere de uno.
Parvæ Jernemuth de ano.
Rymer, ii. p. 2. 1150.
Naval Council, A.D. 1344, p. 248.
The additional ports from which deputies were summoned were
these:-
Scardeburgh de uno homine.
Grymesby de uno.
Donewico de uno.
Colcestr' de uno.
Herewico de uno.
Orford de uno.
Maldon de uno.
Sandewico de duobus.
Waynflet de uno.
Lyme de uno.
Cicestr' de duobus.
Portesmuth de uno.
Sancta Elena in Insula Vieta de une.
Melcombe de uno.
Romeneye de uno.
Exon' de duobus.
Sidemuth de uno.
Barnastaple de uno.
Londoniæ de quatuor.
Blakeneye de uno.
The ports omitted in this list, but included in the eart one,
are the two Yarmouths, Hoke, Teignmouth, and Fowe*
+2
2 H 2
366
NOTES.
The Question is what that Powder was, p. 258. note.
Mr. Bree finds mention among the stores for the garrison in
Guernsey Castle (A. D. 1339), "trente tonneaulx de pomadre,
cinquante quintals de fer, deux quintals d'acier." He thought
from the context that the word pomadre might mean gunpowder;
but he had found the word nowhere else, except in a MS. record,
"reciting letters of pardon to several persons for arrearages of
debt due to the king, where, in one granted to Thomas de Brock-
hall, pur trente et deux tonneau de pomadre, des queux il est
charge de son account, di tems que il estoit assigne de faire divers
purveyances ad opus le roi, en conte de Kent." (pp. 136, 137.)
This, perhaps, is the record to which Barnes refers; but the
signification of the word is altogether doubtful; and in this second
instance there is nothing in the context that can guide us to it.
"
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