Renewal of War with France.
In 1350 the English were again troubled by rumours of war. The seamen of
the Spanish ports on the Bay of Biscay had always been animated by
hostility to the English, in whom they found formidable opponents to
their commercial enterprises. They were full of zeal for mercantile
adventure, and side by side with their commerce they committed many acts
of piracy. They now assembled a large fleet, primarily with the object
of trading with Flanders; but on their way to the Flemish ports they
behaved more like pirates than merchants, and by claiming the dominion
of the seas seemed to challenge the English to attack them.
At the Flemish ports the Spaniards loaded their ships with all kinds of
rich merchandise, and prepared to return home, having no fear of the
English; for the fleet was strong, and their admiral, De la Cerda, by
promising liberal pay, had succeeded in enlisting a large number of
volunteers at Sluys.
Froissart tells us that the King of England hated these Spaniards
greatly, and said publicly, "We have for a long time spared these
people, for which they have done us much harm, without amending their
conduct. On the contrary, they grow more arrogant; for which reason they
must be chastised as they pass our coasts." His son and his lords were
only too ready to engage upon a warlike expedition. Edward summoned all
gentlemen who at that time might be in England to meet him at Sandwich.
Hither the Queen too came to see them off.
The English fleet consisted of fifty sail; but the ships were far
inferior to those of the Spaniards. Edward III. and the Black Prince
each commanded a ship in person. For three days they cruised between
Dover and Calais waiting the coming of the Spaniards. On the third day,
when they hoped to engage, the king sat in the fore part of his ship,
dressed in a black velvet jacket, and wearing on his head a small hat of
beaver, which became him much. He was in most joyous spirits, and
ordered his minstrels to play before him a German dance which Sir John
Chandos had lately introduced. For his amusement he made Chandos sing
with his minstrels, which delighted him greatly. From time to time he
would ask his watch whether the Spaniards were in sight. At last, whilst
the King was thus amusing himself with his knights, the watch cried out,
"I spy a ship; and it appears to me to be a Spaniard." At once the
minstrels were silenced, and the King asked whether there was more than
one ship. Soon the answer was shouted out, "Yes, I see two, three, four,
and so many that, God help me, I cannot count them." Then the King and
his knights knew that it was the Spanish fleet.
The trumpets sounded, and the ships were ordered to form in line of
battle. It was already late; but the King was determined to engage. He
called for wine, which he and his knights drank, and then stood ready to
fight. The Spaniards might easily have avoided the battle, but hoping to
crush their enemies, they sailed down upon them. Then Edward said to the
captain of his ship, "Lay me alongside the Spaniard who is bearing down
on us, for I will have a tilt with him." The shock of the meeting of the
two ships was like the crash of a tempest. The King's ship stood firm;
but the Spaniard was much disabled, and lost her masts, so that the
English knights cried to the King, "Let her go away; you shall have
better than that." Then another large ship bore down, and grappled with
chains and irons to that of the King, and the fight began in earnest.
Many gallant deeds were done; but the Spanish ship proved hard to
conquer. The King's ship was leaking, and in danger of sinking, only
just in time was the Spanish ship boarded. The English threw all the men
they found on it overboard; and leaving their own ship, continued the
fight on board the Spaniard.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales was in great difficulty. His ship was
grappled by an immense Spaniard, and was so full of holes that it was in
great danger of sinking. The crew were employed in baling out water, and
could not make head against the Spaniards. But the Duke of Lancaster,
the Prince's cousin, formerly Earl of Derby, seeing the danger, drew
near, and fell on the other side of the enemy, grappling his ship to the
Spaniard, with shouts of "Derby to the rescue." The ship was soon taken,
and the crew were thrown overboard. The Prince and his men, deserting
their own ship, embarked on board the Spaniard.
It was a hard battle for the English, as the Spanish ships were very big
and strong, and the Spaniards fought with extreme bravery, and knew no
fear. At last victory declared itself for the English. The Spaniards
lost fourteen ships, and the others saved themselves by flight. When it
was over Edward sounded his trumpets for retreat, and the fleet sailed
back to the English coast, anchoring off Rye and Winchelsea. The King
and the Prince landed, and the same night rode to the house where the
Queen was--just two leagues distant. She was most joyful at seeing them
return safely, for she had been in great anxiety all day. Her servants
had watched the battle from the hills on the coast, whence they could
see it well, as the weather was fine and clear, and they had seen the
great strength of their enemy, and their fine large ships. So great
were the rejoicings that, instead of resting after the battle, the King
and his knights spent the night in revelry with the ladies, talking of
arms and love. The next morning the King thanked his knights for their
services, and dismissed them.
This battle was the beginning of the rivalry between the English and the
Spaniards for the dominion of the seas. The hardy Spanish seamen were
not in the least depressed by their defeat. Both sides, however, soon
saw that the quarrel was to the interests of neither, and a truce for
twenty years was concluded in London between the King of England and the
maritime cities of Castile. It must be remembered that the quarrel was
not at all between the King of Castile and the King of England, but only
between these maritime cities and the English naval power.
Attempts had been again made at a conference at Guisnes between the
envoys of France and England to change the armistice between the two
countries into a permanent peace. Edward III. offered to give up his
claim to the French crown, if the French king would give up his claim of
homage for the English provinces in France. When the French king refused
to do this, Edward determined to begin the war again.
Philip of Valois, King of France, had died in 1350, and was succeeded by
his son John. John found the treasury of France already impoverished by
the expenses of the war, and did not make matters better by his unwise
and prodigal liberality. His easy-going temper earned for him the name
of the Good, though he brought his kingdom to the very verge of ruin. He
wanted money for his favourites and his pleasures, and when he had taxed
the people till they could give no more, he tried to get money by
debasing the coinage, that is, he caused money containing a large
quantity of alloy to be made, and obliged the people to take this bad
money in exchange for their good money. This and his heavy taxes brought
great misery and poverty upon the people, who were still suffering from
the effects of the Black Death.
The country also suffered greatly from the Free Companies who roamed
about in all directions, committing robberies and every kind of crime.
These Free Companies were the plague of the Middle Ages. They were bands
of mercenary soldiers ready to fight for any one who would pay them, and
when in intervals of peace they were dismissed from service they spent
the time in plunder, in defiance of all laws and government. Froissart
tells us that, in the year 1351, there was the greatest scarcity of
provisions ever known in the memory of man, all over the kingdom of
France. But in spite of the sufferings of his people, King John was
eager for war and anxious to wash out the stain left on the French arms
by the battle of Cressy. Edward was equally ready; even during the years
when negotiations for peace had been going on, the truce had not really
been observed, and both French and English had made many aggressions
upon the enemy's country.
When in 1354 the Congress at Guisnes broke up, having accomplished
nothing, Edward began to hasten his preparations for a new invasion of
France. He had gained a new and important ally against John in the
person of Charles, King of Navarre. This man was the evil genius of
France during the years that followed. His crimes and unscrupulous
ambition gained for him the surname of the Bad. He was one of the most
powerful vassals of France, as he had inherited the earldom of Normandy
and Evreux. To secure his friendship, King John had given him his
daughter in marriage. But Charles soon incurred the hatred of John by
murdering the king's favourite and chief counsellor. He had to fly from
court, and in his absence John invaded Normandy and took some of his
fortresses. Charles determined to revenge this injury by aiding Edward
III. against the King of France. He promised to give the English king
possession of several strong fortresses in Normandy, so that he might
land his troops there, and be able to advance to Paris in safety. At the
same time Edward received a visit from some of the Gascon nobles, who
came to ask him to send his son to lead them against the French. A great
invasion of France by three separate armies was therefore planned. One,
under the Black Prince, was to land at Bordeaux; a second, under the
Duke of Lancaster, was to go and aid the Countess de Montfort in
Britany; and a third, under Edward himself, was to invade Normandy.
Edward III. took a proud army with him to France; but he did not do
much. His ally, Charles of Navarre, made peace with John, so that Edward
was obliged to change his plans and land at Calais instead of Cherbourg.
John was wise enough to give Edward no chance of a battle, whilst he
urged upon the Scots to invade England in the absence of its king. News
was brought to Edward in France that the Scots had crossed the border
and re-taken Berwick. He was obliged to return to resist them, and
punished their inroad by invading Scotland, and spreading such
destruction wherever he went, that the Scots long spoke of the time of
this invasion as "Burnt Candlemas."