The said sir Iohn Arundell lost not onelie his life, but all his
furniture and apparell for his bodie, which was verie sumptuous, so
that it was thought to surmount the apparell of any king. For he had
two and fiftie new sutes of apparell of cloth of gold or tissue, as
was reported, all the which, togither with his horsses & geldings,
amounting to the value of ten thousand marks, was lost at the sea. And
besides this, there were lost at the same time fiue and twentie ships,
with men, horsses, and other riches, which attended him in that voiage.
Yet sir Thomas Percie, and sir Hugh Caluerlie, with sir William Elmham,
and certeine others escaped, but cruellie tormented with vnmercifull
tempest: and before sir Thomas Percie could get to land, after the
sea was quieted, he was assaulted by a Spaniard, against whome he so
defended himselfe, that in the end he tooke the Spanish vessell, and
brought hir, with all that he found aboord in hir, vnto the next shore,
and sold the same for an hundred pounds, and without long delaie, tooke
the sea, & passed ouer to Brest, of which fortresse he was capteine,
iointlie with sir Hugh Caluerlie, and therefore doubting least some
inconuenience might chance thereto now in both their absence, he
made the more hast, not taking rest till he came thither, |726|
notwithstanding his passed painefull trauels. Sir Hugh Caluerlie was
neuer in his life in more danger of death, than at that time: for all
that were in his ship (as Froissard writeth) were drowned, except
himselfe & seauen mariners. We find, that there were drowned in one
place & other, aboue a thousand Englishmen in that most vnluckie
voiage. ¶ Some writers impute this calamitie to light on the said sir
Iohn Arundell & his companie, for the lasciuious and filthie rule which
they kept before their setting foorth, in places where they laie, till
their prouision was readie; who not content with that which they did
before they tooke ship, in rauishing men wiues, maids and daughters,
they carried them aboord, that they might haue the vse of them whilest
they were vpon the sea,
(Sæua libido furens, quid non mortalia cogis
Pectora? Quídue tuo non est violabile telo?)
and yet when the tempest rose, like cruell and vnmercifull persons they
threw them into the sea, either for that they would not be troubled
with their lamentable noise and crieng, or for that they thought so
long as they had such women aboord with them (whome they had abused
so long) God would not cease the rage of the tempest. But it should
appeare that this tempest was generall, for where the Spanish and
French fléets were abroad at the same time, being assembled togither to
annoie the coasts of this land, their ships were likewise tossed and
turmoiled, so as no small number of them were lost, in so much that the
damage which they susteined, was thought far to passe that which hapned
to the English nauie.
[Sidenote: 1380.
Sir Iohn Deuereux made deputie of Calis.