WAR WITH FRANCE
At the time when the cavalier who called himself Jack Fletcher lost his
way in Windsor Forest, and accepted such hospitality as my grandsire's
tenement could afford, King Edward, as Thomelin of Winchester had
predicted, was preparing to renew that war which made Englishmen for
a time almost masters of France. In order to render my narrative the
more intelligible, it is necessary to refer to the origin of that war,
to the events by which it had been distinguished, and to the stage at
which it had arrived.
It was on the 1st of February, 1328--the year in the course of which
I drew my first breath--that Charles, King of France, the youngest of
the three sons of Philip the Fair, and brother of Isabel, wife of our
second Edward, died without male heirs. For the vacant throne--from
which, centuries earlier, Hugh Capet pushed the descendant of
Charlemagne, and to which subsequently St. Louis gave dignity--several
candidates appeared, the chief of whom were Philip of Valois and Edward
of England. Philip, relying on the fact that the Salic law excluded
females from reigning, claimed the crown of France as heir male of
the old king. Edward, without denying the validity of the Salic law,
pleaded that, so far as succession was concerned, it did not bar the
sons of a king's daughter. The Parliament of Paris, however, was
appealed to; and, being much under the influence of Robert, Lord of
Artois, who was Philip's brother-in-law, the Parliament decided in
favour of Philip; and Edward, then young and governed by his mother,
Queen Isabel, and Roger de Mortimer, so far bent his pride as to
visit France, and do homage at Amiens for Guienne and Ponthieu. But
he privately protested beforehand against the homage he was about to
perform; and perhaps he felt little regret when Philip's interference
in Scottish affairs gave him a fair excuse for a rupture, and for not
only renewing his claim, but submitting it to the arbitrament of the
sword.
Meanwhile, Philip of Valois had involved himself in a scandalous
quarrel with Robert, Lord of Artois, to whom he owed his crown; and
Robert, threatened with vengeance and destruction, reached England,
disguised as a merchant, and exerted all his eloquence to rouse
Edward's ambition. Circumstances favoured his exertions in this
respect. Enraged at his exclusion from a throne which he believed to
be his by hereditary right, and exasperated at the aid given by Philip
to the Scots, Edward lent a willing ear to Robert's suggestions; and,
resolving to avail himself of the state of affairs on the Continent,
which was most favourable to his projects, he prepared without delay to
put his fortune to the test.
At that time, in fact, the Flemings were up in arms. The Count of
Flanders, a faithful ally of Philip of Valois, was guilty of tyrannies
which drove his subjects to revolt; and Jacob von Arteveldt, a brewer,
who ruled in Ghent, and exercised an enormous influence all over
Flanders, formed a great league against Philip and the Count, and
invoked Edward's aid. Not unwilling to interfere, the King of England
entered into an alliance with the Emperor of Germany; and sailing from
the Orwell, in July, 1338, he landed in Flanders to pursue his schemes
of conquest.
Taking up his residence at Antwerp, Edward linked himself in close
friendship with the Flemings, and prepared for active operations; and
Philip, supported by John, the blind King of Bohemia, by the Spaniards,
and the Genoese, prepared to defend the dominions which he called his
own. For a year little or nothing was done. But in November, 1339,
the English began the war by wasting Cambresis; and about the middle
of October, Philip of Valois advanced with a mighty army to give the
invaders battle. No battle, however, took place. The French retreated
without striking a blow; and Edward, after having assumed the title and
arms of the kings of France, returned to England to make arrangements
for pursuing the prize on which his heart was set.
By this time the sympathies of the English nation were enlisted in
the king's struggle. No sooner, indeed, had the war begun than Philip
of Valois ordered his admirals to make a descent on England; and
these master corsairs, approaching the coast with a fleet manned with
Normans, Picards, and Spaniards, plundered Southampton, Sandwich,
Winchelsea, Rye, Dover, and Portsmouth. Everywhere they were guilty
of fearful violence; and when Edward returned to England, he was
surrounded by multitudes, complaining loudly of the outrages that had
been committed in his absence.
"O king!" cried the populace, "our towns have been burned, our houses
pillaged, our young men slain, and our maidens deflowered."
"Be patient," replied Edward, "and rest assured that my turn is coming,
and that I will not only protect you from your enemies, but make them
pay dearly for all they have done."
Faithful to his promise, the king fitted out fleets to defend the
coast, and prepared a great armament at Ipswich, with which to return
to the Continent. It was the summer of 1340, and, every preparation
having been made, Edward sailed from the Orwell; and on Saturday, the
24th of June, approached the coast of Flanders. As there were rumours
of mighty preparations to prevent a landing, a sharp look-out was kept
from the admiral's ship, and suddenly the sailors, who were aloft,
shouted that they saw masts.
"Who will they turn out to be?" asked Edward.
"Doubtless," was the answer, "this is the fleet kept at sea by the
French, under the admirals who have done England so much harm."
"Well," said the king, "I have, for a long time, wished to meet these
men; and now, please God and St. George, we will fight with them."
As the king spoke, all doubts were removed. Before him lay a fleet of
a hundred and twenty vessels, under the command of admirals who had
peremptory orders not to allow him to set foot on continental soil.
Every man on board the English ships was now on the alert, and a
great naval battle began, and speedily assumed an aspect of excessive
fury. Being able and determined men, the French admirals made every
exertion, and, having the advantage of numbers, they pressed hard on
their foes. But, in spite of the great odds against them, the English
fought dauntlessly; and, after the conflict had raged for several
hours, the French lost heart and hope, and leaped by hundreds into the
sea. By seven o'clock in the evening the victory was complete, and
Edward, landing next morning, set off on foot, with his knights, on a
pilgrimage to Our Lady of Ardembourg, and afterwards rode to Ghent to
visit Queen Philippa, who, in that city, had just given birth to her
son, John of Gaunt.
While Edward was destroying the French fleet at Sluys, Philip of Valois
was making war on Edward's brother-in-law, the Count of Hainault. It
was of importance that he should at once hear the news; but he was a
man of such violent temper that none of his knights had the courage
to tell what had happened. At length the court jester undertook the
delicate duty of informing his master of the loss he had sustained.
"Cowardly English!" said the jester, with bitter emphasis.
"What do you say?" asked Philip.
"Cowardly English!" repeated the jester. "Dastardly English!
False-hearted English!"
"Why do you call them so?" asked Philip.
"Because," answered the jester, "they durst not leap out of their ships
as our men did when they fought at Sluys."
Philip beginning to understand, uttered an exclamation of pain; and,
on learning all, he flew into a violent passion, retreated towards
Arras, broke up his army, and employed the mediation of the Countess
of Hainault, who was his sister, and mother of the Queen of England.
Edward, eager for a meeting, proposed to decide their dispute by a
single combat; but the Frenchman declined on the ground that the
challenge was addressed to Philip of Valois, not to the King of France,
and could not, therefore, be intended for him. After some negotiation,
a peace was brought about by the Countess of Hainault's mediation, and
Edward, who was by this time reduced to extreme poverty, returned to
England to brood over the failure of his great schemes.
It was now the spring of 1340, and a renewal of the war seemed somewhat
improbable. But, ere long, an event occurred in Brittany which produced
unexpected consequences. In 1341, the Duke of Brittany died without
issue, and two candidates appeared to claim his Duchy. One of these
was Charles of Blois, who had espoused the duke's niece, and claimed
Brittany in her right; the other was the duke's brother, John, Count of
Montfort, who claimed as heir male. Philip of Valois, who now forgot
the Salic law, and only remembered that Charles of Blois was his own
nephew, decided in Charles's favour; and Montfort, having implored the
support of the English king, seized upon the strongholds in the duchy.
Unfortunately, the earl was taken prisoner early in the war; but his
countess, Joan, the Fleming, bravely maintained the struggle, and,
aided by an English force under Sir Walter Manny, made herself famous
by her defence of Hennebon.
While contending with countless difficulties, the Countess of Montfort
came to England to represent her case to the English king; and Edward,
who was deeply interested in what was occurring on the Continent, sent
Robert, Lord of Artois, with an army to aid her efforts. The expedition
was not fortunate. Attacked suddenly at Vannes, and taken by surprise,
Artois received wounds of which he soon died; and Edward, vowing to
avenge him, embarked to conduct the war in person.
It was late in 1343 when the King of England landed in Brittany, and
took the field with the hope of conquering. But fortune proved so
adverse that nothing but his martial skill saved him from humiliation.
While before Vannes he found himself threatened by the heir of France
and Charles of Blois, at the head of a French army four times more
numerous than that under his banner; and his doom looked dark.
However, the French, finding that he had taken up a very strong
position, and not particularly eager to try conclusions with the
conqueror of Halidon and Sluys, did not venture on an attack; and,
after the hostile armies had lain for some time facing each other, two
cardinals, sent by the pope, appeared in the character of peacemakers.
Edward had scarcely a choice. He was surrounded by enemies, and almost
destitute of provisions; and the coasts were so vigilantly guarded
by the fleets of Spain, that he despaired of receiving supplies from
England. His men were, in consequence, suffering much. At first,
however, he would not consent to peace; but the two cardinals, having
made great exertions, at length succeeded in bringing the belligerents
to reason, and ambassadors on both sides were nominated to confer
in the Priory of the Magdalen at Malestroit. Eventually they came
to terms; and, a truce for three years having been sworn to, Edward
embarked for England about the close of February, 1344, and landed
at Weymouth, probably with the idea that he had seen the last of the
Continent, and had more than enough of continental war.
If so, he was much mistaken. Scarcely, in fact, was Edward's back
turned when Philip of Valois startled Christendom with a display of the
perfidy and cruelty which characterised his life. At a tournament, to
which the Bretons went without misgiving, twelve lords, who had fought
for the cause of Montfort, were arrested. No charge was brought against
them; nor were they allowed the benefit of a trial. Without having
assigned a cause, or given the opportunity of a defence, Philip caused
them to be conducted to the scaffold and beheaded.
This tragic event caused the utmost horror. The friends and kinsmen
of the murdered men took up arms, and went in a body to the Montfort
standard; and Godfrey Harcourt, a great baron of Normandy, finding
himself in danger of sharing their fate, escaped to England, and
obtained from Edward a vow to avenge the lawless execution of his
allies.