HOW CALAIS WAS REPEOPLED
Melancholy, I must confess, it was on that memorable August day, even
in the eyes of the conquerors of Calais, to see the citizens expelled
from the homes which hitherto they had called their own, and compelled
to wander forth, not knowing whither they went. Nor with them did they
carry aught to aid them in forming new settlements. Everything they
possessed was left behind; and, atoning for their fidelity to Philip of
Valois by the loss of wealth and goods, as well as houses and heritage,
men, women, and children, of various ages and conditions, passed,
weeping, through the opened gates, to seek among strangers for new
abodes and new friends.
All who witnessed their departure commiserated their hard fate. Even
King Edward, albeit exasperated at the Calesians, must, in his heart,
have deplored the stern necessity under the influence of which he
acted. But, as I have said, the king had expressed his determination to
repeople Calais with English, and so thoroughly was his mind made up on
the subject, that nothing could have turned him from the plan he had
formed for securing his conquest to England, and making it advantageous
to Englishmen.
In order to contribute to the result which he contemplated, the king
gave to Sir Walter Manny and the Earl of Warwick, and other lords and
knights, very handsome houses in Calais, that they might aid him in the
work, and intimated his resolution to lose no time in doing his part.
"Immediately on reaching England," said the king, "I will hasten to
send hither a number of substantial citizens, with all their wealth,
and exert myself in such a manner that the inhabitants shall be wholly
English. Not even a dog not of English breed should remain in the city
if I could help it."
At the same time the king gave orders for dismantling the temporary
town and fortifications which he had raised during the siege, and also
the great castle which he had erected in the harbour. Having done this,
and repaired the gates and walls, he took such measures for guarding
the gates and defending the walls as he deemed essential to the
security of the town, and then flattered himself that he had nothing
more to fear.
"Nothing," said he, "save treachery from within, could now deprive me
of this town, which has cost me so much time and money to gain; and to
provide at once against treachery, I intend to appoint as its governor
a man in whose perception and fidelity I have full confidence."
Accordingly, the king appointed to the important post of Governor of
Calais a Lombard, named Aymery de Pavie, whom he had brought up from
youth, whom he had greatly befriended, whom he had highly promoted,
and who was destined to requite so many favours with the very blackest
ingratitude.
It was a grave mistake on the king's part, I must admit, to appoint
an avaricious Lombard to such a post; and he well-nigh atoned for his
misplaced confidence by the loss of a conquest which he was so proud
to have made, and which any king might have been proud to make. But
in the meantime everything seemed fair, and Aymery de Pavie received
the keys of Calais from the royal conqueror with the air of a man
who was incapable of thinking a dishonourable thought. However, there
were then Englishmen and warriors of fame in Calais who had little
faith in the Lombard's honesty, and who murmured that, in trusting a
foreigner so much, the king was showing less than his wonted sagacity.
None, however, ventured to speak, save in a whisper, on a subject so
delicate, and not an echo of what was said ever reached the king's ears.
Meanwhile, many men--both English and French--were tired of the war,
and talking about "peace;" and Pope Clement, in the exercise of his
discretion, deemed it a fitting time to interfere. Before the surrender
of Calais, indeed, and ere yet Philip of Valois had left the Calesians
to their hard fate, the Pope had sent two cardinals to make an effort
at negociating a peace. But Edward would listen to no terms likely to
interfere with his gaining possession of Calais; and the cardinals,
after wasting three days in a fruitless attempt at negociation, gave up
the business in despair, and returned to Avignon.
But Clement did not abandon his design. No sooner, indeed, did the
Pope learn that Edward had gained his object--in so far as Calais was
concerned--than he resolved on renewing his attempt to terminate the
war. With this object he sent into France, as his ambassador, the
Cardinal Guy of Boulogne, who, meeting Philip of Valois at Amiens,
exercised all his tact and skill to induce the vanquished prince to
agree to a peace on practicable terms, and then appeared at Calais to
try his powers of persuasion on the King of England.
At first the cardinal had not much reason to congratulate himself
on the success of his negociations. His mission, in fact, was one
of great difficulty; for Philip hated Edward's name as death, and
Edward's contempt for Philip was by no means so slight as to be easily
concealed. But the cardinal comprehended his own position and theirs,
and felt sure that he would succeed in the end.
And so, indeed, it came to pass. Both parties, after reflecting
deliberately, arrived at the conclusion that, for the time being, at
least, they had had enough of the war. The English were--as well they
might be--contented with the victories they had won, and anxious to
return to their homes; the French, depressed and disheartened with
defeat and disaster, were the reverse of eager to continue a struggle
in which they instinctively felt they were almost certain to have the
worst.
Such being the circumstances in his favour, the cardinal persevered,
and, with so skilful a mediator as Guy of Boulogne whispering into
their ears, both Philip of Valois and King Edward began gradually to
listen more earnestly to his representations and his counsels.
At length the cardinal's endeavours were, in some degree, rewarded, and
he had the gratification of bringing the rivals to consent to a truce
for two years. On the 28th of September, 1347, the truce was signed
with all due form, and the King and Queen of England, with the Prince
of Wales and the Lady Isabel, embarked for England. The squires and
pages of the prince prepared to follow more leisurely.
And on reaching England, where he met with a boisterous welcome, King
Edward did not forget to neglect his scheme of repeopling Calais.
Forthwith he adopted measures for putting it into execution. Thirty-six
citizens of worth and substance, with their wives and families, were
sent, in all haste, to inhabit the conquered town, and others speedily
followed in large numbers, so that in manners, and customs, and
language, Calais differed little from any town in England.
And, as time passed on, the temptation to cross the narrow seas became
every year stronger. In fact, King Edward was all anxiety to see Calais
prosper and grow rich under his rule; and he, to stimulate its trade,
so multiplied the privileges of the English colonists, that adventurous
Englishmen flocked eagerly to it as the place where, of all others in
Europe, industry was best rewarded, and where fortunes were most easily
gained.