+Source.+--_Walter of Hemingburgh's Chronicle_, vol. ii., pp. 40 _et
seqq._ (English Historical Society Publications.)
In the year of our Lord 1293 a shameful quarrel arose between the
English seamen of the Cinque Ports and French seamen from Normandy, in
this wise. A certain ship from the Cinque Ports touched at a port in
Normandy and remained there several days; one day two sailors from this
vessel were going to draw pure water from a spring in the neighbourhood,
when they chanced to meet some Norman sailors, who so irritated them
that they had recourse to abuse and then to blows; finally weapons were
drawn, and one of them was killed; the other fled, and betook himself
with his companions to the ship, where he told what had happened and how
the Normans were hard in pursuit. They sailed out on to the high seas,
hoping there at least to escape, but the enemy followed so as to capture
them. Evading their pursuers with difficulty, they told the news to the
seamen in the Cinque Ports, and besought aid; nor did the rage of the
Normans abate; for they secured reinforcements, and sought out English
vessels on the seas. They happened on one occasion to fall in with six
English ships, which they attacked; two of them they destroyed, hanging
the men with dogs to the yard-arm, and thus sailed over the seas, making
no difference between a dog and an Englishman. When tidings of this
event were brought to the men of the Cinque Ports by those who had
escaped, they straightway gathered together, and, grimly resolving to
avenge the insult, sought out their enemies.
(A fierce naval engagement followed, in which the English were
victorious.)
When Philip, King of France, received the news of this battle, although
his brother Charles had been the cause of it, he sent to the King of
England messengers who vehemently demanded that reparation should be
made, that those responsible for the engagement should be given up for
punishment, and that a great sum of money should be paid as compensation
for loss to his merchants. To these demands our King prudently answered
that he would reply through his own agents; and, by their mouth, asked
the King of France, as his relative and lord, to appoint a day and
place, where they might both agree to be present, to deliberate on the
matter in a friendly fashion, and to do further whatever the state of
the case demanded. The King of France did not accept this proposal, but,
with the advice of his Barons, commanded the King of England, by writ,
to appear in his Court on a certain day to answer for the
above-mentioned damages. When the English King did not appear on the day
appointed, it was decided and ordained by the Court of the King of
France that he should be disseised of all his lands beyond the seas, and
should be summoned to appear on another day, under pain of forfeiture of
his whole continental possessions.
The King of England, fearing a disturbance--having been warned to that
effect by some of his friends--did not come in person, but sent his
brother, the lord Edmund, Earl of Leicester, on each occasion, with
letters empowering him to do whatever was required by justice. When the
latter appeared with a sufficient mandate on behalf of the King of
England, the French Barons did not receive him, but in the Royal Court
adjudged Gascony, and all the lands of the King of England, forfeited
for contempt. The lord Edmund himself, then, in hope of peace, carried
on divers negotiations with the King of France; so that it was commonly
said that our King would marry the sister of the King of France, and by
that means a settlement be arrived at. Meanwhile the Seneschal of the
King of England in Gascony refused to allow the officers of the King of
France to enter in to take possession of the Duchy, and a great dispute
took place; thereupon the King of France, summoning the lord Edmund to
his presence, asked him, as a friend and as the mediator on behalf of
peace, to allow him to possess himself of four or five cities
only--Bordeaux, Bayonne, Langon, and Marmande--and this in the hope of
peace, for he said he could not sign a treaty of peace unless his Barons
saw the sentence of their Court carried into effect; he promised, on his
honour as a King, that complete peace would follow if this request were
granted. Edmund, saying that he could not dare to take it upon himself
so to do, asked to be allowed to seek the opinion and consent of the
King of England himself. Edward, placing full reliance on his brother's
words, replied by letters patent to the effect that he was content with
and would abide by whatever his brother thought should be done regarding
the matter in his name. When these letters had been received and
reported to the King of France, the King promised in all good faith, and
by his word as a King, that he would restore everything in full peace
after a short time, according to his vow. Edmund, guilelessly trusting
him, and ensnared by the royal promise, did not demand security,
believing that the royal word must be of more value than any safeguard
whatever; and he wrote immediately to the Seneschal of Gascony, ordering
him to give seisin of the cities to the officers of the King of France.
Thereupon the French introduced into Gascony first a few men, then a
large number, by stealth, and finally a great army, openly. The lord
Edmund, being informed of this, and fearing rebellion, asked the King of
France to remember his promise and to forbid it; but the King replied:
"Wait a little, until the forty days have passed, when I shall restore
all." When that time was completed, the lord Edmund again brought the
matter before him, only to receive the immediate reply that a decision
of his Court and judgment by twelve peers could not be revoked without
their consent; then, changing his attitude to one of scorn, Philip
departed.
The lord Edmund ... secretly and in haste left the Court, and, coming to
England to his brother the King, recounted everything in order, not
without great anguish of mind, saying that he had been guilty of folly
and self-deception. But the King, although disturbed in mind by the
news, yet gently comforted his brother, and, hastily summoning his
nobles and John, King of Scotland, held a Parliament at London, in which
he narrated in their presence the whole course of events, and sought
their advice and assistance, saying that he himself intended, even had
he no greater following than one boy and one horse, to prosecute his
rights to the death, and to take vengeance on Philip for his insults;
but the magnates replied unanimously that they would follow him to life
or to death.... The King, thus secure of assistance from his own
subjects, sent two brethren of the Order of Friars Preachers with
letters of presentation to the King of France, to renounce his homage to
the said King.