Gallant Edward. A.D. 1349. The King attacked Eustace de Ribaumont, and fought so fiercely with him, that, as Froissart says, "it was conduct of right pleasant to see," and "for fighting well and valiantly Messire Eustace de Ribaumont surpassed them all." At last the Frenchmen yielded, and De Chargny and many others gave themselves up as prisoners. Among these was De Ribaumont, who surrendered to the King, without knowing what gallant enemy he had encountered. The French are defeated. The King's of his prisoners. The King entertained the prisoners at supper; and treatment they then learnt, for the first time, that it was King Edward who had fought with them. After supper, he addressed a few words of reproach to De Chargny; but, turning to De Ribaumont, he complimented him on his bravery, and, taking off from his own head a chaplet of pearls, placed it on that of De Ribaumont, begging him to wear it out of love to himself, and then gave him his freedom. Shortly after this the King returned to England. His return to England. There can be but little doubt, that this attempt on Calais, was a gross violation on the part of Philip himself of the conditions of the truce; and that De Chargny acted with his connivance at least; but, nevertheless, Edward did not declare the truce to be broken. He was proud of the personal part he had taken in the fighting, and England was too much desolated by the plague to be called on for large supplies of soldiers.1 Such, however, was the enmity between the two countries, that, a few months after Edward's return from Calais, he felt it necessary, notwithstanding the truce, to prepare for war. The truce was about to expire, the 16th of May being the day to which it had 1 See Sismondi, vol. x. p. 362. CHAP. XVII. DEATH OF PHILIP. 321 tions for renewal of truce. been prolonged; there was no symptom of success in the A.D. 1350. attempts for its renewal, and therefore, on the 20th of March, 1350, Edward ordered soldiers to be got ready to go abroad with him, and a few weeks afterwards, on May 1st, issued instructions for the assemblage of Preparaships to convey them. Still, however, Edward did not war, but relax in his efforts to bring about a peace, and on the 15th of May, the very day before the expiration of the truce, he again sent ambassadors to France with that object. At last, on the 13th of June, it was agreed between the two Kings, that the truce should be extended till the "rising of the sun" on the 1st of August, and thence for one year.1 Philip of August 22, John, Nor Shortly after the quarrel between England and France had been thus patched up for a time, Philip of Valois died. This event took place on August Death of 22nd, only seven months after his second marriage-Valois, to a wife many years younger than himself. He was 1350; suc succeeded, without any protest on the part of Eng- ceeded by land, by his eldest son John, Duke of Normandy, who, Duke of like his father, and at about the same time, had mandy. taken to himself a second wife, having, on the 9th of February, 1350, married the Countess of Boulogne, widow of his cousin Philip of Burgundy. On November 2nd, he confirmed the prolongation of the truce to which his father had agreed,2 as it would not otherwise have been binding; but the change of King made no difference in the relations between the two countries. 'See Rymer, vol. iii. pp. 184, 193, 195, 196 and 197. CHAPTER XVIII. SEA FIGHT WITH THE SPANIARDS, AND WAR IN GASCONY AND BRITTANY. A.D. 1350. IT is one of the remarkable features of the war which raged so long between England and France, that other countries, one after another, seemed to be necessarily drawn into its vortex. Scotland naturally became the ally of France in the struggle; then came Flanders, and the Empire with its various feudatories. The Genoese fought as mercenaries on both sides; but they hardly merit reproach for such conduct, for there was not one of Edward's allies who did not receive payment, or who would not have instantly withdrawn his troops if the bills drawn on the Bardi or Perucchi were likely to be dishonoured. At last, Spain was involved in the contest, and became a valuable ally of France; but, in order History of fully to understand the history of the events which now took place, it is necessary to enter somewhat into the history of that country. the Spanish peninsula. After the great defeat of the Moors in 1222, the Spanish peninsula was divided into four sovereignties, exclusive of Granada, which still remained in their hands. These were first, PORTUGAL; next, CASTILE, which included Galicia, the Asturias (forming till 1230 the kingdom of Leon), Old Castile, Toledo or New Castile, Estremadura, Andalusia and a part of Murcia; the third was ARAGON, and CHAP. XVIII. RELATIONS BETWEEN FRANCE AND SPAIN. 323 between and the fourth was the small kingdom of NAVARRE. A.D.1350. Castile was thus by far the largest kingdom of Spain, and its inhabitants were usually therefore, and not improperly, designated as The Spaniards. By the marriage, in 1284, of Queen Joanna I. of Navarre with Philip IV. (the Fair), that kingdom became united to France; but on the death of his youngest son, Charles IV. (the Fair), in 1328, it again became a separate kingdom. Charles left no son, and therefore Joan, the only surviving child of his eldest brother Louis X., became heiress to the throne. As Connexion a female, she could not ascend the throne of France, Navarre being excluded therefrom by the Salic Law; but France, this law did not prevail in Navarre, and she consequently became Queen of that country. Joan was succeeded, in 1349, by her son, called Charles the Bad, whose sister was married to Philip of Valois in the following year. The relation between France and Navarre, thus gave the French some pretence for interfering in the affairs of Spain; but, their relations with Castile, gave them greater reason for so doing. Fernando de la Cerda, the eldest son of Alphonso X., King of Castile and Leon, married Blanche, sister of Philip the Fair. On the death of and Fernando in 1275, his brother Sancho was pro- France claimed successor to the throne; to the exclusion Castile. of De la Cerda's sons, who were, of course, Philip's nephews. Philip and his successors resented this usurpation; and constantly supported, the claims of the De la Cerda family, to the throne. This friendship between France and Spain, is a probable explanation of what now ensued. Charles de la Cerda, was appointed admiral of a Spanish fleet, destined for an attack on England; and, Y 2 between and France in to attack Its powerful fleet. A.D. 1350. it is not unreasonable to suppose, that the expedition was planned by the King of France. That it was cites Spain no mere piratical adventure, as has sometimes been England. represented, is clear from Edward's letters and proclamations respecting it. On the 10th of August,1 when writing to the Archbishop of Canterbury, to order him to offer up prayers, for the success of his arms, he informed him of his reasons, for defending himself against the Spaniards. He said, that notwithstanding the treaties between the two kingdoms, the Spaniards had attacked and plundered English merchantmen; and that now, "such was their pride," they had gathered themselves together in great numbers in Flanders, to destroy the English navy and invade England. The Spaniards were indeed in great force. According to Froissart, the soldiers on board their fleet, were ten times as many as the English. They had forty great nefs, provided with "all kinds of artillery, that it was a wonder to think of," and great bars of iron, and heaps of stones, to cast down and sink the enemy's ships, and castles, called breteskés, on the masts, from whence these missiles were thrown. They assembled in the harbour of Sluys. Their being allowed to do so by the Flemings, was not consistent with the neutrality of Flanders; but, it must be borne in mind that, although a solemn treaty of peace had been made between Edward and the young Count of Flanders,3 the sympathies of the Count were always with the French. The number of the English ships, is not stated by any contemporary writer; but they were certainly much smaller in size than the Spanish. They lay at The English fleet 2 1 Rymer, vol. iii. p. 201. 2 Buchon's Froissart, vol. i. p. 285. 3 Ibid. p. 179. |