From Belt and Spur, Stories of the Knights of the Middle Ages from the Old Chronicles, by E. L. S. (Emma L. Seeley), New York: Scribner and Welford, 1883; pp. 165-170.
CHAPTER I
SEA-FIGHTS.
Now the King of France held the lands of the King of England in Gascony, and the King Edward sent messengers to the King of France, praying him to yield them to him, for that they were his inheritance, and he had paid homage to the King of France for them. But he gave them a short answer. And about that time the Bishop of Glasgow, came out of France with great provision of arms, horses, silver and gold, which the King of France had provided for the aid of the Scots in their war, and the worth of them was fifteen thousand pounds. But he was taken on the sea by Sir John Ros, and carried into the port of Sandwich, and soon after the bishop died of grief. And not long after the Normans entered into Portsmouth in great strength, and set on fire the whole town, and killed many of the English, and took whatever they could find, and then without delay went away. For they entered under the arms of England, and so deceived the people of the town; but, yet, certain English came upon them and killed many of them in the retreat.
166And the next year, when the King of France heard how alliance had been made between the Emperor and King Edward, he assembled a great number of men and gathered together no small fleet to attack the lands of England with great daring, and they did what evil they could without pity by land and sea. And they landed at Southampton and killed all they could find, and lay hands on everything, hanging some of the noblest of the town in their own houses, and gave the whole town to the flames; but some of the people coming to the help of the town, they went on board of their ships and escaped to the high sea. But that year Edward, duke of Cornwall, the son of the King, held a parliament in London, whereat was ordained that they should keep guard in five ports with sixty ships full of armed men. The Earl of Huntingdon, Constable of England, was made Warden of Suffolk, and Lord Robert de Morley Warden of Norfolk. And that year the winter was severe and beyond measure long. Then, about Easter came the Normans with twelve galleys and eight spynaces, with about four thousand men, and they came to Southampton; and when they saw the boldness of the English, prepared and ready for defence, they did not dare to set foot on English land, but went out to sea lest the English should follow them. But the English offered to let them come on shore to refresh themselves for two days, if they would agree after the two days to fight together, ten against ten, or twenty against twenty, or in any other way that they might agree to. 167 But they would not, but went away without doing anything.
Then, in the year 1339, about the feast of the Trinity, there came enemies to the port of Hastings, and burnt a great part of the town, and on St. James’ day came the French in great strength to the port of Sandwich, and they had thirty-two galleys, and twenty large ships, and fifteen smaller ones, but they did not dare to land on account of the English being prepared, but turned away to the port of Rye, and did much evil there. But the English came upon them on the sea, and the French took to flight, and the English pursued them to Boulogne de Notre Dame, and set on fire a great part of the town, and hanged twelve of the ships’ captains, and returned to England with the captured ships. About the same time Robert de Morley, the Admiral, sailed to Normandy with his ships, and with the ships of the Cinque-ports, and they burnt many towns, Ryes and other ports: and also burnt the fleet of the Normans, about eighty ships. After that all the galleys from the coasts of France, with the rest of the ships, assembled at Sluys, in Flanders, and before the Flemings there they took an oath, with a solemn vow, that they would not return home until they had taken a hundred ships of the English, and set on fire five hundred towns in England; but by the disposal of God their vain imaginings came to naught. For the Saturday after the feast of St. Michael they took their way on the high seas, and a tempest coming upon them, they fell into extreme peril, and many of 168 their ships being lost, and the greater part of the men drowned, the rest returned to the land of Flanders.
After this the King of France considered within himself how he might hinder and impede the King Edward, and prevent him returning, as he proposed, into the land of Flanders. So he assembled a very large and noble fleet of ships, such as cannot be seen in these degenerate days, and filled them with armed men and cross-bowmen, and they came to Flanders to the port of Sluys that they might take King Edward coming to his queen, then dwelling in Ghent. Then King Philip of France sent to the Pope, and certified him that King Edward would not cross the sea, but that either he would be killed or captured. And he stirred up the Scots to rise and make war in England, and sent into Flanders about thirty thousand armed men, and forty thousand foot-soldiers, nobly arrayed, to destroy the islands of Flanders, because the nobles of Flanders had sworn faith to King Edward. But the Flemings sent to the King of England that he should come to them quickly with aid, or it would be necessary for them to yield to King Philip, and the Count of Flanders and Queen Philippa with her children would be taken.
Then King Edward understanding the purpose of the King of France, made his fleet assemble with all speed to carry him over into Flanders, and put to sea, having with him Henry de Burghersh, bishop of Lincoln, a man of nobility, wise in counsel, of rare boldness, and great strength, and well known for his retinue of strong men. And there came also 169 Henry, the noble young Earl of Derby, afterwards the first Duke of Lancaster, and the Earl of Northampton, the Earl of Gloucester, the Earl of Huntingdon, and many of the great men of the kingdom. And thus, on the vigil of St. John the Baptist, about the third hour, that is, on Friday, King Edward and his ships came to the coasts of Flanders near Blanckenburg, and there they saw all the ships of the navy of France lying in the port of Sluys. Then King Edward sent Lord Reginald de Cobham, Sir John de Cundy, and Sir Stephen de Laburkin, to explore and reconnoitre the fleet in its array; and they, riding along the land, came so near to it that they could see well the apparelling of it, and they saw about nineteen ships greater and more excellent than they had ever seen before; one of which, for its excellence, was named the Christopher. And they saw besides two hundred ships of war in the water near the land, arrayed in three lines, with other smaller boats and barges. The next day, that is to say, St. John the Baptist’s day, the fleet came out of the port of Sluys at Grongue, disposed in order as has been described. And King Edward, seizing the favourable opportunity, that same day, at the ninth hour, sailed with his ships towards them through the deep sea, not fearing either their ferocity nor the superiority of their numbers. And the battle began and was fought bravely and fiercely; but the Lord gave the victory to King Edward, so that the French were overthrown, and they fled in great ships called St. Denis and St. George, with Sir Hugh 170 Quiriel, who was their chief captain, and Nicholas Bychet, who the same day was made knight and killed with Sir Hugh. And it is said that there fell of the French and their allies, our enemies, about twenty-five thousand men. And in the middle of the night following twenty-three ships and barges of the Norman fleet escaped from us and were not taken. But King Edward landed in Flanders, and with the Flemings and his whole army went to the town of Tournay and laid great siege to it.