2ij. John* Naval Expeditions, &x. of the English, Book I.

I 201.An. Burton.John^slW o-ver to

France, andis nobly en-tertained atParis.

The War re-newed.

I 202.John comesto England,

7 Bet returns ;

1203.

Js unsuccess-ful

And comes toEngland a-gain :

I 204.

m.

He losesNormandy,and almostall hisDomi-mons inFrance.

1205.

John fits outa m ghtyFleet , andraises a nu-merous Armyto attachFrance.

tindy, he followed him in Person aboutWhitsuntide. He concluded a Treatythis Year with Philip of France, andwas nobly entertained by him at Paris ;But notwithstanding this outward Shewof Friendship, the War broke out againthe Year following.

This Year John came to England,(d) but, after having staid some Time,returned to Normandy, where he wasunsuccessful. Finding himself reduced toa low Condition there, and almost desti-tute of Forces, he took Shipping, andlanded at Portsmouth, on the sixth ofDecember. Immediately after his Ar-rival he turned his Resentments againsthis Earls and Barons, alledging, thattheir having deserted him was the Oc-casion of all his Misfortunes. In theBeginning of the next Year the GrandCouncil, or Parliament, granted John amilitary Aid, but it did not avail him ;for either thro’ his own Negligence andInactivity, the Treachery and Cowar-dice of his Officers, or Want of a suffici-ent Force to oppose the victorious Armyof the King of France, he, thisCampaign,lost all Normandy, and the greatest Partof Main, Pourain, Anjou and PoiSlou.By these Losses Joh «’s Dominions werereduced within a much less Compass,than any of his Predecessors had enjoyed,since the Norman Conquest.

I n the Year 1205. King John seem-ed strenousty resolved to endeavour theregaining the Honour and Losses he hadsustained in France. To this End, he a-gain fumrnoned his Barons to meet himabout the Beginning of Lent, with theirTroops, at Portsmouth , where he had or-

dered a Mighty Navy to lie.ready : But 120c.

just as he was going to embark, with anumerous Army, the Archbishop Waver!.

Canterbury, the Earl of Pembroke and Ann. deothers, endeavoured to persuade him M-argan.from an Expedition, which, they said , £‘dedndt,he could not expect would be successful. J sst from theHe was forced to submit to their Re- Expedition ■,monstrances, tho’ with Reluctance, andhaving sent over some Succours, underthe Command of the Earl of Salisbury, . , , ,he dismissed the Remainder of his Ar- v n er S a °my, and his Fleet, (e) The next Year Part of Usthe King’s Courage was again rouzed up - Arm y-to make an Attempt on France. He j^p^’embarked, with a considerableArmy, at An. Waver!.Portsmouth, on the five and twentieth of Holinfh.June, landed at Roches July the ninth, Brn i J oiinand reduced to his Obedience the great- ani

est Part of the Province of Poiclou: But is successfulin theMidst of his Success, he was again A Truce en-over-reached by Philip, who, not being ■' aes 'prepared to withstand him, demandedand obtained a Truce for two Years.

From the Year 1206. to 1210. theKing’s Thoughts and Time were so Margan Ewholly taken up in the Disturbances, he Holinfh.was involved in, with the Pope, that his M. Paris.History furnishes us nothing proper for An - Waver 'our Remark here, I shall, therefore,only observe, that, on the first of Ostlo-ber, 1208. Prince Henry , who after-wards succeeded his Father, was bornat Winchester. This Year, the better tokeep his Subjects in Awe, who inclinedto the Papal Side, King John resolvedupon levying a great Army. SomeCommotions in Ireland gave a Pretencefor it, and he made the Jews bear thegreater Part of the Expences of this

Expedition^

1210.

demanded as a Right due to our Englijh Navy a-bove five Hundred Years ago.

Another Instance, which this Reign affordsus , of the Right asserted by the Kings ofEngland , to the Dominion of their Seas, in thePractice very much used by them of old, of ex-tending their Embargoes all over the English Seas,and seizing foreign Vessels for their own Service,we find, in the following Mandate issued out byKing John.

The King to all the Sturemanni (Sea-Cap-

nion oj theSea.

Gen. Treat. . - ——» , _ ,

. YOomi- " tains and Officers, then so called) and Mari-L„n of the “ nelli (Mariners or Sea-Soldiers) and Merchants" of England using the Sea, Greeting: KnowYe, that we have sent Alarms Juyo os Sorham,Walter Staltun , Vincent of Hastings , and IVm-mud of Winchelsea , with others of our Baronsof the Cinq Ports , &c. four faithful Stureman-ni and Marinelli of our Gallies, to arrest andsafely bring into England, all Ships, that theycan find, with all that shall be found in them :And, therefore, we command you to be aidingto them in this Business, so that ye be in Eng-land, with your Ships and Goods, at suchPorts

" as they shall appoint. And if any shall attempt“ to resist them, contrary to our Command, ye,

" our Liege-men, are required to affist them,

“ with all your Power, as you tender yourselves" and your Chattels, and your Quiet and Resi-“ dence, and that of all your Kindred within" our Dominions.”

(d) After having had a successful Battle this B »linpeaCampaign, in which he took Prince Arthur, hisNephew, and a Pretender to the Crown, with a

great Number of other Persons of Distinction,

Prisoners. See a particular Account of it, withKing John ’s Letter to his Barons in Holinfhead.

( e ) To the great Dissatisfaction of his Noble-men and Knights, who had put themselves to vastExpences in Expectation of an honourable Cam-paign : But more especially of the Mariners, who,to the Number of fourteen Thousand, had, forthis Design, brought their Ships from the utmostParts of the Kingdom. The King himself, vex-ed at the Disappointment, put to Sea, with a smallCompany, but, after cruizing about two or threeDays, returned and landed at Stogden, near War-ham in Dorsetshire,

M.Pi