H2 HenJIL Naval Expeditions, &c. oj the English, Book I
1264. Guardian of the Sea and MaritimePorts.)
1266. In the Year 1266. Simon de Mont-An. Waverl. fort , eldest Son of the Earl of Leicester,Monfort de having been obliged to surrender him-commands a self, among other Rebels, at Axholme,Fleet of Pi- had Liberty to depart the Kingdom;rates. But, instead of making good Use of theMercy shewn him, he joined with a Setof Pirates, belonging to the CinqPorts, who gave him the Command oftheir Ships. With them he plunderedall theMer chants Ships he met, of what-ever Nation, without Distinction. Aboutthe five and twentieth of November , thesePirates burnt the City of Portsmouth , inRevenge, because some of their Fellow -Citizens had been hanged by King Hen-ry's Order. As it evidently appeared,that these Pyracies were committed un-der Countenance of the Inhabitants ofPrince Ed- the Cinq Ports, Prince Edward wasward sent a- sent to chastise them; But reduced themg HeNltc 7 s to ^oir Duty, without using Force, bythem by Pro- assuring them of theirPardon, and a Con-mijes. firmation of theirPrivileges. If we may,An.Waverl. however, believe the Annals of JVaver-ly, the Prince had an Engagement withthe Inhabitants of Wincheljea , in whichgreat Numbers of them were either slainor drowned, and their Leader, HenryPehune , taken. (/)
1270. Prince Edward, having taken theM. Westm. Cross, in the Year 1268. and being re-T. Wikes. tnrnec j f rom F ran ce, where he had been
An.'wfverl. to borrow Mony to prepare for his Ex-Prince Ed- pedition, in the Year 1270. he depart-ward fits mt ec { f rom Portsmouth, and took up theWars °' 3 Princess his Spouse at Pour de aux. Fromthence they went together, and embark-ed about Michaelmajs, at Aigues Mortes,about eighteen Leagues West of Mar-seilles, where their Fleet lay in Expecta-tion of them. He joined the King of
France, as some Authors fay, before 1270.Tunis, tho’ ohers affirm, he never wasat that Siege, at all; but having spentthe Winter in Sicily, continued his Spends theVoyage to the Holy Land in Spring. The r iuKing of France died soon after of thePlague, with one of his Sons, and hisother Son Philip thought of nothing butreturning Home. After this Edwardcould not hope to make any great Con-quests in Palestine, he pursued, however,his Voyage, and arrived there, accord-ing to his Vow. With the few Troops 1271.he had, which, according to Herning-ford, did not amount to above aThousandselect Men, tho' they afterwards werejoin'd by near Six Thousand other Chri-stians, he gave th n Saracens such Proofs Hg ^ js jof his Valour and Conduct, as let them his Valour,fee what they were to expect from him,if he should come with a greater Force:
And so apprehensive were they of it,that they hired an Assassme to murder Is J? D ^ n Nhim. He had the good Fortune, how-ever, to escape their Malice, receivingonly a Wound by a poisoned Knife inthe Arm, instead of the Belly, at whichit was aimed. Sickness, as well as theEnemy, having greatly diminished Ed-ward's Army, and no Supply being tobe hoped, he, much against his Will, 1272.concluded a Truce with the Sultan, forten Years, ten Months, and ten Days. ]y ets Sail tn'This done he embarked his Troops and wards Eag-let Sail on his Way for England. land -
In this Year, on the sixteenth of No-vember , King Henry III. died at Lon- endon, after having reigned Six and fiftyYears and twenty Days, under continu-al Uneasinesses, and with little Honour.
His Brother Richard, Emperour elect,dying six, or, according to some, eightMonths before him.
HoUnJh. j Holinshead fays: The Inhabitants of In the one and fiftieth Year of this King’s Rot. Pat.st’
If "mchelfea only made Countenance to resist him, Reign, an Exemtion from some Payments was Henr. III-but Prince Edward , after a gallant Assaults en- granted to the City of London, (per totam Reg- membr. iutered the Town, in which Entry much guilty num, tarnper mare quam per terram,) throughoutBlood was lpllt, but yet the Multitude, by the the whole Kingdom, as well by Land as by Lea.
Prince’s Command, was spared : And thus, hav- An evident Proof, that the King looked uponing won the Town, he warned them, that they the Sea to be as much his Dominion as theshould, for the future, abstain from Piracies, Land.which they had, till that Time, greatly prac-