54 Edw. I. Naval Expeditions y &c of the English, Book L

1 294.

F Daniel.

1295.M. Westm.Wal singh.

F/retsent to Gui-enne.

hVf.Burchett

Is successful.

Walsingh.

i' 1 King Ed-ward keeps ,at the fameTime ,

Fleets at Sea ,,/<?r the De-fence of tieCoasts ;

" several Ships laden with Wine, which“ were coming round from the Western" Coasts of France. Hereupon the" French fitted out a Number of Ships," under the Commandos Charles,Count“ deValois, who engaging the English,t( received a total Defeat: But thete French soon after repairing their Fleet“ failed to Dover, and surprizing that" Town, plundered and set it on Fire.”F. Daniel says this Fleet, which burntDover, was commanded by Matthew ofMontmorenci and John of Harcourt, butplaces the Action in 1296.

Several Treaties were set on Footfor a Pacification, in one of which theKing of France got the whole Dukedomof Guienne, of Edward, by a Wile,but all proved fruitless. On the five andtwentieth of January a Fleet of threeHundred, five and twenty (st/. JVeJlm .fays two and fifty) Ships were sent fromPlymouth to Guienne, under the Com-mand of Prince Edmund, Earl of Lanca-ster, the King’s Brother, and Henry deLacy, Earl of Lit ..coin, with him. Mr.Secretary Burchett fays; a potent Army,with a Fleet of three Hundred and six-ty Ships, under the Command of theEarls of Lancafler, Lincoln, and Rich-mond.

This Fleet (continues Mr. SecretaryBurchett') being arrived in Safety on theGarronne, (d) the Army fat down be-fore the Towns of Bourg and Blaye, si-tuate on that River, (<?) and so on becameMasters of them. Having afterwardsraised the Siege of Bourdeaux, (st) theFrench were obliged to retire into theirown King’s Dominions. Edward wasthen so powerful at Sea, (g) that, be-sides the Fleet sent to France, he equip-ed three Squadrons to guard the Coasts,lest the French should attempt to makea Diversion, by a Descent. One, whichwas called the Tarmouth Squadron,com-manded by John de Botetort, covered theEastern Coast; another, by the Nameof the Portsmouth Squadron, under theCommand of IVilltam de Leybume, cruis-ed on the Southern Coast; and the third

12 95

1206.

TieEngli®

the Commander of which is not namedin History, was for the Security of Ire-land, and the Western Coasts.

In the Year 1296. a Part of the £/■«§■-list Fleet, probably one of these Squa-drons, failed to Cherbourg, and plunder- ohcrbourL-ed both the Town and the Ab by, and f. Daniel”then retreated. The fame Year, theScots having invaded England, and King The s c ’ otsEdward being encamped with his Army invade En-treat Berwick, a Fleet of four and twen- .ty Englist Ships came thither, and theOfficers and Mariners feing the Army inBattle Array on a Plain, thought hisDesign was to have given immediate As-sault to the Place. Upon this they en-tred the Haven, and, approaching. to-wards the Land, began to fight with theTowns Men. But they were so warmlyreceived that they lost four of theirShips, SomeE nglilhand were obliged to take the Advantage Shipslosi,of the Ebb to get off with the Remain-der. Edward, in the mean Time, beinginformed of this Attempt of the Englist Berwick ta*Fleet, marched immediately to attack ken by Kingthe Town, and took it with a very great Edward.Slaughter.

In the Year 1297. Edward having 1297.brought the Emperour, the Earls of m. Westm*Flanders, Holland, Juliers, and Lunen- Mezerai.burg, the Dukes of Auftria and Brabant, ^dvvardthe Archbishop of Cologne, and several f orm Alii-other Princes of Germany, over to his ances agaitiSide, formed a strong League against France >France. The King’s Preparations wereretarded for a Time, by a Quarrel, firstwith the Clergy, and then with his Ba- And r alh torons; However he failed from Winches Flanders.sea, the two and twentieth of August, Knighton.and landed on the seven and twentiethnear Sluys, with one Thousand, fiveHundred Men at Arms, and fifty Thou-sand Foot, of which thirtyThousand wereWelch.

No sooner was the King landed, than Knighton*a private Pique, between the Mariners Holinsli.of the Cinq Ports, and those of Tar- Wal singh*mouth, and other Places* broke out intoan Engagement between the Ships of hisown Fleet; And, notwithstanding theKing’s Commands sent to them to desist,

five

¥: Daniel- (d) Father Daniel fays, they first made aDescent upon the Isle of Ree, where the Englipput all to the Fire and Sword.

(e) Where, according to F. Daniel , they hadheld a private Correspondence.

(st) Father Daniel lays, They presentedthemselves before Bourdeaux, which they durstnot attack, because the Constable was there inPerson to defend it. They passed beyond, andwent up as far as Rions, which was likewise sur-rendered to them ; and here it was they landed

tJl P r J? aV r r L Ec hard makes no Mention ofthis Transaction, and Rapin is very confused inhis Relations from 1253. to r296.

(g) Another Instance of this King’s Powerat Sea was, that he did not suffer the Dutch to

fish on our Coasts without Licence; Among the

Records of this King s Reign there is an Inscrip.tion: Pro Hominibns Hollandiœ , Isle. For theMen of Holland , &c. to have Leave to fish nearTarmouth,