Chap. XXV. from the Conquest, to the Death os g^Mary I, 129

*558. very dear ; For the Court of France, tobe revenged, sent the Duke of Guise,in the Midst of Winter, with a power-C a j a . ful Army, to invest Calais. The Town'^lerefto was, at that Time, very ill provided fordrench, a-Defence, (the Garrilon consisting butof five Hundred Men) and the Attackwas pursued with so much Vigour, thatit surrendered within a Week after theDuke sate down before it, having thenbeen above two Hundred Years in thePossestion of the English.d 3 _ The Duke came within Sight of the<ft^ CCount Place, on the first of January, 1558.n Siege. The Englijh never imagined, in theCircumstances France was then in, thatthey would think of such an Enter-prize, and, for that Reason, had buta very small Garrilon in it, under theLord Dumsort. (Wentworth) The Fortsof Nieulay, and the Rysbank, makinglittle or no Resistance, the Duke loonmade himself Master of them, and at-tacked the Castle of the Town. Hehad given Orders to all the Privateersof Xaintonge, Bretagne, Normandy andPicardy to put to Sea, to chafe all theEnglish Ships they met, and to assem-ble, in the Channel, the Beginning ofJanuary ; By which Means, he prevent-ed any Relief being brought into Ca-lais. A Breach was made in the Wallof the Castle, at a Place where therewas no firm Ground, because there theRiver Ham runs into the Ditch; Butthe Besiegers found Means to drain it.There the Assault was given, Meanshaving been contrived for the Soldiersto pals over the Mire, and the Castletaken. The Town could hold nolonger, but was obliged to capitulate.Among the Conditions, on which it wassurrendered, one was, that the Gover-nour, and fifty more, whom the Dukeshould chuse, Ihould remain Prisonersof War, and the whole Garrison be-sides be transported to England. Thuswas this Town, which had cost Ed-ward III. an eleven Month’s Siege (orrather Blockade) after the Battle ofCress lost by Philip deValois, nowreduced within the Space of eight Days,in the Midst of Winter.

The Englijh (as is said before) hadkept Possestion of it for two Hundredand ten Years, and thought it so ihi-

(a) She was so affected with it, that she a--handoned herself to Despair, and told those abouther, slie Ihould die, tho' they were yet Stran-

pregnable, that they had caused an 1558.Inscription to be set over one of theGates, importing, " That when Lead" would swim upon Water, like Cork,

" then the Ftench would retake Ca-" lais. ” Several of the Kings ofFrance had made Preparations for theRecovery of it; But none had dared toattack it. Upon the Taking of thisTown, it was observed, that the Frenchhad lost it under one Philip , and thatthe Englijh had let them retake it underanother ; to which the Pope, Paul IV.added, that the Loss of Calais wasQueen Mary's Dowry, and indeed itwas all England got by the Marri-age.

About a Week after the Surrender Godwin,of Calais, to the French, the Duke of Puisnes amiGuije marched to Guijnes, and took |t 2r k es Ca ‘the Town without any Difficulty; But dereTJ^the Castle, being defended by the LordGray, was not carried so easily. How-ever, that was taken at last, as waslikewise Hames Castle: And since thatTime, neither in France, which ourKings possessed almost entire, and ofwhich our King Henry VI. had beencrowned King, at Paris, in the Year1431. Nor in Normandy^ or Mquitain ,the ancient Patrimony of the Kings ofEngland, do our Princes retain anyThing, except the Istes of Jersey andGuernsey, which have continued firmto us ever since the Conquest.

The Lois of Calais fate Ib heavy Godwinupon the Queen, that it is generally Burchett.thought to have been the Occasion of jj a P in withher Death, (a) To be, however, insome Measure revenged on the French to ravageKing, she sent her High-Admiral, the the CoastsLord Clinton, in the Month of July, Blague.with a Fleet of one Hundred and for-ty Sail, to which King Philip addedthirty Sail of Flemijh Ships, command-ed by his Admiral of the Netherlands.

Their Orders were, if they found itpracticable, to endeavour the Reduc-tion of Bres. When they arrived onthe Coast of Bretagne they found thisProject impracticable; However, notto return without doing something,wor-thy of Remark, they landed at Conquet , Burns five-and, taking Possestion of that Town, r ^ WslfW >they sack’d and burnt it, togetherwith the Abby of St. Matthew , and

several

gers to the Cause of her Death ; But if theywould know it hereafter, they must dissect her,and they would find Calais at her Heart,