P REFACE.

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1253 Henry invaded Gascony with a fleet, according to Holinshed, ofthree hundred sail of I'arge ships, besides smaller vessels.

1361 A fleet of fifty-seven sail was fitted out by the Cinque Ports, atthe instigation of the barons, against Henry the Third. Thebarons of the Cinque IPorts, Hastings, Romne}', Hith, Dover andSandwich, were by their charter obliged to furnish for theking’s service, fifty-sev»en ships, eleven hundred aiid eighty-seven men, and fifty-steven boys ; that is to say, twenty-one men,and one boy, to each ship.

1266 Prince Edward defeated a piratical fleet fitted out by the CinquePorts, under the comtmand of Simon de Montfort.

1394' A fleet was collected for tlhe purpose of invading France, but theexpedition was deferred. A squadron of sixty English ships fallingin soon afterwards with a Norman fleet, consisting of two hundredsail, laden with wine, after a very smart engagement, took thewhole. There is a consi derable variance among authors concerningthis event. Some assert that the fleet which defeated the Frenchbelonged to the merchants, while others as strenuously insist, itwas the fleet under tlhe orders of the sovereign. Be that as itmay, they agree that siueh an action and defeat took place.

1295 A fleet of three hundred and fifty, of sixty ships was sent to Guienne,

under the earls of Lancaster, Richmond, and Lincoln. Threeother squadrons also were equipped to guard the coasts. TheYarmouth, or eastern, uimder John de Bottetort; the Portsmouth,or southern, under Willliam de Leyborn; and the Irish, or western,commander not named.. In this king’s feign, so vehemently Wasthe dominion of the seal asserted, that the Dutch were obliged toobtain licences to enable them to fish on the English coasts.

1296 An English squadron plundered Cherburg.

1297 Edward equipped a fleet, iin which he transported fifty-one thousand

five hundred men from Winchelsea to Sluys.

1300 The