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HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

any farther display of naval force till the year 1345. During this interval,their vessels, whenever they ventured out to sea, were, generally speaking,hunted down and captured by the English, who roved undisputed masters of thesea along the whole of the French coast, fronting the Atlantic.

Wearied, however, with this long and ignominious restraint, Philip at lengthresolved to attempt the invasion of England, in order to try if, by transferringthe scene of war into the country of his antagonist, he could possibly compelthe recall of those hornets which tormented him daily. To this end, he not onlyused every possible exertion in augmentation of the navy of France itself, butadopted those means before practised, and which were still more effectual, ofhiring a very considerable number of the largest vessels or ships, that could beprocured, from the Genoese. The assemblage of the naval as well as militaryforce was very nearly completed, when the vigilance of Edward frustrated thewhole plan. Philip was under the necessity of bending his whole attention tothe protection of his own kingdom, which was itself invaded by the king ofEngland in person. John, who succeeded to Philip, was still more unfortunatethan his predecessor had been. He was not only taken prisoner by the Englishat the fatal battle of Cressy, and his country subsequently ravaged by a despe-rate banditti, but its finances so completely ruined by these and other events,that it was in no situation whatever to make any naval exertions during theremainder of his own reign, or that of Charles the Fourth, who succeeded him,and died about the year 1380.

Spain, comprising the kingdoms of Arragon and Castile, which became unitedunder one government towards the close of the fifteenth century, shewed no par-ticular attachment to naval pursuits till many years subsequent to the Normanconquest of England had passed away. Arragon exhibited the first example,having early in the twelfth century began to establish a naval force, which grewby degrees into such consequence, that about the year 1148, its aid was solicitedby the emperor to join in the siege of Almeria, then in the possession of the Moors,which he proposed to attack with his army on the land side, while the Arragonianfleet should press it on that of the sea. The capture of the port which had affordeda constant refuge to a numerous fleet of Moorish corsairs, proved the reward ofthe enterprise. Little mention, however, is made of the Arragonian navy for thespace of twenty years afterwards, till the crusading mania having extended thi-ther, as it had before done over nearly all Europe, the king collected a numerousbody of the best troops in his kingdom, which he embarked on board a sufficient

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