Chapter VI: Gloucester as First Councillor (2)

This unfortunate misunderstanding came almost at the end of Bedford's stay in England. He had already made up his mind to return to the scenes of his former labours, for he could not stand by and see the kingdom that Henry V. had won pass out of English hands, without doing his utmost to prevent it. On June 20 he took leave of the Council,[838] and shortly after left England for the last time.[839] His life's work was done. Burgundy, who had been an unsatisfactory ally for many years past, was drawing closer and closer to the French King, and the Pope, having brought his influence to bear on the contending parties, induced them to hold a European Congress at Arras in August 1435.[840] In spite of the conciliatory offers of the French, Beaufort and the other English delegates based their demands on the Treaty of Troyes--at this stage of the war an absurdly impossible attitude--and, perceiving that a Burgundian alliance with France was inevitable, they left the Congress on September 5.[841] This alliance was completed by the end of the month,[842] but not before Bedford's death on September 14.[843]

With the death of Bedford and the defection of Burgundy, even the most shadowy hope of retaining his hold on France passed from the King of England, and the claims, first raised by Edward III., and resuscitated by Henry V., were to end in the disaster which had been inevitable from the first. Of all the men to whom Henry of Monmouth had confided the care of his son and of his kingdom, Bedford alone was worthy of his implicit trust. He had fought an uphill and impossible fight in France, and on two occasions he had turned his attention to the internal affairs of England. He had played a difficult rôle with as much success as was to be expected, and we can only guess at what might have been the destiny of England had it secured his undivided attention. Had he been settled in England as Protector, his power would doubtless have been less than on the occasions when he came to readjust the balance of parties in 1426 and 1433, for he would not then have received the support of the Beaufort faction, which only looked on him as a useful tool to use when Gloucester's ascendency became too secure. At his death the one steadying and exterior influence in English politics was gone, and the party strife, which had been the curse of England for the last thirteen years, pursued its course unhindered.

From the time of the death of Bedford and the Treaty of Arras onwards a change comes over the internal politics of England. Hitherto the war in France had been carried on by the French Regent almost without reference to the authorities at home, and questions of foreign policy had not made their way into the bickerings of Beaufort and Gloucester. But now that the strong hand in France was removed, and the defection of the Duke of Burgundy had at last become definite, it was impossible for the Council, in the face of both occurrences, to ignore any longer the fact that the country was at war. This was emphasised by the appearance of Burgundian envoys in London, who came to announce the peace made between the Duke of Burgundy and Charles of France, and to seek to procure peace with England also.[844] The country in general was too angry with the Duke to realise the advantages of his neutrality. His envoys therefore were denied the privileges of their position, their peace propositions were scouted by the Council, and they were not even vouchsafed a definite answer.[845] Both Beaufort and Gloucester emphasised their objections to peace with Burgundy, and the Treasurer pointed out what he considered to be the insulting omission of the title 'souverain seigneur' in addressing the King.[846] In Parliament, which met on October 10, the Chancellor, John Stafford, delivered a virulent attack on Burgundian policy, and the assembly was induced to agree readily enough to the continued prosecution of the war, and to the inclusion of the Duke of Burgundy among the King's enemies.[847] Council and Parliament therefore, led by both Beaufort and Gloucester as well as by the rest of the royal officers, threw down the gauntlet to Burgundy, and it is well to remember this when in the light of subsequent events we find Gloucester attacked for leading the nation to war at this time.[848]

1435] GLOUCESTER LIEUTENANT OF CALAIS

The death of Bedford naturally increased Humphrey's strength in the kingdom. He now stood next in succession to the throne as heir-presumptive to his young nephew, and he was freed from the domination of a superior authority, to which in time of need his enemies could appeal. His influence may be traced in the appointment of the Duke of York to the command in France. Hitherto this Duke had not been seen in English politics, being at this time only twenty-four years old, but he had been brought into close contact with Humphrey, who had been granted the administration of his land during his minority, and whose good name he championed later in life. At this time men looked to the Duke of Gloucester as the chief man in England, and it was to him that the Bishop of Bayeux addressed himself when begging for help for the distressed Duchy of Normandy.[849]

Such being Gloucester's position, it was natural that he should receive some of the offices and responsibilities vacated by his brother. His former idea of taking the command in France was not resuscitated, as he doubtless wished to guard his interests at home, but on November 1 he succeeded Bedford as Lieutenant of the King in the town, marches, and castle of Calais, to which were added the regions of Picardy, Flanders, and Artois. The appointment bore civil as well as military obligations, and was a challenge to the Duke of Burgundy in that certain of his territories were included in the grant.[850] Calais itself was an important command quite apart from strategic reasons. It was the town where the wool staple was established, though this was a fact of declining importance; more than this, it was regarded as the safeguard of English trade, for so long as England kept the command of the narrow seas between Dover and Calais, she might rule the world's commerce, as all trade from north to south had to pass that way.[851] Besides the government of Calais, Gloucester received another of Bedford's possessions when on November 23 the Council presented him with the islands of Jersey and Guernsey, in exchange for which Humphrey resigned the annuity of five hundred marks, given to him by Henry V. for himself and his heirs until lands of an equal value should be given him.[852]

1436] RELIEF OF CALAIS

For a time the political quarrels of the two factions were silenced by their common anger at the desertion of Burgundy and by the pre-eminence of Gloucester in the kingdom. Two instances of his preponderance appeared in the following year, when his wife Eleanor received her first public recognition as Duchess of Gloucester by being provided with robes of the Order of the Garter wherewith to keep the Feast of St. George at Windsor,[853] and when in the May following the Duke of Orleans was transferred from the custody of the Earl of Suffolk, who had been ordered to France, to that of Sir Reginald de Cobham, Gloucester's father-in-law.[854] Matters other than those of home politics, however, were to occupy Gloucester in the near future. Early in June it was known in London that Burgundy had begun hostilities, and was advancing against Calais, and preparations were hurriedly made to save the city which Englishmen cherished above all their other possessions in France. Orders were given for the preparation of supplies and munitions of war for the garrison, and provisions for an army which was being mustered to serve under Gloucester.[855] The Earl of Huntingdon was commissioned to raise men to accompany the expedition,[856] the Cardinal was induced to lend nine thousand marks to defray the costs, armourers and victuallers were forbidden to raise their prices in view of the demand on their wares, and all men who wished to serve under Gloucester were ordered to be at Sandwich by the 22nd of July.[857] Delays, however, were inevitable, and it was not till the 27th that Gloucester received his special commission as Lieutenant-General of the army going to the defence of Calais, followed three days later by a writ conferring on him the County of Flanders.[858] By the 2nd of August all things were ready, and on that day he transported his army in five hundred ships from Winchester to Calais.[859]

Humphrey had been retained to serve the King, with one Duke besides himself, two Earls, eleven Barons, twenty-three Knights, four hundred and fifteen men-at-arms, and four thousand and forty-five archers,[860] but the full number of his army when joined by the retinue of the Duke of Norfolk and the Earls of Huntingdon, Devon, Stafford, and Warwick[861] who accompanied him, is uncertain. The chroniclers estimate the strength of the army variously between ten thousand and sixty thousand men,[862] of which the lowest figure is probably nearer the truth, since it was given by one who himself saw the army,[863] and at such short notice it would have been impossible to raise a force in any way approaching the larger estimate.

When Gloucester reached Calais he found the siege already raised. Burgundy with thirty thousand men[864] had invested the place on July 9,[865] but from the first the valiant defenders, under their captain, Sir John Radcliffe,[866] had had the best of the encounter. An attempt to obstruct the harbour failed, and a blockade was out of the question,[867] so the besieged were able to supply themselves with every necessity from the sea,[868] a state of affairs which encouraged them to make several sorties, and to capture a bastion raised against them and held by the men of Ghent.[869] The majority of Burgundy's army consisted of raw Flemish levies, who were constantly in a state of insubordination,[870] and their discontent increased when the Earl of Huntingdon and Lord Camoys relieved the garrison with troops levied for the French war.[871] Moreover, the further reinforcements with Gloucester were expected, for the Duke had sent a challenge to his old enemy, calling on him to do battle before Calais, though excusing himself from fixing a date as wind and weather could not be reckoned on.[872] However, when news came that their approach was imminent, the Flemings incontinently broke up their camp and fled leaving stores and guns as prizes for the enemy.[873]

'For they had very knowyng
Off the duk off Gloceters cumyng,
Caleys to rescue.'[874]

And another rhymer tells how

'Ffor fere they turned backe and hyede feste;
Mi lorde of Gloucestre made hem so agaste
Wyth his commynge.'[875]

It was a bitter pill for Duke Philip to be compelled to follow his disorderly troops, fleeing as he did before the man whom above all others he had learned to hate, and whom he had boldly promised to meet in arms before the city.[876]

1436] RAID ON FLANDERS

Gloucester had declared through his herald that, if Burgundy were not before Calais to meet him, he would pursue him,[877] and on hearing that the Duke had retired to Lille, and had fortified the border fortresses,[878] he prepared to fulfil his word. Leaving Calais on August 3,[879] he advanced to Merck in the neighbourhood of Oge, and there spent the night in the fields, passing on the next day to the neighbourhood of Gravelines.[880] On August 6 he crossed over into Flanders, even as he had done nearly twenty years before to meet John the Fearless in midstream, and led his army to Mardyke, which was pillaged and burned. The reason for thus making for the coast may have been to open communications with the fleet, which had been ordered to cruise off the coast of Flanders and to co-operate with the invading army, but the sailors, unsupported by men-at-arms on board, feared to encounter a hostile fleet, and put back into the harbour of Calais.[881] Unable, therefore, to draw supplies from the fleet, Gloucester turned due south, and marched inland, meeting with no resistance,[882] but followed by a detachment from Gravelines, which sought to pick off stragglers and to take the invaders unawares. The excellent order kept by the invaders thwarted their plans, and the detachment returned to Gravelines.

Meanwhile Gloucester pursued his way to Bailleul, burning everything as he went,[883] and throwing out a part of his troops under the Earl of Huntingdon to take and sack Poperinghes on his left.[884] Arrived at Bailleul, he lodged outside the walls, at the Abbey of St. Anthony, which was spared, though the town where his men lay and the surrounding country were utterly devastated. Retracing his steps from this point, he picked up the detachment under Huntingdon at Poperinghes, where much booty had been secured, and passing by Neu-Châtel, he burnt Rimesture and Valon-Chapelle, then entering Artois he met with some slight resistance. Skirmishes were fought round Arques and Blandesques, till the army reached St. Omer, burning and harrying all that came in its way, so that Duke Philip from his refuge at Lille could see the light of the fires on the horizon, though he was quite powerless to help those who cried to him for aid, as the soldiers he had summoned had not yet arrived.[885]

The English did not penetrate into the town of St. Omer, as it was securely held, but Gloucester lodged at the Abbey of Blandesques outside the walls, whilst his men were encamped along the banks of the river Aa, where Waurin himself saw them, when he stole out from Gravelines on the night of August 15.[886] Some attempt was made to harass the invaders as they lay here, and the captains both of St. Omer and Arques tried to pick off the stragglers, but with little success, for Gloucester was so careful that he could not be taken by surprise. On the morning of August 15 the English moved on with care for fear of ambushes,[887] and having met with somewhat more determined resistance than they had hitherto experienced from the captains of Tournehem, Espreleques, and Bredenaide, they found their way to Guisnes somewhat distressed by a sickness caused by a lack of bread.[888] Everywhere the supporters of Burgundy had been pillaged, and large herds of cattle and other booty had fallen into the hands of the soldiers, but so distressed were the latter for the lack of bread, that to some women, who presented them with a little, they gave large herds of cattle, which, by reason of the bands of the enemy that followed behind them, were more an encumbrance than an advantage.[889] At Calais Gloucester was received with joy, and, having rested his men a while, about August 24 he recrossed the Channel with much booty, leaving his prisoners behind in safe keeping.

On landing the troops were dismissed, and Humphrey proceeded to London, where he was given a great reception,[890] for he had struck a heavy blow at the prosperity of the Burgundian territories, and the anger felt by the English against their recent ally was appeased when they thought of Gloucester's expedition, and how

'In Flanders he soght hem fer and ner,
That ever they may yt rew.'[891]

Though, we cannot look on this devastating campaign of Gloucester's as a great military achievement, yet it is not necessary to dismiss it with the contempt it has received on the authority of the rhyming chronicler:

'The protectour with his flete at Calys then
Did lande, and rode in Flaunders a little waye,
And little did to counte a manly man.'[892]

We have the evidence of an eye-witness to prove the skill with which he protected his men from falling victims to the enemy's bands, and the strict discipline which he kept in his ranks. Even if it was but for a short time that he defied the Duke of Burgundy, we must not forget that his men were only enlisted for a month's service,[893] and that they were probably raw recruits, since the experienced soldiers had all gone to make up the contingents of York and Mortain. Nay more, as it is unfair to blame Gloucester for the nature of this campaign, so it is equally unfair to blame him for allowing the Earl of Mortain to relieve Calais before him.[894] His preparations had only been begun after the news of the investment of Calais had reached England. His commission was signed on July 27, and he was in Calais on August 3. On the other hand, the Earl had been preparing his troops as far back as the previous October, and was naturally quite ready to take the offensive after so long a period of preparation. Humphrey was not a great general, but, within the restricted limits of such a commission as this, there was no other captain in England who could have excelled him.

FOOTNOTES:

[749] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 337; Rymer, IV. iv. 151.

[750] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 338.

[751] _Ibid._, iv. 350.

[752] 8 _Henry VI._, c. 7; _Statutes_, ii. 243.

[753] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 343, 344.

[754] _Ordinances_, iv. 35-38; _Rot. Parl._, v. 416-418.

[755] _Rot. Parl._, v. 415.

[756] _Ordinances_, iv. 12; Devon, _Issue Roll_, p. 44.

[757] _St. Albans Chron._, i. 48-50; _Rot. Parl._, v. 415.

[758] Rymer, IV. iv. 159.

[759] _Ibid._, IV. iv. 160. The commission was approved in Council
on April 21. Ordinances, iv. 40, 41.

[760] _Eng. Chron._, 54; _Cal. of French Rolls_, Rep. 48, App. 273.

[761] _Ordinances_, iv. 16.

[762] _Ibid._, iv. 53, 73-75.

[763] _Ibid._, iv. 68; see also Polydore Vergil, 46.

[764] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 367.

[765] _Ordinances_, iv. 79.

[766] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 371.

[767] Polydore Vergil, 45.

[768] Devon, _Issue Roll_, 413.

[769] _St. Albans Chron._, i. 63. The petition is printed in the
Appendix to _St. Albans Chron._, i. 453-457.

[770] Cotton MS., Julius, B. ii. ff. 61-63vo; Walsingham, _Hist.
Angl._, ii. 282, 283; Redmayne, 24, 25.

[771] Capgrave, _De Illustribus Henricis_, 121.

[772] _Eng. Chron._, 54.

[773] May 17.

[774] Cotton MS., Cleopatra, C. iv. f. 37; _St. Albans Chron._, i.
63, 64; _Ordinances_, iv. 107; Devon, _Issue Roll_, 415;
Ellis, _Original Letters_, 2nd Series, i. 104, 105; William
of Worcester, 455, 456; Cotton MS., Vitellius, A. xvi. f.
93vo.

[775] _St. Albans Chron._, i. 61.

[776] Devon, _Issue Roll_, 412; _Ordinances_, iv. 91. Gloucester
also sent one of the judges to put an end to the rebels round
Kenilworth and Coventry; _ibid._, iv. 89.

[777] Cotton MS., Cleopatra, C. iv. ff. 36vo, 37vo.

[778] Henry was crowned at Paris on December 11, 1431; _Chron. Henry
VI._, 13.

[779] _Ordinances_, iv. 100, 101; Rymer, IV. iv. 174, 175.

[780] Cotton MS., Cleopatra, C. iv. f. 35.

[781] _Ordinances_, iv. 101; Rymer, IV. iv. 175.

[782] _Ordinances_, iv. 8.

[783] _Ibid._, iv. 105.

[784] _Ibid._, iv. 104; Devon, _Issue Roll_, 414, 415.

[785] Devon, _Issue Roll_, 412.

[786] _Ordinances_, iv. 104-106; Devon, _Issue Roll_, 414, 415.

[787] _Rot. Parl._ iv. 424.

[788] _Chron. Henry VI._, 13.

[789] _Chron. Henry VI._, 13. The entry into London is described in
a poem by Lydgate printed at the end of the _London
Chronicle_, 235-248. A prose account is to be found in
Delpit, _Doc. Fr._, pp. 244-248, No. CCCLXXXII., giving the
date as February 20. Cf. Fabyan, 603-607.

[790] _Rot. Parl._, v. 433.

[791] Rymer, IV. iv. 176.

[792] _Ibid._, IV. iv. 177.

[793] _Ordinances_, iv. 112.

[794] Ramsay, i. 439.

[795] See Gloucester's indictment of Cardinal Beaufort below, p.
262.

[796] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 389.

[797] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 390, 391.

[798] _Ibid._, iv. 391.

[799] _Ibid._, iv. 391.

[800] _Ibid._, iv. 392.

[801] See _Ordinances_, iv. 238.

[802] So Stubbs, iii. 115, copied by Ramsay, i. 441.

[803] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 392.

[804] He had been dismissed for 'certain reasons' not specified. See
Rymer, IV. iv. 177.

[805] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 392. See also _Miscellaneous Rolls_, Bundle
xix. No. 3.

[806] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 396.

[807] _Ordinances_, iv. 136-138.

[808] De Beaucourt, ii. 462.

[809] _Ordinances_, iv. 158.

[810] _Cal. of French Rolls_, Rep. 48, App. 290.

[811] Rymer, IV. iv. 194; Gregory, 176.

[812] Monstrelet, 666.

[813] _Ibid._, 673; _Lond. Chron._, 120; Leland, _Collectanea_, i.
491; Polydore Vergil, 47.

[814] Devon, _Issue Roll_, 425.

[815] Stevenson, _Letters and Papers_, ii. 417, 418. This document,
which is undated, is put under the year 1428 by the editor,
though no reason is assigned for so doing. The fact that
Beaufort is alluded to as a cardinal, and the mention of
Bedford, confines the possible date of the manifesto within
1427 and 1435. This was the only occasion between these two
dates that Gloucester set foot in Calais, where this document
was signed.

[816] Rymer, IV. iv. 194.

[817] _Lond. Chron._, 120.

[818] _Cal. Rot. Pat._, 277; G. E. C., _Peerage_, iv. 44.

[819] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 420.

[820] _Ibid._, iv. 420.

[821] _Ordinances_, iv. 175.

[822] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 420.

[823] _Rot. Parl._, vi. 422.

[824] See the evidence of a contemporary; _Chron. Henry VI._, 14.

[825] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 423.

[826] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 423.

[827] _Ibid._, iv. 424.

[828] _Ordinances_, iv. 186.

[829] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 132-139.

[830] See Stubbs, iii. 117, 118.

[831] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 439.

[832] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 424.

[833] _Register of Abbot Curteys_, part of which is printed in
_Archæologia_ for the year 1806, vol. xv. pp. 66-71.

[834] Probably April 24, the last Saturday in the month.

[835] _Ordinances_, iv. 210, 211.

[836] _Ordinances_, iv. 213-215.

[837] _Ordinances_, iv. 211-213.

[838] _Ibid._, iv. 243-247.

[839] His quarrel with Gloucester never seems to have been made up,
for in his will, made in 1435, the name of his brother does
not once appear, and the chief executors were the Archbishop
of York and Beaufort--two of Gloucester's most determined
opponents. _Testamenta Vetusta_, i. 242.

[840] English envoys were appointed July 20, 1435; _Cal. of French
Rolls_, Rep. 43, App. 306.

[841] Waurin, iv. 69-84.

[842] _Ibid._, iv. 84, 85.

[843] _Chron. Henry VI._, 15.

[844] Waurin, iv. 94, 95.

[845] _Ibid._, iv. 96-101.

[846] _Ibid._, iv. 97, 98.

[847] _Rot. Parl._, iv. 481.

[848] Ramsay, i. 475.

[849] _Beckington Correspondence_, i. 209-294.

[850] Rymer, IV. i. 23; Carte, ii. 285; _Cal. of French Rolls_, Rep.
48, App. 306, 307. Parliament agreed to Gloucester's
indentures for the command on October 29; _Rot. Parl._, iv.
483, 484.

[851] 'Libel of English Policy,' _Political Songs_, ii. 157-205.

[852] _Ordinances_, v. 5.

[853] Beltz, p. ccxxiii.

[854] Rymer, V. i. 36.

[855] _Cal. of French Rolls_, Rep. 48, App. 313.

[856] Rymer, V. i. 31. _Cal. of French Rolls_, Rep. 48, App. 322,
calls it 1438.

[857] Rymer, V. i. 32.

[858] _Cal. of French Rolls_, Rep. 48, App. 134; Carte, ii. 289;
Rymer, V. i. 34; _Lords' Reports_, v. 234.

[859] _London Chron._, 122, 172; _Short English Chron._, 62; Fabyan,
610. Gregory, 179, gives July 26, and is followed by Holkham
MS., p. 37--obviously the mistake of a week. Cotton MS.,
Cleopatra, C. iv. f. 53vo, gives July 27.

[860] Stevenson, _Letters and Papers_, ii. xlix.

[861] _Brief English Chron._, 63; _Chron. Henry VI._, 16. The Earl
of Devonshire is included only in _Lond. Chron._, 122, but
his indenture survives.

[862] Ten thousand, Waurin, iv. 200; Monstrelet, 473: fifteen
thousand, Basin, i. 130: forty thousand, Gregory, 179: sixty
thousand, Rede's _Chron._, Rawlinson MS., C. 398; _Brief
Latin Chron._, 165: fifty thousand, William of Worcester,
458. The payments in the Issue Roll printed in Stevenson,
_Letters and Papers_, ii. pp. xlix _seq._, give Gloucester's
retinue as 4497 men, and those of the lords who accompanied
him as 4132, in all 8629 men. This approximates to the 10,000
estimate.

[863] Waurin. See his _Chronicle_, iv. 185, 201.

[864] Waurin, iv. 160. Fourteen thousand exclusive of camp-followers
and two or three thousand Picards, etc., Basin, i. 126, 127.
Fifty thousand men, _Chron. Henry VI._, 15.

[865] _Lond. Chron._, 121.

[866] _Engl. Chron._, 55.

[867] Waurin, iv. 176-178.

[868] _Ibid._, iv. 171.

[869] _Ibid._, iv. 175-180; Basin, i. 128.

[870] Waurin, iv. 172, 173; Monstrelet, 740.

[871] Rede's _Chron._, Rawlinson MS., C. 398; _Brief Latin Chron._,
165; _Chron. Henry VI._, 16; _Engl. Chron._, 55; Hardyng,
396.

[872] Waurin, iv. 173, 174.

[873] _Ibid._, iv. 186-188; Basin, i. 128, 129; Gregory, 179;
Fabyan, 610, 611.

[874] Contemporary ballad on Siege of Calais; _Political Songs_, ii.
156.

[875] 'The Libel of English Policy,' written before 1437; _Political
Songs_, ii. 170.

[876] Waurin, iv. 174; Monstrelet, 738. A good account of the siege
by an eye-witness is found in a poem entitled 'The Siege of
Calais,' _Political Songs_, ii. 151-156.

[877] Monstrelet, 738; Waurin, iv. 173.

[878] Basin, i. 130; Waurin, iv. 192.

[879] Monstrelet, 743, says next day to landing, _i.e._ August 3.
Gregory, 179, and Cotton MS., Cleopatra, C. iv. f. 53vo, say
he rested Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Calais, and started
on the Monday, _i.e._ the fourth day after landing. _London
Chron._, 122, however, says that Gloucester crossed the river
at Gravelines on the fourth day after coming over, which
would not prevent his having left Calais on August 3, and
that he only entered Flanders on August 6. William of
Worcester, 458, also gives August 6 as the day of entry into
Flanders. The confusion arises from the divergence of the
chroniclers as to where the campaign started, and this is
obvious as William of Worcester gives the campaign as lasting
nine days (Gloucester was back at Guisnes on August 15),
whereas others compute it at eleven or twelve days, counting
in the time spent between Calais and Gravelines. _Brief Latin
Chron._, 165; _Chron. Henry VI._, 16; _London Chron._, 122.
_Short Engl. Chron._, 62, gives August 13 as the day of
leaving Calais.

[880] _Short English Chron._, 62.

[881] Waurin, iv. 201; _Short Engl. Chron._, 62.

[882] Monstrelet, 743.

[883] Waurin, iv. 201, 202. Waurin himself marched out from
Gravelines.

[884] _Brief Latin Chron._, 165.

[885] Waurin, iv. 203; Monstrelet, 743.

[886] Waurin, iv. 204. He gives the day as 'Nostre Dame de
Septembre,' _i.e._ the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, September
8. It is obviously a mistake for the Assumption in August.
Gloucester was back in England in September; _Brief Latin
Chron._, 165.

[887] Waurin, iv. 204, 205.

[888] Monstrelet, 743.

[889] _Ibid._

[890] Waurin, iv. 205, 206; _Brief Latin Chron._, 165.

[891] Contemporary ballad; _Political Songs_, ii. 156.

[892] Hardyng, 396. Cf. Ramsay, i. 488.

[893] See Issue Roll printed in Stevenson's _Letters and Papers_,
ii. p. xlix.

[894] Cf. Stubbs, iii. 123.