The University of Hull TAKING the WAR to SCOTLAND and FRANCE
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The University Of Hull TAKING THE WAR TO SCOTLAND AND FRANCE: THE SUPPLY AND TRANSPORTATION OF ENGLISH ARMIES BY SEA, 1320-60 BEING A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Craig Lee Lambert (B.A., M.A) March, 2009 CONTENTS Tables ii Abbreviations iii 1. INTRODUCTION 2. SOURCES PROCEDURES AND RAISING A FLEET 13 Raising a Reel 31 The Return Passage 51 3. THE SUPPLY OF ARMIES AND GARRISSONS BY SEA 58 Logistics and Preparations for War: an Overview of Procedures 58 The Campaign of 1322 76 The 1327 Weardale Campaign 87 The Siege of Berwick and the Battle of Halidon Hill 98 The 1334-5 Roxburgh Campaign 106 The Great Offensive, 1335 111 The 1336 Campaign 119 Victual, Ships and Supplies, 1337-1360 127 The Supply of Armies in France, 1324-1346 141 4. THE TRANSPORTATION OF ENGLISH ARMIES TO FRANCE, 1324-60 The Saint Sardos War, 1324-25 158 The Low Countries Transport Fleets of 1338 and 1340 168 The Brittany Transport Fleet, 1342-43 181 The Crecy Transport Fleet and the Siege of Calais 193 The Reims Reet, 1359 215 'Micro Reels' Diplomatic, Seneschal and Lieutenant Reels 223 5. MARITIME RESOURCES AND THE KINGS WAR 239 Methodologies and the Service of Shipmasters 279 6. CONCLUSION 299 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY 303 11 TABLES 1. Table 3.1 Total Quantities of Victuals Shipped to Scotland, 1322-1360 140 2. Table 3.2 Total Number of Ships Operating in Scotland, 1322-1360 141 3. Table 3.3 Total Quantities of Victuals Shipped to the Continent 155 4. Table 4.1 Numbers of Ships Involved in Transport Fleets, 1324-1360 238 5. Table 5.1 Numbers of Ships in Operation, 1322-1360 280 6. Table 5.2 Total Number of Individual English Ships in Operation, 1322-1360 281 Ill Abbreviations Anonimalle The Anonimalle Chronicle, 1333-81, ed. V.H. Galbraith (Manchester, 1927) Avesbury Robert de Avesbury, De Gestis Mirabilibus Regis Edwardi Tertii, ed. E.M. Thompson, Rolls Ser. (London, 1889) Bain Calendar of documents relating to Scotland 3 1307-1357 (Edinburgh, 1881-1888) BIHR Bulletin of The Institute Of Historical Research BND Britsish Naval Documents, 1204-1960, ed. J.B. Hattendorf et al (Aldershot, 1993) BPR Register of Edward The Black Prince Bridlington Gesta Edwardi Tertii Auctore Canonico Bridlingtonensi in, Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II, vol. II, ed. W. Stubbs Rolls Ser. (London, 1883) Brut The Brut or the Chronicle ofEngland, ed. F.W. Brie (London, 1906-8) CCHR Calendar of Charter Rolls, CCR Calendar of Close Rolls CFR Calendar of Fine Rolls Cal. Inq. Misc. Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous Chapters T.F. Tout, Chapters in the administrative history ofEngland (Manchester, 1920-33) CPR Calendar of Patent Rolls EcHR Economic History Review EHR English Historical Review Eulogium Eulogium Historiarum, ed. F.S. Haydon, Rolls Ser. Vol. 3 (London, 1858-63) Foedera Foedera, ed. T. Rymer, revised edn, 4 vols in 7 parts (Record Comm., 1816-69) Froissart Oeuvers de Froissart, ed. K. de Lettenhove, 28 vols (Brussells, 1867-77) Hemingburgh Chronicon Domini Waited de Hemingburgh ed. H.C. Hamilton Rolls Ser. (London, 1849) JBS Journal of British Studies JMH Journal of Military History JMMH Journal of Medieval Military History, eds., B.S. Bachrach, C J. Rogers, K. DeVries Knighton Henry Knighton, Chronica de Eventibus Angliae a Tempore Regis Edgari Usque Mortem Regis Ricardi Secundi, ed. and trans. G.H. Martin (Oxford, 1995) Lanercot Chronicon de Lanercost, MCCI-MCCCXLVI, ed. J. Stevenson (Edinburgh, 1839) Le Baker Chronicon Galfridi le baker de Swynebroke (1303-56), ed. E.M. Thompson (Oxford, 1889) LeBel Chronique de Jean le Bel, ed. J. Viard and E. Deprez, 2 vols (Paris, 1904-5) Melsa Chronicon Monasterii de Melsa, ed. E.A. Bond, 3 vols, Rolls Ser. (London, 1889) MM Mariners Mirror IV Murimuth Adam Murimuth, Continuatio Chronicarum, ed. E.M. Thompson, Rolls Ser. (London, 1889) Norwell The Wardrobe Book of William de Norwell, 12 July 1338 to 27 May 1340, ed. M. Lyon, B. Lyon, H.S. Lucas and J. De Sturler (Brussells, 1983) Polychronicon Ranulph Higden, Polychronicon, ed. C. Babington and J.R. Lumby, 9 vols, Rolls Ser. (London, 1865-86) Rot. Parl. Rotuli Parliamentorum, ed. J. Strachey et al., 6 vols (London, 1767-83) Rot. Scot. Rotuli Scotiae, ed. D. Macpherson et al., 2 vols (Record Comm., 1814) Scalacronica Sir Thomas Gray, Scalacronica 1272-1363, ed. and trans. A. King (Boydell, 2005) Tout, Chapters T.F. Tout, Chapters in the administrative history of medieval England, 6 vols (Manchester, 1920-33) TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society Walsingham Thomas Walsingham, Chronica Monasterii Saint Albans, 2 vols., ed.H.T.Riley, Rolls INTRODUCTION 'In a very short time the wind had filled the sail and blown us out of sight of the land of our birth. And I tell you now that anyone who sets out on such a dangerous course is foolhardy. For at night you fall asleep without knowing whether you will find yourself the next morning at the bottom of the sea.' ' 'Let me tell you of the great peril that befell a Catholic king in the presence of the Old Pilgrim. This king was crossing the sea between Cyprus and Syria in company with other ships and galleys. The weather was fine. Suddenly a squall sprang up which did not last long but can be extremely dangerous if it strikes a ship with all sail spread. An old sailor said that it would be wise to lower the sail. But the captain paid no heed. Hit by another squall in such wise and with such violence that the ship went over on her beams-ends and was half under water. The great sail and topmast were in the sea ' 2 The above two passages suggests that maritime travel during the middle ages was a dangerous affair, and indeed it could be, as Edward Ill's return journey hi 1343 from his campaign in Brittany amply shows; sea journeys could be perilous.3 Nevertheless, by the time Edward III crossed the Channel on 28 October 13594 English forces had already achieved many successful crossings to launch campaigns hi France.5 If the numerous flotillas of the diplomatic embassies, 'micro-fleets' and trading vessels were added to these major expeditions, one could safely say that the English had, by this period, developed a safe and secure system of cross Channel communication and transportation. Nor is the maritime contribution to the Scottish wars of this period to be underestimated.6 Indeed, without ships supplying garrisons and armies, blockading enemy ports and providing the surprise element inherent hi amphibious landings, 1 Jean de Joinville on sailing to the seventh crusade, from N. Ohler, The medieval traveller, trans. C. Hillier (Boydell, 1998), p. 45. 2 Le songe du vieil Pelerin of Philippe de Mezieres quoted by G.W. Coopland in 'A glimpse of late fourteenth-century ships and seamen', MM48 (1962), pp. 186-192, p. 186. 3 Anonimalle, pp. 17-18; Knighton, p. 47; Melsa, III, pp. 51-52; Murimuth, p. 135. 4 Foedera, Ill.i, p. 452. 5 St. Sardos 1324-5; the Low Countries campaigns of 1338-40, which account for two crossings; Brittany 1342-3; 1345; Crecy/Calais 1346-7; 1350 (the battle of Winchelsea) in addition to Edward's crossing to Calais; 1355; 1359. It needs to be borne in mind that some of these crossings involved more than one flotilla of ships. pursuit of Edwardian ambitions in Scotland would have been almost impossible. Despite the importance of this facet of Edwardian military capabilities, and the fact that it usually involved the mobilisation of more manpower and money than its land equivalent, the maritime dimension of King Edward's wars has received little attention over the years from scholars.7 The fleet that transported the king to Brittany in October 1342 numbered 487 ships and was manned by 8,796 mariners, while the land army it was transporting consisted of some 4,500 land based soldiers.8 Historians have yet to explore the implications of figures such as these. This thesis will examine the maritime resources available to Edward II and Edward III. As the majority of the ships utilised by the kings of this period were requisitioned merchant vessels, the inner process of this operation of raising a fleet needs to be studied more closely. In addition, because the supply system that the land based troops relied on was largely conducted at sea, an assessment needs to be made of the nature and effectiveness of the maritime contribution to logistical support. Perhaps, therefore, the main focus of the thesis is to assess quantitatively the contribution made by maritime communities to the supply and transportation of troops during the period 1320-1360. The period covered by this research arguably witnessed the greatest change in England's military community, and to her role as a major power 6 M. Stanford Reid, 'Sea-power in the Anglo-Scottish war, 1296-1328', MM46 (1960), pp. 7-23, makes some valuable comments on the maritime war of the period. 7 Notable exceptions being J. Sherbome, 'The Hundred Years' War. The English navy shipping and manpower, 1369-1389', Past and present 37 (1967), pp. 163-75. Idem, The cost of English warfare with France hi the later fourteenth century', BIHR 50 (1977), pp. 135-50; M. M. Postan, "The costs of the Hundred Years War', in Past and present 27 (1964), pp. 34-53, p. 35. 8 C. Lambert, 'An army transport fleet of Edward Ill's reign: the maritime dimension of the Brittany campaign, 1342-3' (Unpublished MA thesis, University of Hull, 2005), p.