THE CHRONICLE OF CALAIS, IN THE REIGNS OF HENRY VII. AND HENRY VIII. TO THE YEAR 1540. EDITED FROM MSS. IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, BY JOHN GOUGH NICHOLS, F.S.A. LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE CAMDEN SOCIETY, J. BY B. NICHOLS AND SON, 25, PARLIAMENT STREET. M.DCCC.XL.VI. en [xo. xxxv.j COUNCIL OF THE C AMD EN SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR 1845. President, THE RIGHT HON. LORD BRAYBROOKE, F.S.A. THOMAS AMYOT, ESQ. F.R.S., Treas. S.A. Director. JOHN PAYNE COLLIER, ESQ. F.S.A. Treasurer. C. PURTON COOPER, ESQ. Q.C., D.C.L., F.R.S., F.S.A. BOLTON CORNEY, ESQ. T. CROFTON CROKER, ESQ. F.S.A., M.R.I. A. SIR HENRY ELLIS, K.H., F.R.S., Sec. S.A. THE REV. JOSEPH HUNTER, F.S.A. PETER LEVESQUE, ESQ. F.S.A. SIR FREDERIC MADDEN, K.H., F.R.S., F.S.A. THOMAS JOSEPH PETT1GREW, ESQ. F.R.S., F.S.A. THOMAS STAPLETON, ESQ. F.S.A. WILLIAM J. THOMS, ESQ. F.S.A., Secretary. SIR HARRY VERNEY, BART. ALBERT WAY, ESQ. M.A., DIR. S.A. THOMAS WRIGHT, ESQ. M.A., F.S.A. The COUNCIL of the CAMDEN SOCIETY desire it to be under- stood that they are not answerable for any opinions or observa- tions that in the the Editors may appear Society's publications ; of the several Works being alone responsible for the same. CONTENTS. PAGE Preface ....... ix Biographical notices of Richard Turpyn the chronicler, and his son Richard Turpyn the herald, victualler of Calais . xiii Historical notices of Calais in the hands of the English . xxiii Description of the Cottonian view of Calais . xxvi Description of the Cottonian map of Calais . xxviii Catalogue of Captains, Lieutenants, and Deputies of Calais . xxxii Other officers of Calais ..... xxxix Historical Commission founded at Calais in 1845 . xli 1485-1540. THE CHRONICLE OF CALAIS, compiled or possessed by Richard Turpyn ..... 1 1492. Expenses of Henry VII. when visiting France . .49 1500. The Meeting of Henry VII. and the archduke Philip, at St. Peter's near Calais .... ib. 1508. Imprisonment at Calais of the marquess of Dorset and lord William of Devonshire . .51 Letter of Henry VII. to sir John Wiltshire, regarding a proposed visit to Calais . .52 Preparations for the proposed marriage of the princess Mary to Charles prince of Castille . .54 1511. Lord Darcy's expedition to Portugal . .66 Expedition of lord Ponynges to Guelderland . ib. 1512. Commission of sir Edward Howard as lord admiral . 67 1513. The campaign of Henry VIII. in France . ib. Secret history of Margaret duchess of Savoy and Charles Brandon duke of Suffolk . .68 1515. Marriage of the princess Mary to Louis XII. 76 VI CONTENTS. PAGE 1520. The Field of Cloth of Gold Entertainment of three French gentlemen in London . 90 . 94 1521. The expenses of cardinal Wolsey's embassy 1523. Order in council for the advance of 2000^. for the repa- rations of Calais, upon credit of the wools there Bill of Browne the painter for Banners, &c. furnished to the duke of Suffolk ..... 99 Knights made by the duke of Suffolk in France . .100 . 101 1522. Proclamation for the victualling of Calais . 1527. for the encouragement of merchants . 102 in 1520 (?). Letter on a variance between the two jurisdictions Calais, and on the decay of the town . .109 1527. Proclamation for the reparation of Calais . 112 Letter of Cardinal Wolsey to the ambassadors in France, signifying his coming on a special ambassage . .113 1532. Interview of Henry VIII. and Francis I. .116 Expenses of the king when at Calais . 1 18 Knights made by the king at Calais . .122 1530 or 31. Survey of dilapidations at Calais . 123 1532. Device for the fortification of Calais . .125 1535. Letter of sir William Fitzwilliam and other commissioners on the reformation of the government of Calais . .130 Inquest on the state of Calais . .133 1533. Muster-roll of the garrison of Calais . .136 * Ordenances for watch and ward . .140 15 . Memorial of lord Berners, &c. on the scarcity of fuel, in consequence of the French cruisers . .162 1533. Notice of the will of lord Berners, deputy of Calais . 164 * " It seems not improbable that this was the book Of the duties of the inhabitants of Calais," which Bale has placed in his list of works of John Bourshier lord Berners, but which is not known to have been issued in a printed form at that time. There is also mentioned in the same list "a comedy called Ite in vineam," of which Anthony a " Wood says (it does not appear from what source,) that it was usually acted in the great church of Calais after vespers." This has not been seen by any recent author. CONTENTS. VH PAGE 1533. Return of the duke of Richmond and earl of Surrey from France ...... 164 1535. Letter of bishop Gardiner to lord Lisle . 165 1536. Election of burgesses from Calais to parliament . .166 Reception of the lady Anna of Cleves . .167 Imprisonment of sir John Butler, priest . .180 15 . Letter of lord Lisle and the council of Calais to the king respecting victuals . .181 1540. The recall of lord Lisle from Calais . .183 Visit of the prince of Salerno to England . 1 88 Visit of the marquess of Padula, brother to the duke of Ferrara . .189 Administration of lord Maltravers as deputy . .190 Arrangements made for the demolition of Cowbridge, at the limits of the English pale . .191 1541. Works in progress at Calais and Guisnes . 197 15 . Documents relating to the castle of Guisnes . 203 15 . Commission of sir Robert Jerningham as captain of Newn- hambridge ...... 208 1543. Foray into the French country, conducted by sir John Wallop . .211 Addenda et Corrigenda . .214 PREFACE. THE present Volume owes its existence to the casual discovery, among the transcripts by Stowe in the British Museum,* of the Chronicle of Calais, formed, or at least " once possessed, by Richard Turpyn, a burgess there." This appeared to be a fragment which, in a brief compass, contained so much historical information previously unpublished, that I was desirous to recommend it to the patronage of the Camden Society, a suggestion which at once received the approval of the Council. As it was found, on a further search, that the manu- script stores of the British Museum contained many other papers illustrative of the events commemorated in Turpyn's chronicle, equally unpublished, it was then determined to extend its somewhat scanty dimensions by appending such documents as might contribute to eluci- date the history of the town and marches of Calais f during the same period. Much less has been hitherto published on the history of our continental Borders than on the history of our * MS. Harl. 542. CAMD. SOC. b PREFACE. Borders next Scotland the latter retained their ; although frontier state not quite half a century later than the former. Indeed, with the exception of a brief memoir in the second series of Sir Henry Ellis's Original Letters, the present Editor is not aware of any historical notice of Calais whilst in the possession of the English. It is, therefore, with some confidence as well in the importance as in the novelty of the subject, that he presents this volume to the members of the Camden Society. At the same time he is fully conscious that a collection of this extent can comprise but a small portion of what should constitute a complete History of the English Border towards France : a work more suited to occupy several future volumes of the Royal publication of State Papers, the continuation of which, in the substantial and accurate form so well commenced (with reference to the affairs of Cardinal Wolsey's administration, those of Scot- land, and those of Ireland), must be desired by every student of English History. In forming the present series of papers, the Editor soon found that it was necessary to assign several boundary- marks within which it should be confined. It would have been easy to have filled several such volumes with the contemporary letters of ambassadors and other persons employed either in a diplomatic or military capacity in France. The documents which have been admitted will PREFACE. XI be found to apply either to the same occurrences which are noticed in Turpyn's Chronicle, or immediately to the history of Calais, and both, with a few supplementary papers of the latter kind, within the period to which the chronicle itself belongs. It is remarkable that Turpyn's Chronicle extends to the same year, in which the existing register of the Privy Council for the reign of Henry VIII. commences,* and from that source the subsequent administration of Calais may be traced with some minuteness, and dates assigned to other existing documents with far less difficulty than the Editor has experienced in the present work. In like manner, considerable materials for the earlier history of Calais may be gleaned from the Rolls of Parlia- ment,*^ which terminate in the year 1503. Thus the collection made in these pages furnishes the memorials of a period hitherto less provided than others. During the seventeen years which elapsed between the year 1540 and the final loss of Calais by the English, there are large materials for its history in the papers of George lord Cobham, who was deputy of the town and marches from 1544 to 1550, and which exist among the Harleian MSS.J The papers of one of his predecessors, lord Lisle, which were seized in 1540, form nineteen volumes, * See Proceedings, &c. of the Privy Council, edited by Sir N.