200 SEA FISHERIES 



rival to Harfleur, but in 1374 it was overwhelmed by the 

 sea. Attempts to rebuild it were vain : it vegetated 

 until the fifteenth century and degenerated into a poor 

 fishing village. The fate of Leure was happier ; the 

 mackerel and herring fisheries prospered, and to these 

 industries the inhabitants added that of salt-making. 

 About 1364 its prosperity was suddenly increased by 

 the silting up of the port of Harfleur, to which it suc- 

 ceeded as a commercial port. As a result, the majority 

 of the fishermen of Leure removed their boats to the 

 largest of the creeks of Ingouville, known as the Crique 

 de Grace. As for Harfleur, ruined by the English and 

 obstructed by alluvial deposits, it disappeared from the 

 seafaring world at the end of the fifteenth century. Only 

 one commercial port was left Leure and two fishing 

 ports of unequal importance, the Crique de Grace and 

 the Chef de Caux. 



Leure was flourishing, but had one grave defect : it 

 was not fortified. Louis XII. thought of transforming 

 it into a military port ; Francis I. did so transform it. 

 Following the advice of Admiral Bonnivet and M. du 

 Chillou, he selected the Crique de Grace, which became 

 the nucleus of the city of Havre. As the position of the 

 " French City " was excellent, it quickly attracted all the 

 trade of the surrounding country, and Leure was soon 

 absorbed by its powerful neighbour. Havre was now a 

 stronghold and a trading port. It is probable that the 

 small fishermen remained at Leure, for on January 15, 

 1527, a tempest, referred to by the chroniclers as the 

 "evil tide/' hurled into the moats of the Chateau de 

 Graville, which lay below Havre, twenty-eight large her- 

 ring and mackerel boats. I say " small fishermen " in 

 order to distinguish them from their fellows the ocean- 

 going fishermen. These latter have their origin in the 



