THE FRENCH WARS 



the entire French fleet with very considerable loot. It was as a result 

 of this action that Edward I threw off his allegiance to the French. 

 In the course of this dispute, and with the treacherous assistance of 

 Sir Thomas de Turberville, King Philip of France collected some three 

 hundred ships from all over Europe and attempted invasion. The 

 treachery failed, but fifteen thousand men were landed at Dover and 

 burned the greater part of it before they were driven out. As soon as 

 Philip's fleet was out of the Channel men of the Cinque Ports captured 

 a number of merchantmen bound to and from the French ports, most 

 of them Spaniards. 



Queen Isabella's Invasion. 



The necessity of an adequate guard on the coast was shown in the 

 last years of Edward II's reign, for Queen Isabella landed without 

 difficulty, in spite of a very superior force gathered in the Orwell. The 

 landing took place near Aldeburgh, and was absolutely unopposed, 

 although three days were taken to land the entire force. This invasion 

 resulted in the abdication of the King and the accession of Edward III, 

 but it must be remembered that in those days the defending force was 

 not particularly seaworthy and found it very difficult to maintain a 

 patrol for any long spell at a time. The parallel to the difficulties of air 

 patrol to-day is obvious. 



Armed Merchant Ships. 



All through the long period of the Norman and Angevin Kings 

 and the struggle with France the greater part of the fighting at sea had 

 been done by armed merchant ships, of which considerable mention has 

 already been made. Their history is a fascinatingly interesting one, 

 but their importance to sea history lies just as much in the handicap to 

 peaceful shipping inflicted by their constant and often unnecessary 

 requisitioning as it does in their feats of arms, and therefore they are 

 dealt with more fully in another place. 



CHAPTER IV— THE FRENCH WARS 



The French Wars. 



The period covered by the great French Wars was an epoch of 

 tremendous importance to the Royal Navy, for it marked its first real 

 ability to carry out the functions of a Navy. To begin with, it was only 

 used as a means of transport and of protecting the passage of an army. 

 The ships lacked the sea-keeping qualities essential for a man-of-war. 

 As the period progressed, however, all this was changed, a proper 

 realisation of the functions of the fleet being forced upon the country by 

 the circumstances of the time, and the improvement in naval archi- 

 tecture and seamanship permitted them to be carried into eflect. 



Edward III at Sea. 



On account of his naval victory at Sluys and his claim to be " Lord 

 of the English Sea," Edward III is generally very strongly identified 



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