THE TUDORS 



Edward IV's Invasion of France. 



Considering how they had assisted his enemies, Edward IV had 

 little enough reason to love the French and had every ground for declar- 

 ing war, but he hesitated to do so for a long time on account of his own 

 position in England. In June, 1475, however, he collected some five 

 hundred ships at Sandwich and crossed to Calais with an army. Louis XI 

 at that time was at war with Charles of Burgundy, and Edward allied 

 himself with the latter. Both his ally and his enemy proved too clever 

 for him and he was persuaded to make an unsatisfactory peace with 

 France. Tricked by Louis, who considered any means good enough 

 as long as his end was the prosperity of France, Edward projected 

 a second expedition, which was prevented by his death in 1483. 

 Although Edward's reign was not rich in naval incident, he 

 might easily have made a lot of difference to the Navy had 

 he lived longer, for he had commenced to form a fleet. He was inspired 

 partly from the lessons that he had been forced to learn from the 

 successes of the Earl of Warwick, and partly because trade was always 

 one of his primary considerations — as witness the treaty with Louis XI — 

 and was in very urgent need of protection. The ships that he 

 added to the fleet were mostly purchased merchantmen converted 

 and strengthened. 



Richard III. 



Richard III also left practically no mark on naval history, although 

 during his brief reign he did his best when opportunity offered to con- 

 tinue the policy of his predecessor, even to the system of purchasing 

 merchant ships. It was Richard's neglect to keep control of the sea, 

 although at one time he had a strong force at his disposal, that enabled 

 Henry of Richmond to collect a small squadron, a force which might 

 easilv have been dispersed, and land at Milford Haven to become 

 Henry VII. 



CHAPTER V— THE TUDORS 



The Ttidors' Policy. 



The Tudor sovereigns have been rightly given the greatest credit 

 for their services to the British Navy, not all of which transpired just as 

 they had been planned. Their principal interest was trade, and as 

 trade grew so the necessity of protecting it grew in unison, and also the 

 jealousy of foreign powers was aroused. It was the Tudor Traders that 

 brought the Tudor Sea Kings into being, but the result was eminently 

 satisfactory and led to all possible good. Another reason for the 

 Tudors' interest in the Navy was that they realised that the Army of 

 that day was a most inefficient protection. The Feudal System was on 

 its last legs, and the armies that followed it had been made up of the 

 sweepings of the gutter pressed into the service. On more than one 

 occasion they had shown themselves to be quite useless against the profes- 



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