GUERNSEY HISTORY. 



107 



to Paris with his defiance. In March, of 1338, Philip com- 

 menced hostilities, the French fleet, under Behuchet, swept 

 down upon our islands, ravaged them, and passed on to 

 the coasts of the south-eastern counties of England. Ports- 

 mouth was burnt, and so alarming were the French corsairs 

 that in July, 1338, the dwellers on the south coast were 

 ordered to take refuge in fortresses or withdraw their goods 

 to a distance of four leagues from the sea. The French 

 then returned and ravaged the Channel Islands for the second 

 time, and on the 8th September, Castle Cornet fell into their 

 hands. In October following, Philip de Valois gave Guern- 

 sey to his son John, Duke of Normandy, who shortly after- 

 wards gave it to Robert Bertram, Marshal of France, one 

 of the most famous warriors of those days. In March, 1339, 

 the Marshal visited his new possession, and with a great host 

 invaded Jersey and summoned the castle to surrender, 

 offering the garrison, in the name of the king of France, 

 the restoration of their privileges if they complied Avith his 

 demand, or death to small and great, and the destruction 

 of the land if they refused. The garrison refused to 

 surrender, and the Marshal finding Mont Orgueil too strong 

 to capture by assault, ravaged part of the island, and then 

 returned to Normandy.* The interesting petition of the 

 people of Jersey which records these facts goes on to request 

 aid for the reconquest of Guernsey, where there was only 

 one French knight and eighty men in the castle. On 

 20th June, 1340, the French fleet was totally defeated by the 

 English at the battle of Sluys. The English having regained 

 the mastery of the sea, preparations were made for the 

 reconquest of Guernsey, and on the 29th October the French 

 were forced to abandon the island by Walter de Weston, 

 lieutenant of the Isles, but the truce which had been agreed 

 upon between Edward and Philip on the 25th September 

 preceding, prevented any attempt being made to recapture 

 Castle Cornet. f 



In March, 1341, Thomas de Ferrars, who had been 

 Governor of the Isles since 1337, was replaced by Thomas 

 de Hampton, who was immediately ordered to visit them and 

 to report to the king on the administration of the islands and 

 on the "manner these can be ordered for the king's best 

 advantage in the future." f At the same time the king 

 acknowledges the receipt of a petition from the islanders, 



* Ancient Petitions, Societe Jersiaise, p. 67-68, No. 5580. 

 t The Early History and first Sieyc of Castle Cornet. T. W. M. de Guerin. 

 Published by Guernsey Natural Science Society, 1904. 



} Cal. Pat. Rolls, 1341, p. 159. 



