GUERNSEY HISTORY. 



119 



portion of the revenue of Sark can be recovered, because the 

 island had been destroyed by war ; and further only one 

 hundred and seventy-three hens can be received for the 

 poulage of Guernsey because of the destruction of houses, 

 which had been burnt and destroyed by the enemy.* 



We have then clear proof of an invasion of Guernsey in 

 1373 from these extracts. The presumption is that the 

 invaders were du Gueselin and the Due de Bourbon as 

 d'Orville relates. It is, however, most improbable that 

 Castle Cornet surrendered as he states, but it is quite possible 

 that the islanders may have been compelled to ransom them- 

 selves by payment of a heavy fine in a similar manner as the 

 people of Jersey did for at least three years. The disorgan- 

 ised state of England's finances during the closing years of 

 Edward III.'s reign prevented any successful attempt being 

 made to cripple the power of the French navy under the 

 Admiral de Yienne. On the other hand it is also possible, the 

 town of St. Peter-Port being walled and defended by the 

 Tour de Beauregard, that the people of Guernsey were not 

 left in such a helpless coudition as those of Jersey. They 

 had a safe retreat within the town walls for themselves and 

 valuables, and consequently may have escaped paying this 

 ransom. 



GUERNSEYMEN AT THE SIEGE OF MONT ST. MICHEL. 



Recently there has come to light in the appendix of 

 La Chronique de Mont St. Michel, published by La Societe 

 des Anciens Textes Frangais, some interesting documents 

 referring to the history of our island, during the wars 

 betAveen England and France, in the reign of Henry VI. 

 Up to the present, this period has been the least known of our 

 history, very few documents bearing upon it having come to 

 light, but it is most probable that further research both 

 in London and Paris would greatly add to our information. 



Shortly after the battle of Agincourt, Henry V. com- 

 pleted the conquest of the whole of Normandy with the 

 exception of the famous abbey-fortress of Mont St. Michel, 

 which alone held out for upwards of thirty years for its 

 rightful king. In the year 1425 the English made a deter- 

 mined attempt to capture it, and for the purpose of block- 

 ading it, a fleet of twenty vessels were collected from Rouen, 

 Danzig, Orwell, Winchelsea, Portsmouth, Dieppe, South- 

 ampton, Blainville, Guernsey, and Caen. These were placed 



* Du Gueselin a Jersey, par J. Lemoine. La Revue Historique, 1897, p.56. 



