king's ships in war time. A tower was built at the entrance of the harbour, and an office for the Clerk of the King's Ships was erected.[1]
The naval events of 1418 were of no importance. In 1419, to meet an apprehended design of the Spaniards upon Portsmouth and Southampton, troops were repeatedly arrayed for the defence of the coast.[2] In May, the Earl of Suffolk was appointed Admiral of Normandy;[3] and in August a large arrest of shipping was ordered in the western counties, in order to furnish a force to oppose a French squadron which, it was reported, was about to proceed to the assistance of the Scots by way of the Irish Sea. This force appears to have been entrusted to the command of William, Lord Botreaux.[4] A few weeks previously, two merchants of Bristol, and one William Camoys, of Bayonne, had captured some carracks and other vessels belonging to the enemy, laden with merchandise, and had received the thanks of the king.[5]
In February, 1420, shipping was arrested for the passage of the Duke of Bedford to Normandy, and of the Earl of Ormond to Ireland;[6] there was a fresh alarm of a projected Spanish invasion;[7] and the Scots committed some depredations by sea; but, as before, the naval events were not important.
On May 21st, the conclusion of the Treaty of Troyes put an end to the hostilities between England and great part of France; for although the Dauphin[8] and the party of the Armagnacs declined to recognise the arrangement, Henry, Philip of Burgundy, and Katherine, Queen Regent of France, were parties to it, and one of its conditions was the marriage of the Princess Katherine, daughter of the imbecile Charles VI., to the King of England. The king and his new queen landed at Dover on February 1st, 1421, amid great rejoicings.[9]
When, in March, 1421, Sir William Bardolf[10] was appointed admiral and given command of a cruising squadron, it was stipulated in his commission that none of the rights of the Duke of Exeter, as Admiral of England, should be prejudiced. The squadron assembled
- ↑ Issue Rolls, 5 Hen. V. 354 (Devon); Pro. and Ord. of Privy Council, ii. 315.
- ↑ 'Fœdera,' ix. 702, 703, 793.
- ↑ Ib., ix. 753.
- ↑ Ib., ix. 791, 792.
- ↑ Pro. and Ord. of Privy Council, ii. 267.
- ↑ Patent Rolls, 7 Hen. V. m. 4 d. m. 6 d.
- ↑ Ib., 8 Hen. V. m. 17 d.
- ↑ Later, Charles VII.
- ↑ Elmham, 296; Walsingham, 453; Anon. Chron. in Add. MSS. 1776, f. 79.
- ↑ 'Fœdera,' x. 68.
