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A.D. 1343. A fresh truce concluded with France, Jan. 19, to last till Michaelmas, 1346, and the king returns, landing at Weymouth March 2.

Negotiations for a peace are carried on before the pope (Clement VI.) at Avignon, but without success.

The barons remonstrate with the pope on the abuse of provisions*, May 18, and the king also complains of them, Sept. 26.

The earl of Salisbury (William Montacute) obtains possession of the Isle of Man, and is crowned there.

When the islanders put themselves

under the protection of Edward I.1, he bestowed Alfrida, the granddaughter of the last native king, on Sir Simon Montacute, and she transmitted her rights to her husband, who mortgaged the isle to Anthony Beck, bishop of Durham. was afterwards granted by Edward II. to Gaveston, and in 1313 was recovered by the Scots, but their rule was unpopular, and the natives invited Montacute to drive them outm.

It Arms of Montacute, earl of
Salisbury.

A.D. 1344. The truce with France broken; the earl of Derby (John of Gaunt) is successful in Guienne.

The papal court had long been in the habit of granting what were termed provisions, in virtue of which persons (usually foreign priests) were intruded into English churches, and even bishops' sees, in violation of the rights of the king and other patrons. The abuse had been often resisted (see p. 326), but it was too profitable to be readily abandoned.

1 See p. 350.

m The earl of Salisbury was the grandson of Alfrida, and a military commander of eminence. He died in 1346, and was buried in the church of the White Friars in London. His son William sold the island in 1395 to Sir William Scrope.

The florin, the first English gold coin", struck this year. A.D. 1345. De Montfort escapes from prison and

repairs to Britanny.

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The king goes to Flanders, to endeavour to gain that earldom for his son Edward P; his chief partisan, Jacob van Arteveldt, is killed in a popular tumult at Ghent, July 17, and the attempt fails.

A.D. 1346. The king invades Normandy, landing at La Hogue July 10. He ravages the country on the left bank of the Seine as far as Paris, but is reduced to great difficulties by the bridges being broken down.

Having repaired the bridge at Poissy, he crosses the river, burns the suburbs of Beauvais, and defeats a body of the French beyond the Somme, Aug. 24.

He halts at Crecy, near Abbeville, Aug. 25; is attacked there by a greatly superior French force, but totally defeats them 9, Aug. 26; marches onward, Sept. 1, through the country of Boulogne, and invests Calais.

David II. of Scotland, incited by the French, invades England; he is defeated and taken prisoner at Nevill's Cross, near Durham, Oct. 12".

That is, the first that remained any length of time in circulation. Henry III. coined a "gold penny," but it appears to have been withdrawn; and a gold coin attributed to Edward the Confessor exists. See p. 48.

• He had been captured by the partisans of Charles of Blois, and was imprisoned in Paris, and was still confined in spite of the stipu lation for his release in the articles of truce; he died soon after, but the war was continued by his son.

P The count (Louis I.) had refused to abandon his alliance with the king of France, and Edward, in revenge, endeavoured to avail himself of the discontent that had long existed between the rulers and the great trading towns of Flanders.

His success is said to have been partly owing to the employment of cannon, some pieces of which were, according to Barbour, used by him against the Scots as early as 1327.

Queen Philippa is said to have been with the army, but this is probably incorrect.

Baliol ravages the south of Scotland.

A.D. 1347. Charles of Blois is captured in Britanny by the English, June 20.

Calais is surrendered, Aug. 4; Almeric of Pavia is appointed governor.

A truce is concluded, and the king returns to England, landing at Sandwich Oct. 12.

;

A.D. 1349. The French attempt to regain Calais the plot of the governor (Almeric of Pavia) to betray it to them is foiled by the sudden arrival of the king. England ravaged by a plague, called the First and Great Pestilence, from May 31 to Sept. 29.

The Statute of Labourers passed

c. 1].

[23 Edw. III.

A.D. 1350. Philip VI. of France dies, Aug. 20, and is succeeded by John II.

A fleet of Spanish ships defeated by the king, off Winchelsey, Aug. 29.

A.D. 1351. A parliament held at Westminster in February.

Children of the king or of his subjects born abroad declared natural-born subjects, [25 Edw. III. c. 2].

Papal provisions forbidden, and the presentation for that term forfeited to the king [25 Edw. III. c. 6].

A.D. 1352. Treasons defined by statutet [25 Edw. III. st. 5, c. 2].

Ordinances for the clergy enacted [25 Edw. III. c. 4],

Labourers are directed to work for their accustomed wages for any that will employ them; subsequent statutes rendered them liable to heavy punishments for contumacy, even outlawry being incurred by departing from their own counties.

Additions were made to this list in the time of Richard II., but these new treasons were abolished by his successor; the law of treason was made much more stringent under the Tudors,

in virtue of which clerks convicted of offences are to be delivered to their ordinary for punishment.

The French receive a signal defeat from the English at Mauron, in Britanny, Aug. 14.

A.D. 1353. A statute passed forbidding any questioning of the judgments of the king's courts, or suing in foreign courts" [27 Edw. III. c. 1], under pain of fine and imprisonment, or outlawry.

Fruitless negotiations for peace. The king offers to resign his claim on the crown for the formal cession of Guienne and Calais, but John refuses.

France is disturbed by the intrigues of Charles the Bad, king of Navarre, who leagues with the English. The staple regulated by statute [27 Edw. III. st. 2]. The five great or staple commodities of the kingdom were wool, woolfells, leather, lead, and tin, and these were allowed to be dealt in for exportation only by a corporation called the merchants of the staple, and in certain specified towns, where they were disposed of to fo

" This act was considered necessary to enforce the observance of the act against papal provisions; the foreign courts meant were those of the pope, which from 1305 to 1377 were held at Avignon, in France, and were therefore supposed to be biassed against the English king.

Charles was one of the most detestable characters in history. Although he had married a daughter of John II., he endeavoured to obtain his throne, and he leagued with, and deserted, every party in turn. He obtained possession of part of Britanny during the war between De Montfort and Charles of Blois, and, to gain the alliance of the English, sold to them Cherbourg, which he had strongly fortified. He made war against both Peter the Cruel and his successor, Henry of Trastamare, but was unsuccessful, and lost part of his dominions. He was at length accidentally burnt to death, in the year 1387, in the 55th year of his age.

w The staple towns were London, Bristol, Canterbury, Chichester, Exeter, Lincoln, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Norwich, and York; Caermarthen, in Wales; and Dublin, Cork, Drogheda, and Waterford, in Ireland; and often Middleburgh, in Zealand, and Calais; but the

reigners. The corporation had its own laws and officers, and was exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary magistrates. Attempting to carry the merchandize of the staple to other than the appointed ports was strictly forbidden, and it was even made felony for any but the authorized merchants to deal in the staple goods [27 Edw. III. st. 2, c. 3].

A.D. 1354. Iron forbidden to be exported, under forfeiture of double its value [28 Edw. III. c. 5.]

An inquiry into the bad government of the city of London ordered to be made by the jurors of other counties, and the writs in consequence enforced by the constable of the Tower [28 Edw. III. c. 10.]

A.D. 1355. Edward the Black Prince is successful in Languedoc.

The king invades the north of France in November, but soon returns to England.

The Scots surprise Berwick, Nov. 6.

A.D. 1356. Baliol renounces his nominal crown in favour of the king, by letters patent, dated Roxburgh, Jan. 20*.

The king invades and ravages the south of Scotland, and retakes Berwick.

Edward the Black Prince marches from Bordeaux in July; he penetrates as far as Berri. On his return he is attacked by King John and the French at Poitiers, Sept. 19, totally defeats them, and takes the king and his son Philip prisoners.

staple was several times removed from the latter towns, in consequence of war.

He lived in England on an annuity of £2,000, which he received for the surrender, and died, without issue, in 1363.

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