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ESPAGNOLS SUR MER, LES

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 772 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ESPAGNOLS SUR MER, See also:

LES , the name given to the See also:naval victory gained by See also:King See also:Edward III. of See also:England over a See also:Spanish See also:fleet off See also:Winchelsea, on the 29th of See also:August 1350. Spanish See also:ships had fought against England as the See also:allies or mercenaries of See also:France, and there had been instances of piratical violence between the trading ships of both nations. A Spanish See also:merchant fleet was loading cargoes in the Flemish ports to be carried to the Basque See also:coast. The ships were armed and had warships with them. They were all under the command of See also:Don See also:Carlos de la Cerda, a soldier of See also:fortune who belonged to a See also:branch of the Castilian royal See also:family. On its way to See also:Flanders the Spanish fleet had captured a number of See also:English trading ships, and had thrown the crews overboard. Piratical violence and See also:massacre of this See also:kind was then universal on the See also:sea. On the loth of August, when the king was at Rotherhithe, he announced his intention of attacking the Spaniards on their way See also:home. The See also:rendezvous of his fleet was at Winchelsea, and thither the king went by See also:land, accompanied by his wife and her ladies, by his sons, the See also:Black See also:Prince and See also:John of Gaunt, as well as by many nobles. The ladies were placed in a See also:convent and the king embarked on his See also:flagship, the " See also:Cog See also:Thomas," on the 28th of August. The English fleet did not put to sea but remained at See also:anchor, waiting for the See also:appearance of the Spaniards. Its strength is not known with certainty, but See also:Stow puts it at 50 ships and pinnaces.

Carlos de la Cerda was obviously well disposed to give the king a See also:

meeting. He might easily have avoided the English if he had kept well out in the Channel. But he relied on the See also:size and strength of his 40 large ships, and in expectation of an encounter had recruited a See also:body of mercenaries—mostly crossbowmen—in the Flemish ports. In the afternoon of the 29th of August he See also:bore down boldly on King Edward's ships at anchor at Winchelsea. When the Spaniards See also:hove in sight, the king was sitting on the See also:deck of his See also:ship, with his knights and nobles, listening to his minstrels who played See also:German airs, and to the singing of See also:Sir John See also:Chandos. When the look-out in the tops reported the enemy in sight, the king and his See also:company drank to one another's See also:health, the See also:trumpet was sounded, and the whole See also:line stood out. All battles at that See also:time, whether on land or sea, were finally settled by stroke of See also:sword. The English steered to See also:board the Spaniards. The king's own ship was run into by one of the enemy with such violence that both were damaged, and she began to sink. The Spaniard stood on, and the " Cog Thomas " was laid alongside another, which was carried by boarding. It was high time, for the king and his following had barely reached the deck of the Spaniard before the " Cog Thomas " went to the bottom. Other Spaniards were taken, but the fight was hot.

La Cerda's crossbowmen did much See also:

execution, and the higher-built Spaniards were able to drop bars of See also:iron or other weights on the lighter English vessels, by which they were damaged. The conflict was continued till See also:twilight. At the See also:close the large English See also:vessel called " La Salle du Roi," which carried the king's See also:household, and was commanded by the See also:Fleming, See also:Robert of See also:Namur, afterwards a See also:knight of the Garter, was grappled by a big Spaniard, and was being dragged off by him. The See also:crew called loudly for a See also:rescue, but were either not heard or, if heard, could not be helped. The " Salle du Roi " would have been taken if a Flemish See also:squire of Robert of Namur, named Hannequin, had not performed a See also:great feat of arms. He boarded the Spaniard and cut the halyards of her mainsail with his sword. The Spanish ship was taken. King Edward is said to have captured 14 of the enemy. What his o,wn loss was is not stated, but as his own vessel, and also the vessel carrying the Black Prince, were sunk, and from the peril of " La Salle du Roi," we may conclude that the English fleet suffered heavily. There was no pursuit, and a truce was made with the Basque towns the next See also:year. The See also:battle with " the Spaniards on the sea " is a very typical example of a See also:medieval sea-fight, when the ships were of the >ize of a small coaster or a fishing See also:smack, were crowded with men, and when the See also:personal prowess of a single knight or squire was an important See also:element of strength. The only real authority for the battle is See also:Froissart, who was at different times in the service of King Edward or of his wife, Philippa of See also:Hainaut, and of the See also:counts of Namur.

He repeated what was told him by men who had been See also:

present, and dwells as usual on the " See also:chivalry " of his patrons. See his Chroniques, iv. 91. (D.

End of Article: ESPAGNOLS SUR MER, LES

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