Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- List of illustrations
- Abbreviations
- Preface
- Introduction: England and France in the mid fourteenth century
- 1 The siege and capture of the town: Edward III and the burghers of Calais
- 2 A new ruler and a new regime: the town and the garrison in the early years of English rule
- 3 Setting up the Staple: a new role for Calais
- 4 Triumph and disaster: Henry V, the collapse of the Anglo-Burgundian alliance and the resurgence of France
- 5 Calais as a base for political intrigue: Yorkists, Lancastrians and the earl of Warwick
- 6 The heyday of the Company of the Staple: merchants and their lives
- 7 Religious and political change: Henry VII, Henry VIII and the Reformation
- 8 The town and trade: the later fortunes of the Company of the Staple and of the Johnson partnership
- 9 The end of the story: the loss of Calais to the French
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - Calais as a base for political intrigue: Yorkists, Lancastrians and the earl of Warwick
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- List of illustrations
- Abbreviations
- Preface
- Introduction: England and France in the mid fourteenth century
- 1 The siege and capture of the town: Edward III and the burghers of Calais
- 2 A new ruler and a new regime: the town and the garrison in the early years of English rule
- 3 Setting up the Staple: a new role for Calais
- 4 Triumph and disaster: Henry V, the collapse of the Anglo-Burgundian alliance and the resurgence of France
- 5 Calais as a base for political intrigue: Yorkists, Lancastrians and the earl of Warwick
- 6 The heyday of the Company of the Staple: merchants and their lives
- 7 Religious and political change: Henry VII, Henry VIII and the Reformation
- 8 The town and trade: the later fortunes of the Company of the Staple and of the Johnson partnership
- 9 The end of the story: the loss of Calais to the French
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
It might be thought that the humiliation of Burgundian arms following the ignominious end of the siege in 1436 would have led to a notable increase in the security of Calais. The alarm at the prospect of the Burgundian attack and the palpable relief at its complete failure might have also provided an opportunity for the English to take stock of this possession of the Crown in which so much money and effort was invested. That neither of these things happened is an indication of the competing interests centred on the town. On the one hand, the fact that the Flemish towns were very reluctant to get involved in their duke's adventures testified to their respect for English arms and their reluctance to conduct open warfare against a major trading partner. On the other hand, the duke himself continued to make warlike plans, including one that involved flooding the Pale by attacking the sluices at Newenham Bridge, though to what purpose was not clear. On the English side, the drift, lack of leadership and lethargy becoming increasingly visible in English government, largely because of the character of the young king Henry vi, was affecting policy in the overseas territories as well as matters in England itself. As the situation for English arms in both Normandy and south-west France became more and more unsettled and losses mounted, some argued that all the available men and money should be dispatched to these regions.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- CalaisAn English Town in France, 1347–1558, pp. 73 - 94Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2008