2 - The Expeditions of 1430–2 and 1497

Summary

CAREFULLY ORGANISED AND PLANNED expeditions often involved substantial expenditure by English kings and were essential to the conduct of warfare. This chapter offers in-depth examinations of three expeditions for which an exceptional level of detail survives. These consist of the 1430 royal-led expedition to France and two campaigns in 1497, one against Scotland and another against the rebels of Cornwall. They not only provide insights into how ordnance was procured and used in these specific military operations, but also suggest significant developments that occurred in the period between the expeditions.

It is possible to carry out a comprehensive study of the ordnance used in these years due to the chance survival of complete accounts for the expeditions. These documents are available in the National Archives as the campaigns were financed by the English Exchequer. The accounts for the military operations of 1430–2 exist in the foreign account rolls of the Exchequer on three sides of membranes, enrolled in the year 1434–5. They were submitted by John Hampton, master of the ordnance for Henry VI, and cover the period 24 February 1430 to 9 February 1432. The particulars of account which were used to compile Hampton's enrolled account no longer survive, but the account itself contains plentiful information on the artillery used in the expedition. This follows a standard format: the opening explanation of dates covered and the accounting official (Hampton), his receipt of money, the equipment received, the purchase of artillery, actual use of ordnance and where it was distributed at the end of the period. It therefore contains more information on how the artillery was used on the campaign than a similar set of accounts for the 1428 expedition to France.

The accounts for the expeditions of 1497, by contrast, are far more voluminous as the particulars survive in a book of 110 folios. The book was compiled under the direction of Robert Clifford, master of the ordnance for Henry VII, and has six distinct components covering the period from 1495 to 1497. It includes an inventory of ordnance in the Tower of London in 1495, purchases of ordnance for the Scottish expedition, the shipping of guns to Scotland, the expenditure of equipment on both these expeditions and the remaining ordnance at the end of the accounts.