Despenser's Crusade
Encyclopedia
Despenser's Crusade was a military expedition to aid the city of Ghent
from the supporters of Antipope Clement VII
in 1383. It took place in the context of the Western Schism
and the Hundred Years' War
between England
and France
. While France supported Clement, whose court was based in Avignon
, the English supported Pope Urban VI
in Rome.
Popular at the time the lower and middle classes, Despenser's Crusade "was only widely criticised in hindsight", and "for all its canonical propriety, [it] was the Hundred Years' War thinly disguised". Among contemporary critics of the crusade, besides John Wyclif, was the French chronicler Jean Froissart
, who charged its leaders with hypocrisy.
, in which Ghent lay, was an ally of France (part of its territory was in France and part in the Holy Roman Empire
). A revolt first broke out in Flanders in September 1379, and the English parliament
of 1380, the last to convene at Northampton
, recorded that no wool subsidy had been received because of the "present riot" in Flanders. Wool was a major English export to the Flemish looms, and between the fiscal years of 1381–82 and 1382–83 total exports dropped from 18,000 to 11,000 sacks. In 1382–83, only 2,192 sacks passed through the main English staple port of Calais
, leading to the rise of Middelburg
in competition.
When the citizens of Ghent rebelled against the count, Louis de Male, in January 1382, they requested English assistance. Louis attempted to block English imports. Under the leadership of Philip van Artevelde
the Flemings expelled Louis from Flanders at the Battle of Beverhoutsveld
and took Bruges
. Louis soon procured a French army to relieve him, and the militia of Ghent was decisively defeated at the Battle of Roosebeke
on 27 November, where Philip was killed. The city was forced to accept Louis's terms, to acknowledge Clement as the legitimate pope and to aid in the fight against the English. The fleet of Ghent escaped to England, where it kept up the war. Charles VI of France
entered Bruges and confiscated all the English merchants' goods.
, and gained the support of the upper chamber—the later House of Lords
. The other side, led by the Courtenays
, the Earl of Arundel
and the Early of Buckingham
, argued for a campaign to relieve Ghent and was supported by the lower chamber—the later House of Commons
. These were "two noble ways" (deux noble chymyns) to aid the king's friends (the Flemish communes, and the Portuguese in the mist of a succession crisis) against his enemies.
The former option, the "way of Portugal" (chemin de Portyngale), was a pet project of John of Gaunt's. He had formally claimed the throne of Castile since at least 30 January 1372, when he received royal permission to include the arms of Castile and León on his own coat-of-arms. Edmund of Langley, the king's brother, led a disastrous military campaign in Portugal in favour of John's claim in 1379. In January or February 1380, Ferdinand I of Portugal
declared for Clement, but then on 29 August 1381 he went over to Urban's camp. Then, in March 1382, Urban issued the bull Regimini sacrosancte, condemning the Castilian king, Henry II, as a schismatic. During the parliamentary debate, John Gilbert, Bishop of Hereford
, pointed out that while France remained within the Catholic fold, formally, Despenser's crusade would have to be a general effort against the Clementists, while John of Gaunt's could proceed against the excommunicated King of Castile specifically.
The latter option, the "way of Flanders", was cheaper and of more immediate military value, for it could relieve the pressure on the English-held port of Calais
. Parliament approved funding and appointed Henry le Despenser, the Bishop of Norwich
, as leader of the crusade, although it appears the crusade was initially to be led by John of Gaunt or another of the king's uncles. The bishop refused to accept Arundel as his lieutenant and secular leader of the expedition. Some peers criticised the crusade as threatening Richard II's claim on France, citing the way in which Urban VI had tried to control Naples
after its successful defence against the Clementist Louis of Anjou's expedition in 1381.
expressed hope that through Richard II's marriage to Anne of Bohemia
, an anti-French alliance between England and the Holy Roman Empire could be forged. The Bohemians, however, refused to go to war with France unless the nation was excommunicated, a measure Urban found too extreme.
In 1379 Despenser published the bull Nuper cum vinea (6 November 1378) of Urban VI offering plenary indulgences to both the living and the dead in return for contributions proportional to or consistent with the donor's wealth to the general crusade against the Clementists. (Women generally gave jewellery and household effects.) In March 1381, by two bulls, Urban appointed Despenser in charge of the anti-Clementist crusade in England, and gave him the power to grant indulgences and to dispense priests to participate. This was probably a result of the diplomatic work of his clerk, Henry Bowet
, who had gone to Rome on royal business in February 1380. The two bulls he delivered to Despenser, Dudum cum vinea Dei (23 March) and Dudum cumjilii Belial (25 March), survive in several copies. A further bull, Dignum censemus, of 15 May empowered Despenser to preach the crusade in both archdioceses of England, Canterbury
and York
, and to take action against opponents of his message.
These three bulls reached England in August 1381, and copies were distributed to the English episcopate on 17 September. Despenser "at once", according to Ranulf Higdon's Polychronicon
, sent out his collectors to receive donations in return for the granting of indulgences. They were wildly successful, especially among commoners, perhaps because of the economic benefit of restoring order to Flanders, with which England had extensive trade. On 21 December 1382, in Saint Paul's Cathedral, London, the bishop of Norwich took the cross and formally vowed to go on the crusade.
While the crusade was preached by friars, false confessors went about extorting money while some legitimate priests refused to hand over their collections to the war chest. The corruption inspired a series of denunciations from the reformer John Wyclif. Despenser, however, promised that the crusade would only attack the supporters of the "schimsatic" antipope, and:
saw to the procurement of bows and arrows. The public finances were overseen by Despenser's treasurer, Robert Foulmere, and by a London merchant, Sir John Philpot, who also acted as the expedition's banker. With his private money he funded some recruits and their transport across the Channel. The ceremony whereat Despenser took the cross were characterised by the standard pageantry, "the cross and the crusade banner, and the sermons, masses, processions, and confessions".
Despenser appointed as captains of the crusade Hugh Calveley
, William Elmham, Thomas Tryvet, John Ferris, Hugh Despenser, William Ferinton and Matthew Reedman. The crusade attracted a large number of recruits, but it also attracted undesirable (and uninvited, according to the Westminster Chronicle) volunteers: bored monks with no fighting ability, youthful apprentices of the London guilds and outright criminals. The crusaders who had taken the proper vows wore red crosses, which symbol was already being transformed into the English national banner
. At the last moment, according to the historian Thomas of Walsingham, there was an effort to prevent the crusade's departure. King Richard II
, who was advocating peace with France, ordered Despenser to await the arrival of William de Beauchamp, an experienced general, but the bishop ignored him.
on 27 April, and sailed for Calais on 16 May 1383. The chronology of the crusade from the sailing until 25 May is provided in a letter Despenser wrote to another prelate. The first crusaders to arrive at Calais stayed only a few days, before the entire force had crossed the channel. The bishop led them in a successful attack on Gravelines
. That month (May 1383), on the home front, one Thomas Depham of Norfolk
was imprisoned for casting doubt on an official report from Flanders.
or Ypres
in Flanders, or to invade France, "the worst schimastic", as one historian puts it. The army decided to besiege Ypres, which was in fact an Urbanist city. Walsingham nevertheless describes the crusaders using typical but entirely misplaced rhetoric:
At Ypres the problem of the unpaid "volunteers" was exacerbated under siege conditions. In June Despenser ordered "all who are not in receipt of official wages" to return to England. These undisciplined elements had only joined the host for the opportunity of plunder, according to Walsingham.
From Flanders, some of the captains wrote to the king that the campaign was falling apart "for lack of a lieutenant and of the good government of [the bishop]." According to the transcript of the bishop's later trial, the king negotiated for Arundel to gather a group of men-at-arms and archers and go to Flanders, but the "ambiguously written" letters of Despenser, and reports of speeches he had made, indicated that he would not accept a lieutenant. When a French relieving force approached the town, Despenser decided to abandon the siege on 8 August, after eight weeks of effort. Calveley suggested turning towards Clementist France, but the leadership of the crusade then split. Despenser, who claimed at his trial to have supported an attack on France only to be opposed by the majority of his captains, took his forces to Gravelines, while the remaining captains were bribed to surrender the land they had conquered and go home.
The truce, so it was alleged by Despenser's opponents, was due "to the coming of our lord the king and my lord of Lancaster [John of Gaunt], who was by the sea, ready to cross" at the time.
, at the insistence of parliament, which opened on 26 October.
for two years, on the basis "of several matters, but especially of four articles". These four articles were the main allegations put against him by De la Pole. The first two alleged that although he was pledged "to serve the king in his wars of France" with 2,500 men-at-arms and an equal number of archers mustered at Calais for the period of a year, his force did not meet that quota, there was no muster of the whole at Calais and the force had returned and been disbanded after less than six months. The other two articles accused Despenser of refusing to abide by the condition that he take with him "the best and most sufficient captains of the realm, after royalties"—a condition he got around by refusing to name his captains until after permission for his expedition was already granted, and by deceiving the king through "beaux promesses" in order to retain complete control of military matters (and avoiding taking Arundel with him).
Despenser defended himself by claiming that the siege of Ypres was advised by the men of Ghent, that losses to both his own forces and those of Ghent (an "act of God
", aventure de Dieux) had forced his lifting the siege, and the truce with the French might be preliminary to a lasting peace. He further claimed that he had more than quota of forces at Ypres, even though they had not all assembled at Calais; and that although Lord Neville
had offered to go in the king's very presence Richard had refused permission. He admitted to having received in Flanders royal letters asking him to accept a lieutenant, to which he claimed to have replied asking king and council to appoint one. After being found guilty, Despenser asked the king for a hearing before parliament to present his defence without interruption, which was granted for 24 November. In his final defence, the bishop attempted to place some blame on his captains, but Michael de la Pole was given another opportunity to rebut him. His guilt was confirmed, and although he had acted "contrary to the common custom of the estate of [a] prelate of England", Richard II offered to treat him as a ecclesiastic. His temporalities were suspended and he was fined for the entire public cost of the expedition, to be paid for out of the francs he had received in France.
s. The leaders did not deny the allegations, but argued that because they had been forced to leave behind valuable horses the money was compensation. The treasurer, Foulmere, and five of the captains (notably, not Calveley) were imprisoned and fined 14,600 gold francs. On 9 January 1384, the Exchequer recorded the receipt of £
287 9s.
4d. of money captured during the Flemish expedition, paid by one Henry Bowet on Foulmere's behalf, and the further receipt of £770 16s. 8d. for 5,000 francs "illicitly received" overseas.
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
from the supporters of Antipope Clement VII
Antipope Clement VII
Robert of Geneva was elected to the papacy as Pope Clement VII by the French cardinals who opposed Urban VI, and was the first Avignon antipope of the Western Schism.-Biography:...
in 1383. It took place in the context of the Western Schism
Western Schism
The Western Schism or Papal Schism was a split within the Catholic Church from 1378 to 1417. Two men simultaneously claimed to be the true pope. Driven by politics rather than any theological disagreement, the schism was ended by the Council of Constance . The simultaneous claims to the papal chair...
and the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
between England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
and France
France in the Middle Ages
France in the Middle Ages covers an area roughly corresponding to modern day France, from the death of Louis the Pious in 840 to the middle of the 15th century...
. While France supported Clement, whose court was based in Avignon
Avignon Papacy
The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven Popes resided in Avignon, in modern-day France. This arose from the conflict between the Papacy and the French crown....
, the English supported Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI , born Bartolomeo Prignano, was Pope from 1378 to 1389.-Biography:Born in Itri, he was a devout monk and learned casuist, trained at Avignon. On March 21, 1364, he was consecrated Archbishop of Acerenza in the Kingdom of Naples...
in Rome.
Popular at the time the lower and middle classes, Despenser's Crusade "was only widely criticised in hindsight", and "for all its canonical propriety, [it] was the Hundred Years' War thinly disguised". Among contemporary critics of the crusade, besides John Wyclif, was the French chronicler Jean Froissart
Jean Froissart
Jean Froissart , often referred to in English as John Froissart, was one of the most important chroniclers of medieval France. For centuries, Froissart's Chronicles have been recognized as the chief expression of the chivalric revival of the 14th century Kingdom of England and France...
, who charged its leaders with hypocrisy.
Flemish revolt
The County of FlandersCounty of Flanders
The County of Flanders was one of the territories constituting the Low Countries. The county existed from 862 to 1795. It was one of the original secular fiefs of France and for centuries was one of the most affluent regions in Europe....
, in which Ghent lay, was an ally of France (part of its territory was in France and part in the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
). A revolt first broke out in Flanders in September 1379, and the English parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
of 1380, the last to convene at Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
, recorded that no wool subsidy had been received because of the "present riot" in Flanders. Wool was a major English export to the Flemish looms, and between the fiscal years of 1381–82 and 1382–83 total exports dropped from 18,000 to 11,000 sacks. In 1382–83, only 2,192 sacks passed through the main English staple port of Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, leading to the rise of Middelburg
Middelburg
Middelburg is a municipality and a city in the south-western Netherlands and the capital of the province of Zeeland. It is situated in the Midden-Zeeland region. It has a population of about 48,000.- History of Middelburg :...
in competition.
When the citizens of Ghent rebelled against the count, Louis de Male, in January 1382, they requested English assistance. Louis attempted to block English imports. Under the leadership of Philip van Artevelde
Philip van Artevelde
Philip van Artevelde was a Flemish patriot, the son of Jacob van Artevelde. Because of his father's prominence he was godson of English queen Philippa of Hainault, who held him in her arms during his baptism....
the Flemings expelled Louis from Flanders at the Battle of Beverhoutsveld
Battle of Beverhoutsveld
-Prelude:This battle was initiated when the city of Ghent had rebelled against their lord, count Louis II of Flanders, in 1379. The powerful guilds in Ghent did not take kindly to his rule, and wanted more privileges and less interference from the count...
and took Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
. Louis soon procured a French army to relieve him, and the militia of Ghent was decisively defeated at the Battle of Roosebeke
Battle of Roosebeke
The Battle of Roosebeke took place on November 27, 1382 on the Goudberg between a Flemish army under Philip van Artevelde and a French army under Louis II of Flanders who had called upon the help of the French king Charles VI after he had suffered a defeat during the Battle of Beverhoutsveld...
on 27 November, where Philip was killed. The city was forced to accept Louis's terms, to acknowledge Clement as the legitimate pope and to aid in the fight against the English. The fleet of Ghent escaped to England, where it kept up the war. Charles VI of France
Charles VI of France
Charles VI , called the Beloved and the Mad , was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392, led to quarrels among the French royal family, which were exploited by the neighbouring powers of England and Burgundy...
entered Bruges and confiscated all the English merchants' goods.
Parliamentary debate
In October 1383, Parliament convened to debate the financing of a crusade. One side, led by John of Gaunt, put forward a crusade to establish him on the throne of CastileCrown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
, and gained the support of the upper chamber—the later House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. The other side, led by the Courtenays
Baron Courtenay
The Barony of Courtenay, called Baron Courtenay, was created in 1299. The Earldom was confirmed by King Edward III and conferred on Hugh de Courtenay, Earl of Devon's summons to be a Lord of Parliament during his father's lifetime on 23 April 1337...
, the Earl of Arundel
Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel
Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel and 9th Earl of Surrey KG was an English medieval nobleman and military commander.-Lineage:...
and the Early of Buckingham
Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester
Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Buckingham, 1st Earl of Essex, Duke of Aumale, KG was the thirteenth and youngest child of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault...
, argued for a campaign to relieve Ghent and was supported by the lower chamber—the later House of Commons
House of Commons of England
The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...
. These were "two noble ways" (deux noble chymyns) to aid the king's friends (the Flemish communes, and the Portuguese in the mist of a succession crisis) against his enemies.
The former option, the "way of Portugal" (chemin de Portyngale), was a pet project of John of Gaunt's. He had formally claimed the throne of Castile since at least 30 January 1372, when he received royal permission to include the arms of Castile and León on his own coat-of-arms. Edmund of Langley, the king's brother, led a disastrous military campaign in Portugal in favour of John's claim in 1379. In January or February 1380, Ferdinand I of Portugal
Ferdinand I of Portugal
Ferdinand I , sometimes referred to as the Handsome or rarely as the Inconstant , was the ninth King of Portugal and the Algarve, the second son of Peter I and his wife, Constance of Castile...
declared for Clement, but then on 29 August 1381 he went over to Urban's camp. Then, in March 1382, Urban issued the bull Regimini sacrosancte, condemning the Castilian king, Henry II, as a schismatic. During the parliamentary debate, John Gilbert, Bishop of Hereford
Bishop of Hereford
The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.The see is in the City of Hereford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Ethelbert which was founded as a cathedral in 676.The Bishop's residence is...
, pointed out that while France remained within the Catholic fold, formally, Despenser's crusade would have to be a general effort against the Clementists, while John of Gaunt's could proceed against the excommunicated King of Castile specifically.
The latter option, the "way of Flanders", was cheaper and of more immediate military value, for it could relieve the pressure on the English-held port of Calais
Pale of Calais
The Pale of Calais is a historical region of France that was controlled by the Kingdom of England until 1558.- History :After the Battle of Crécy in 1346, Edward III of England, having renounced the throne of France, kept some territory within France, namely Aquitaine and the area around Calais,...
. Parliament approved funding and appointed Henry le Despenser, the Bishop of Norwich
Bishop of Norwich
The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers most of the County of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The see is in the City of Norwich where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided...
, as leader of the crusade, although it appears the crusade was initially to be led by John of Gaunt or another of the king's uncles. The bishop refused to accept Arundel as his lieutenant and secular leader of the expedition. Some peers criticised the crusade as threatening Richard II's claim on France, citing the way in which Urban VI had tried to control Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
after its successful defence against the Clementist Louis of Anjou's expedition in 1381.
Papal and ecclesiastical
As early as 1378, the Cardinal Pietro Pileo di PrataPietro Pileo di Prata
Pietro Pileo di Prata was an Italian bishop and Cardinal. He was a significant diplomat and go-between in the affairs of his times, and was nicknamed the ‘cardinal with three hats’, because of the vicissitudes of his cardinalate under three popes.He was bishop of Treviso in 1352, then bishop of ...
expressed hope that through Richard II's marriage to Anne of Bohemia
Anne of Bohemia
Anne of Bohemia was Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the eldest daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and Elizabeth of Pomerania....
, an anti-French alliance between England and the Holy Roman Empire could be forged. The Bohemians, however, refused to go to war with France unless the nation was excommunicated, a measure Urban found too extreme.
In 1379 Despenser published the bull Nuper cum vinea (6 November 1378) of Urban VI offering plenary indulgences to both the living and the dead in return for contributions proportional to or consistent with the donor's wealth to the general crusade against the Clementists. (Women generally gave jewellery and household effects.) In March 1381, by two bulls, Urban appointed Despenser in charge of the anti-Clementist crusade in England, and gave him the power to grant indulgences and to dispense priests to participate. This was probably a result of the diplomatic work of his clerk, Henry Bowet
Henry Bowet
Henry Bowet was both Bishop of Bath and Wells and Archbishop of York.-Life:Bowet was a royal clerk to King Richard II of England, and at one point carried letters of recommendation to Pope Urban VI from the king....
, who had gone to Rome on royal business in February 1380. The two bulls he delivered to Despenser, Dudum cum vinea Dei (23 March) and Dudum cumjilii Belial (25 March), survive in several copies. A further bull, Dignum censemus, of 15 May empowered Despenser to preach the crusade in both archdioceses of England, Canterbury
Province of Canterbury
The Province of Canterbury, also called the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England...
and York
Province of York
The Province of York is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England, and consists of 14 dioceses which cover the northern third of England and the Isle of Man. York was elevated to an Archbishopric in 735 AD: Ecgbert of York was the first archbishop...
, and to take action against opponents of his message.
These three bulls reached England in August 1381, and copies were distributed to the English episcopate on 17 September. Despenser "at once", according to Ranulf Higdon's Polychronicon
Ranulf Higdon
Ranulf Higden was an English chronicler and a Benedictine monk of the monastery of St. Werburgh in Chester....
, sent out his collectors to receive donations in return for the granting of indulgences. They were wildly successful, especially among commoners, perhaps because of the economic benefit of restoring order to Flanders, with which England had extensive trade. On 21 December 1382, in Saint Paul's Cathedral, London, the bishop of Norwich took the cross and formally vowed to go on the crusade.
While the crusade was preached by friars, false confessors went about extorting money while some legitimate priests refused to hand over their collections to the war chest. The corruption inspired a series of denunciations from the reformer John Wyclif. Despenser, however, promised that the crusade would only attack the supporters of the "schimsatic" antipope, and:
if within the year it should happen that the realm of France was converted to the faith of the true Pope Urban, the bishop should be bound to fold up and put away the banner of the crusade, and thenceforth to serve our lord the king under his [the king’s] own colours [in some other theatre].
Royal and parliamentary
The ExchequerExchequer
The Exchequer is a government department of the United Kingdom responsible for the management and collection of taxation and other government revenues. The historical Exchequer developed judicial roles...
saw to the procurement of bows and arrows. The public finances were overseen by Despenser's treasurer, Robert Foulmere, and by a London merchant, Sir John Philpot, who also acted as the expedition's banker. With his private money he funded some recruits and their transport across the Channel. The ceremony whereat Despenser took the cross were characterised by the standard pageantry, "the cross and the crusade banner, and the sermons, masses, processions, and confessions".
Despenser appointed as captains of the crusade Hugh Calveley
Hugh Calveley
Sir Hugh Calveley was an English soldier and commander, who took part in the Hundred Years' War, gaining fame during the War of the Breton Succession and the Castilian Civil War...
, William Elmham, Thomas Tryvet, John Ferris, Hugh Despenser, William Ferinton and Matthew Reedman. The crusade attracted a large number of recruits, but it also attracted undesirable (and uninvited, according to the Westminster Chronicle) volunteers: bored monks with no fighting ability, youthful apprentices of the London guilds and outright criminals. The crusaders who had taken the proper vows wore red crosses, which symbol was already being transformed into the English national banner
Flag of England
The Flag of England is the St George's Cross . The red cross appeared as an emblem of England during the Middle Ages and the Crusades and is one of the earliest known emblems representing England...
. At the last moment, according to the historian Thomas of Walsingham, there was an effort to prevent the crusade's departure. King Richard II
Richard II of England
Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
, who was advocating peace with France, ordered Despenser to await the arrival of William de Beauchamp, an experienced general, but the bishop ignored him.
Campaign
The crusade was mustered at SandwichSandwich, Kent
Sandwich is a historic town and civil parish on the River Stour in the Non-metropolitan district of Dover, within the ceremonial county of Kent, south-east England. It has a population of 6,800....
on 27 April, and sailed for Calais on 16 May 1383. The chronology of the crusade from the sailing until 25 May is provided in a letter Despenser wrote to another prelate. The first crusaders to arrive at Calais stayed only a few days, before the entire force had crossed the channel. The bishop led them in a successful attack on Gravelines
Gravelines
Gravelines is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies at the mouth of the river Aa 15 miles southwest of Dunkirk. There is a market in the town square on Saturdays. The "Arsenal" approached from the town square is home to an extensive and carefully displayed art collection....
. That month (May 1383), on the home front, one Thomas Depham of Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
was imprisoned for casting doubt on an official report from Flanders.
Siege of Ypres
The crusade joined the milita of Ghent in June. There was some debate over whether to attack BrugesBruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
or Ypres
Ypres
Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote...
in Flanders, or to invade France, "the worst schimastic", as one historian puts it. The army decided to besiege Ypres, which was in fact an Urbanist city. Walsingham nevertheless describes the crusaders using typical but entirely misplaced rhetoric:
Having the banner of the Holy Cross before them [they] thought that victory in this cause was glory but death reward. . . [T]hose who suffered death would be martyrs ... and thus the blessing of the cross was achieved, and the crucesignati [cross-signed] gloriously captured the town and there destroyed the enemies of the cross so that not one of them remained alive.
At Ypres the problem of the unpaid "volunteers" was exacerbated under siege conditions. In June Despenser ordered "all who are not in receipt of official wages" to return to England. These undisciplined elements had only joined the host for the opportunity of plunder, according to Walsingham.
From Flanders, some of the captains wrote to the king that the campaign was falling apart "for lack of a lieutenant and of the good government of [the bishop]." According to the transcript of the bishop's later trial, the king negotiated for Arundel to gather a group of men-at-arms and archers and go to Flanders, but the "ambiguously written" letters of Despenser, and reports of speeches he had made, indicated that he would not accept a lieutenant. When a French relieving force approached the town, Despenser decided to abandon the siege on 8 August, after eight weeks of effort. Calveley suggested turning towards Clementist France, but the leadership of the crusade then split. Despenser, who claimed at his trial to have supported an attack on France only to be opposed by the majority of his captains, took his forces to Gravelines, while the remaining captains were bribed to surrender the land they had conquered and go home.
Truce
After burning Gravelines, which he had wanted to hold, Despenser made a deal with the French and sailed his army home by September. He was later to claim that the restlessness of the 6,000–7,000 evacuees from the other surrendered towns and his lack of provisions, with the truce set to expire in a few days, forced his hand. He had in fact received royal permission to evacuate if he was short of victuals. At the time of the truce, the king:
had appointed his uncle of Spain [John of Gaunt] to come quickly to [Despenser's] aid and support. And none the less, [Despenser] departed from there, leaving the same town to the enemy, contrary to the form of [his] indenture.
The truce, so it was alleged by Despenser's opponents, was due "to the coming of our lord the king and my lord of Lancaster [John of Gaunt], who was by the sea, ready to cross" at the time.
Aftermath
Upon returning, Despenser and his captains were summoned by the chancellor, Michael de la PoleMichael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk
Michael de la Pole, 1st Baron de la Pole, later 1st Earl of Suffolk was an English financier and Lord Chancellor of England.- Life :...
, at the insistence of parliament, which opened on 26 October.
Impeachment of Despenser
At the end of the proceedings, which took place before king and parliament, the bishop was impeached, deprived of his temporalitiesTemporalities
Temporalities are the secular properties and possessions of the Christian Church. It is most often used to describe those properties that were used to support a bishop or other religious person or establishment. Its opposite description would be the spiritualities.In the Middle Ages, the...
for two years, on the basis "of several matters, but especially of four articles". These four articles were the main allegations put against him by De la Pole. The first two alleged that although he was pledged "to serve the king in his wars of France" with 2,500 men-at-arms and an equal number of archers mustered at Calais for the period of a year, his force did not meet that quota, there was no muster of the whole at Calais and the force had returned and been disbanded after less than six months. The other two articles accused Despenser of refusing to abide by the condition that he take with him "the best and most sufficient captains of the realm, after royalties"—a condition he got around by refusing to name his captains until after permission for his expedition was already granted, and by deceiving the king through "beaux promesses" in order to retain complete control of military matters (and avoiding taking Arundel with him).
Despenser defended himself by claiming that the siege of Ypres was advised by the men of Ghent, that losses to both his own forces and those of Ghent (an "act of God
Act of God
Act of God is a legal term for events outside of human control, such as sudden floods or other natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible.- Contract law :...
", aventure de Dieux) had forced his lifting the siege, and the truce with the French might be preliminary to a lasting peace. He further claimed that he had more than quota of forces at Ypres, even though they had not all assembled at Calais; and that although Lord Neville
John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby
John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby, KG was born at Castle Raby, County Durham, England to Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby and Alice de Audley. He fought in the Battle of Neville's Cross on 17 October 1346 as a Captain in his father's division...
had offered to go in the king's very presence Richard had refused permission. He admitted to having received in Flanders royal letters asking him to accept a lieutenant, to which he claimed to have replied asking king and council to appoint one. After being found guilty, Despenser asked the king for a hearing before parliament to present his defence without interruption, which was granted for 24 November. In his final defence, the bishop attempted to place some blame on his captains, but Michael de la Pole was given another opportunity to rebut him. His guilt was confirmed, and although he had acted "contrary to the common custom of the estate of [a] prelate of England", Richard II offered to treat him as a ecclesiastic. His temporalities were suspended and he was fined for the entire public cost of the expedition, to be paid for out of the francs he had received in France.
Punishment of the captains
The captains of the crusade were asked to answer allegations of receiving bribes totalling 18,000 gold francFranc
The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions and the former currency of France, the French franc until the Euro was adopted in 1999...
s. The leaders did not deny the allegations, but argued that because they had been forced to leave behind valuable horses the money was compensation. The treasurer, Foulmere, and five of the captains (notably, not Calveley) were imprisoned and fined 14,600 gold francs. On 9 January 1384, the Exchequer recorded the receipt of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
287 9s.
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
4d. of money captured during the Flemish expedition, paid by one Henry Bowet on Foulmere's behalf, and the further receipt of £770 16s. 8d. for 5,000 francs "illicitly received" overseas.
Further reading
- A. P. R. Coulborn. The Economic and Political Preliminaries of the Crusade of Henry Despenser, Bishop of Norwich, in 1383, University of London Ph.D. thesis (1931, unpublished).
- Alan Gaylord. "Chaucer's Squire and the Glorious Campaign". Papers of the Michigan Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters 45 (1960): 341–61.
- W. A. Pantin. "A Medieval Treatise on Letter-Writing with Examples". Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 13 (1929): 359–64.
- G. Skalweit. Der Kreuzzug des Bischofs Heinrich von Norwich imjahre 1383 (Königsberg, 1898).
- E. Perroy. L'Angleterre et le Grand Schisme Occident (Paris, 1933).
- G. M. Wrong. The Crusade of 1383, known as that of the Bishop of Norwich (1892).