War with France opened in the summer of 1557. In that year Lord William Howard cruised in the Channel with a fleet including six ships of 200 tons and over, the largest being the Jesus of Lubeck, described as of 700 tons.[[391]] His proceedings were uneventful, and all the large vessels were laid up at the beginning of winter. At the end of the year disquieting news began to arrive with startling suddenness in England. On December 22 Lord Grey of Wilton reported from Guisnes that French preparations were on foot, although their object was not ascertainable. On the 26th Lord Wentworth, the commander at Calais, wrote that five French warships, with forty other sail and large numbers of troops, were gathering at Boulogne and Abbeville. On the last day of 1557 Calais, with its garrison of 800, was invested by 30,000 men.

The Government had taken the alarm by the 29th of December and, if the Narrow Seas had been held by such a force as Henry VIII had been accustomed to keep there in the winter, would have been in time to relieve Calais, which held out until January 8. But such force was lacking: a paper of December 29 shows that the ‘Ships and Barks already in the Narrow Seas’ were five in number, their combined crews numbering only 400 men.[[392]] It is true that instructions were given for the immediate preparation of eight other vessels with crews amounting to 1,000 men,[[393]] but it was too late. The unready ships could not be rigged and manned in time, and their commander, Sir William Woodhouse, only received his final sailing orders on the very day the French entered Calais.[[394]] In the meantime the Earl of Rutland had collected a few hoys and fishing boats at Dover, and in them had attempted to transport reinforcements to the beleaguered town. But the French covering fleet beat them off, and he was obliged to leave Calais to its fate.[[396]]

Calais had been lost by default of those responsible for the naval and military administration of the country. A fortnight after its fall the queen sent orders to Lord Howard to put the navy into an effective state, equipping the regular ships and forcibly borrowing the services of as many merchantmen as he should require. Howard was superseded by Clinton early in 1558, and by mid-summer the latter was at sea. He made the usual raid on the Brittany coast in July, burning Le Conquêt and effecting nothing against Brest. At the beginning of August he was back at Portsmouth. On July 13 a squadron detached from his fleet had interfered with decisive effect in a battle fought on the shore at Gravelines between the French and some of Philip’s Netherland troops. The ships stood in and played with their heavy guns upon the French until the latter gave way. But this was the only event to lighten the gloom of the close of Mary’s reign, and was a trifling exploit as compared with the fall of Calais. Fortunately the depression of English affairs proved to be only temporary, and with a new sovereign and a wiser government misfortunes were retrieved, and the nation was able in the years to come to make triumphant progress along the path mapped out for it by the first two Tudors.

INDEX