and after calling, like his great-uncle, at Cyprus, landed at Acre with a thousand soldiers about April 20th, 1271.[1] He was on his return in November, 1272, when his father's death summoned him to the throne of England.
Edward travelled very leisurely, visiting the Pope and the King of France, and also spending some time in his continental dominions. On July 4th, 1273, the Cinque Ports were ordered to provide ships and galleys for the king's passage across the Channel.[2] Yet he still delayed, and did not land at Dover, apparently from Bordeaux, until August 2nd, 1274.[3]
The pact between Edward and Alfonso, King of Castille and Leon, has been already noticed. Soon after Edward's return to England, Alfonso requested the assistance of his royal brother-in-law against the Saracens; and on May 4th, 1275, Edward replied, saying that he had not decided whether he should again go to the Holy Land, but that if any of his subjects would assist Alfonso, it would be very pleasing to him; and he went on to signify his pleasure that the King of Castille should have the aid "of the ships of our people, and of our sea of Bayonne."[4] In pursuance of the promise implied in this letter, he directed the authorities of Bayonne to build and fit out twelve ships and twenty-four galleys for the purpose. Taken in connection with this correspondence, it is a curious fact that the Bayonnais of the period, though subjects of Edward, were continually embroiled with his other subjects of the Cinque Ports, and that a piratical war existed between Bayonne and the south coast of England. In May, 1277, however, two citizens of Bayonne were sent to England to conclude a peace, which Edward ratified, giving the Bayonnais £100 to observe the conditions.[5]
It would, therefore, appear that the king did not effectively preserve the peace of his seas. Another piece of evidence, pointing in the same direction, is to be found in a notice of the depredations committed by a piratical fleet, belonging to Zeeland, upon some vessels of the merchants of London. In September, 1275, the Constable of Dover Castle was ordered to investigate the affair, and to consult thereon with the barons of the Ciuque Ports.[6]
