and it ended in another five years' truce.[1] Henry wasted alike his money and his opportunities, and, having spent the winter, chiefly in dissipation, at Bordeaux, did not return to England until the autumn of 1243, landing at Portsmouth on September 25th.
While he was away, he repeatedly appealed to England for supplies and assistance. On June 8th, 1242, he desired the Archbishop of Canterbury and Sir William de Cantilupe to send him stores and two hundred knights and one hundred horse soldiers, and to concert with the Cinqne Ports for the harassing of the enemy. Another requisition for ships, addressed to the barons of the Cinque Ports, stipulated that one-fifth of the captures should be reserved to the Crown.[2] In the autumn of the same year, the King of France, having decreed the arrest of all English merchants and their goods found within his dominions, retaliatory measures were adopted, and on September 20th, orders were sent to London, Bristol, Northampton, and other towns for the arrest of French merchants there.[3] It is clear from the comments of Matthew Paris that such proceedings were unusual in France, even in time of war, and that persons of purely peaceful pursuits were not ordinarily prevented, owing to the outbreak of hostilities, from remaining and trading in the foreign country in which they were provisionally domiciled; although the charter of Henry, granted in 1225, expressly provided for the attachment of alien merchants when war had been declared against their state, and for their detention until the king should inform himself how English merchants were being treated by the enemy. "If," it declared, "our merchants be well treated there, theirs shall likewise be so treated with us."[4]
But for a storm, there would have been a naval battle in the Channel in 1242. A large reinforcement was on its way to Gascony from England; and the French adventurers and privateers, hearing of it, put to sea with a considerable force to intercept it. The two flotillas, apparently after they had sighted one another, were dispersed by a gale. The French got safely into port, but the English and Irish were driven "to remote and unknown coasts," possibly to Spain or Portugal."[5] The sufferings of those on board were so severe that many died, and many others never recovered their health. Henry again issued retaliatory orders, particularly to
