his infirmities, finally and amicably resigned the Great Seal, which was broken up. A new one, whereon the arms of France were for the first time quartered with those of England, was delivered to Sir Nicholas de la Bèche, for transmission, through the Master of the Rolls, to the new chancellor, the Bishop of Chichester.[1]
The armada sailed at about one o'clock on June 22nd. It consisted of two hundred vessels, and, upon sighting the coast of Flanders,[2] it was joined by the northern fleet of probably about fifty sail, under Admiral Sir Robert Morley, who, it may be supposed, had been keeping touch with the enemy by means of his light craft. At noon on June 23rd, the combined fleets, then off Blankenberghe, descried the French, ten miles away, lying in the port of Sluis.[3]
Edward himself puts the force of the enemy at one hundred and ninety ships, galleys, and great barges; Hemingford, at two hundred and fifty ships; Knighton, as well as Walsingham, at two hundred ships, besides other craft; Froissart, at upwards of one hundred and forty large vessels, besides sturdier ones; and, according to Jacob Meyer, Flamand writers place it as high as three hundred and eighty, or even four hundred sail of all kinds; but the king's estimate may be safely accepted as being likely to be as correct as any.
Upon sighting the enemy, Edward landed Sir Reginald de Cobham, Sir John Cundy, and Sir Stephen de Laburkin, with their horses, to reconnoitre. These gentlemen, riding along the coast, ascertained the strength and disposition of the foe, and discovered that there were with the French nineteen exceptionally large ships, including the captured Christopher, and that the fleet lay at anchor near the land in three divisions, irrespective of the small craft.[4]
The French fleet, according to Edward, whose dispatch will be given later, was manned by above thirty-five thousand Normans, Picards, and Genoese. Froissart and Knighton say forty thousand; Walsingham says twenty-five thousand. It was commanded by Hugues Quiéret, Nicolas Béhuchet, and Egidio Bocanegra.
The tide on the afternoon of Friday, the 23rd, did not serve for the attack, and the English spent the latter part of the day in
