officer chose the latter course, and so completely justified himself that the vessels were returned to their Flamand owners in January, 1416.[1]
The Parliament which met on March 16th of that year complained of the seizure of private craft by king's officers, who paid nothing for their use; of the discontinuance of the payment of tonnage allowance for ships regularly taken up by the government, and of the consequent ruin of shipowners; and it made use of the remarkable expression to which attention has been called in the previous chapter: "pur taunt qe la dit navye est la greinde substance du bien, profit, et prosperitée du vostre dit roialme." The king promised to do what justice seemed to require.[2]
It is clear, from a petition presented during the same session, that it was customary in the fifteenth century for merchantmen sailing in consort to elect the master of one of their number as their "admiral" for the voyage, and for the other masters to swear obedience and loyalty to him. This had been done in the case of a home-coming flotilla of wine ships from Bordeaux, the master of a ship called the Christopher, of Hull, being the "admiral" for the occasion. On the voyage, the Christopher had been attacked by some carracks, and taken in consequence of the cowardly desertion of her by all her friends. The owners prayed that, in view of what had occurred, the owners of all the other ships should be made responsible for the value of the lost vessel. The matter was referred to the chancellor, and it would seem not only that the owners were held liable for the value of the Christopher, but also that the cowardly masters were imprisoned.[3]
The Emperor Sigismund came to England in May, chiefly to endeavour to arrange peace between England and France. Vessels were impressed to convey him from Calais, and he spent some months in England; but the action of the French prevented any thought of peace. Their army, under the Count d'Armagnac, invested Harfleur on the land side, and their fleet,[4] reinforced by eight carracks hired from the Genoese, and commanded by the Bastard of Bourbon and Robinet de Braquemont, Admiral of France, blockaded the port, while another French squadron ranged the Channel, did much injury to shipping, endeavoured to destroy the English vessels at Southampton, and ravaged Portland and other
