Battle of Winchelsea

Battle of Winchelsea

Part of: Hundred Years War

date	August 29, 1350
place	near Winchelsea
output	English victory
Peace treaty	1351 Peace between England and the Basque cities

Parties to the conflict
Kingdom of England	Kingdom of Castile
Commander
Edward III.	Don Carlos de la Cerda
Troop strength
probably 50 ships	40 ships
losses
at least 2 ships crew losses unknown, probably high	14–26 ships Crew losses unknown, probably high

The naval battle of Winchelsea (commonly referred to as L'Espagnols sur Mer (French for "the Spaniards at sea") in the English and French speaking regions ) took place on August 29, 1350 as part of the Hundred Years War . An English fleet of probably fifty ships commanded by Edward III. and his son Edward of Woodstock (known as the 'Black Prince') defeated a Castilian fleet of forty ships under the command of Charles de la Cerda . Between 14 and 26 Castilian ships were captured or sunk, while at least two English ships were lost and the crews suffered heavy losses.

The only surviving account of this battle comes from Jean Froissart , who later served in the service of Edward or his wife, Philippa of Hainaut and also of the Count of Namur . He gave reports from eyewitnesses in his chronicles , but reported consistently from the perspective of the English.

prehistory

In previous years the Castilians had fought for the French as allies and mercenaries against the English. There were multiple cases of piracy between merchant ships on both sides. In 1350, a Castilian fleet was loading goods in Flemish ports to be shipped to the Basque coast . The Castilian ships were armed and were accompanied by several warships. They were under the command of the fortune knight Charles de la Cerda, who belonged to a branch of the Castilian dynasty. On their way to Flanders, the fleet had boarded a number of English merchant ships and threw the crews overboard. On August 10th, while King Edward was in Rotherhithe , he announced his intention to sink the Castilian fleet. Overland he traveled to Winchelsea to his fleet, accompanied by his wife, his sons, the Black Prince and the only ten year old John of Gaunt , as well as a number of other nobles . The women who had traveled with them were housed there in a women's convent; the king and his male companions embarked on August 28 on the cog "Thomas". The English fleet did not set sail, however, but stayed at anchor in the harbor and waited for the Castilian fleet to appear. The strength of the English fleet is not known beyond doubt, but it is estimated that there are at least fifty cogs and pinasses . Charles de la Cerda could easily have avoided the fight if he had only stayed far out in the English Channel, but he relied on the size and strength of his forty ships. In addition, he had hired mercenaries - mostly crossbowmen - in anticipation of a battle in the Flemish ports .

The battle

On the afternoon of August 29, de la Cerda set sail for Winchelsea. When the Castilian ships came into view, Edward sat on deck with his knights and nobles and heard a minstrel recital, who intoned German songs, as well as a recital by Sir John Chandos . When the lookout in the top announced the sighting of the enemy, the king and his followers toasted their health, let the horn blow and the fleet lifted the anchor. The English steered their ships on a boarding course in the direction of the Castilians. The cog "Thomas" with the king on board rammed an enemy ship with such force that it was badly damaged and began to sink. The Castilians prepared to defend themselves while the cog went alongside for boarding. Shortly before their own ship sank, the king and his companion reached the deck of the Castilian ship. Even if some Castilian ships could be captured quickly, the fighting on the whole was extremely tough. La Cerdas crossbowmen caused many losses to the English and the Castilians threw iron weights and other ballast from their higher-walled ships onto the English ships, which damaged them in many ways. The fighting lasted until sunset. At that time the English ship "La Salle du Roi", on which the king's personal belongings were stowed and which was under the command of Robert de Namur , the later Knight of the Garter, was leashed and towed by a Castilian ship with grappling hooks . The crew shouted loudly for help, but either they were not heard or no one could help them. The "La Salle du Roi" would have been isolated and conquered had not the English knight Hannequin acted quickly and courageously. He boarded the ship Castilian and severed the halyard of the mainsail with his sword, causing the Castilian ship was almost unable to move. The robbery of the valuable royal property could thus be prevented and the Castilian ship could later be captured.

consequences

The English were probably able to capture 14 enemy ships in the battle, and more were sunk. The exact English losses are not known, only the sinking of Edward's ship and the Black Prince are recorded. Based on the desperate struggle of the La Salle du Roi, it can be assumed that the English fleet suffered heavy losses overall. The escaping Castilian ships were not pursued and a peace agreement was signed with the Basque cities the following year.

In this treaty, Edward III gave the Basque cities permission to trade in its waters. A twenty-year armistice was also agreed. This treaty was also ratified by Peter I of Castile, so that it became fully valid for everyone. In this way Edward III was able to achieve supremacy at sea for the Kingdom of England for the time being, which was also very important for his operations in France during the Hundred Years War. He was also honored accordingly by his own people for it.

bibliography

• CALDERON ORTEGA, JM y DÍAZ GONZÁLEZ F .: “Los Almirantes del siglo de oro de la marina castellana medieval”. Revista en la España Medieval Nº 24 (2011) pp. 311-364. (Spanish).
• FERNÁNDEZ DURO, CESAREO (1894). The marina de Castilla desde su origen y pugna con la de Inglaterra hasta la refundición en la Armada española. Madrid. (Spanish).
• Jean Froissart : Chronicles

Individual evidence

1. ^ Jean Froissart: Chronicles , iv. 91