King John -A Martime King?
King John and the Growth of a Navy
This post came about from reading 'King John -An Underrated King' by Graham E. Seel, A worthy book and very much the case for the defence as far as King John's reputation is concerned. The author credits John with establishing a 'standing navy' and Ithought that the notion of King John as a maritime king needed further consideration.
In 1204 Normandy, Anjou and Maine fell to the French king, Philip Augustus. The Anglo-Norman hegemony, the range of territory that was later to be called the Angevin empire, with King John as its overlord since 1199, was breached. No longer stretching from Carlisle to The Pyrenees, taking in most of the western seaboard of what is now France .Historians have stressed that the rulers of England were used to the Channel being under their control, crossing from Normandy to England with few mishaps apart from the White Ship disaster of 1120. At least 80 crossings were made by royals between the two regions from 1066 to the start of the 13th century (SUDBURY) .
Henry II had his own personal galley, and there were other boats to take his personal effects across the Channel when needed. Otherwise the Cinque ports ( Dover, Hastings, Hythe, Romney and Sandwich ) were called upon to supply ships and crew for fifteen days of the year. If a fleet was needed for a major expedition,such as Richard I embarking on the Third Crusade in 1189, his fleet numbered some 100 ships, taken from ports along the South coast and the Bristol Channel (MCLYNN).
Richard I attacked by Jaffa by sea in 1192, and constructed a fleet of galleys for use on the River Seine during his 1195-1199 campaign so the idea that ships could be used for more than just transport vessels had gained in strength. But having the French control of the south side of the Channel risked invasion. ... this was something more than having an enemy attacks raiding the English coast, a threat that was to carry on for centuries. Furthermore, the province of Gascony in south-west France still belonged to the English crown, but trade links and communication with England generally would become more difficult and easy to disrupt. The implications for trade with a danger from enemy ships, and the rise of piracy were serious. Now previously landlocked France could assemble a fleet by commandeering ships already in ports. And it would not be long before a French fleet was mustered to threaten England.
In 1205 John had 51 galleys stationed around the coast of England. It is not clear whether there were still vessels left from Richard's reign. John was already ordering more galleys in 1204 ( STANTON) .
Galleys could convey men swiftly and useful in coastal and river areas. For carrying large numbers of men and supplies, cogs were needed.John embarked on a programme for building new ships and ordered merchant ships to remain in port, ready to be commandeered for a new French campaign.
( WILSON).
At the same time England was placed on a war footing with each shire having a chief constable, who appointed further constables to raise local levies, with all males over the age of 12 having to swear an oath of loyalty. The 1205 campaign faltered due to lack of support from the barons : In 1206 King John ventured to south-west France to defend Gascony from an invasion led by Alfonso VIII of Castille, landing at La Rochelle. John successfully drove Alfonso's forces out of the province and headed northwards as if to reclaim his lost territories (TURNER). He reached as far as Anjou before the English forces retreated ,culminating in a truce when both John along with his allies and Philip Augustus wanted to avoid a full scale battle. Gascony was saved, and Poitou came under King John's rule (CHURCH).
John also fortified the Channel Islands, he hired the notorious Eustace the Monk and other Flemish privateers to patrol the Channel -Eustace would later change sides and work from the French in 1212
( STANTON ) A new group of officials were paid to administrate the naval programme, William of Wrotham, Reginald of Cornhill, William of Funerll, William Marsh, John Le Warr. The 'prize' system was organised for taking goods from captured enemy merchant ships, A new mole was built as Portsmouth ( WARREN). Eustace the Monk even raided Upper Normandy and Harfleur in the name of King John. ( STANTON)
In 1213 Philip Augustus gathered a fleet at Boulogne with the intention of invading England. Count Ferrand of Flanders, nominally allied to France in 1212, refused to take part. Philip diverted his fleet to Flanders and invaded , taking major cities such as Tournai Cassel ,Bruges. It was possible that Philip feared an attack on the north of France from Flanders whilst he was engaged in a war with England. Count Ferrand immediately sent representatives to England and an alliance was arranged.
On 30th May -31st May 1213 , an English fleet of 500 ships under the command of Sir William Longspee, John's half-brother, and Reginald Count of Boulogne fell upon the French Fleet of 1700 ships at anchor, at Damme on the now silted up Swijn estuary whilst the French were besieging Ghent nearby. Possibly England's first naval battle and certainly a decisive victory. The French under-estimated the threat from England, and left insufficient guards to protect their vessels. Vast numbers of French ships were destroyed, plenty of booty taken back to England (SEEL, CARPENTER).
Philip Augusts, for his part, destroyed the remnants of his own fleet, and the town of Damme. He successfully took Ghent, and demanded hefty compensation from Flanders. Yet for just over a year, from the battle of Damme, until the major French victory at the Battle of Bouvines on 27th July 1214, there was a possibility that John's plans to fund and to construct an international anti-French alliance might have succeeded. And the threat of a French invasion of England had passed
Yet in spite of whether or not we accept King John as a maritime king, crown prince Louis of France still successfully landed in Kent on 21st May 1216 to assist the rebel barons who by now who had risen up against King John. It seems that the navy were prepared to engage Louis' ships, but had been scattered by a severe storm on 18th May 1216, a contingency that could not have been forestalled. (SEEL) .
The rebel barons and crown - prince Louis were in control of at least half of England when King John died at Newark on the night of 16th October 1216. However, by the following year, forces loyal to the crown defeated the rebels at the Battle of Lincoln on 20th May 1217. And on August 24th 1217 an English fleet commanded by Hubert de Burgh heavily defeated a French armada of 70 supply ships accompanied by 10 warships under the command of Robert de Courtenay and Eustace the Monk off the Kent coast. Eustace was captured shortly after the battle and beheaded on board his ship. Usually referred to as the Battle of Sandwich, sometimes known as the Battle of Dover , the victory ensured that the English royalists were now in control of the Channel. Louis and his French followers could no longer remain in England. One naval historian described the battle as
"A watershed in the naval history of medieval Europe. For the first time in northern waters a decisive battle of naval tactic and manoeuvre was fought on the open sea" (STANTON)
It is probably difficult to place King John as the founder of a permanent English navy. Yet the victory at Sandwich arguably was the consequence of King John's drive to ensure that England had become a maritime nation.
There are a number of works I would like to have consulted but currently not in a position to do so with 'lockdown' in force. Have considered the sources listed below: I stress that I do not necessarily agree with all the conclusions cited in the material. Furthermore, all interpretations, misrepresentations and errors are my own responsibility, not the fault of any author whose work I have referred to.
-Michael Bully,
10th May 2020.
Picture at top of the post -"Portrait of King John of England (John Lackland) by Matthew Paris from his Historia Anglorum 1250-59. British Library Royal MS 14 C.VII, f.9 "
Courtesy of Wikipedia Netherlands , who claim that it is the public domain.
Books
'The Struggle for Mastery -The Penguin History of Britain 1066-1284' , David Carpenter, Penguin Books, 2004
'King John, England Magna Carta, and the Making of a Tyrant' by Stephen Church , Macmillan, 2015
'Lionheart and Lackland', King Richard, King John and the Wars of Conquest' , Frank McLynn, Jonathan Cape , 2006
'King John,Treachery Tyranny and the Road to Magna Carta' , Marc Morris , Hutchinson 2015
'King John-An Underrated King' , Graham E. Seel , Anthem Press, 2012.
'Medieval Maritime Warfare' ,Charles D. Stanton, Pen and Sword Books, 2015
'King John' by W.L.Warren, Eyre & Spottiswood, 1961
'Empire of the Deep, the Rise and Fall of the British Navy' Ben Wilson, Weldenfield and Nicholson, 2013,
Other websites by Michael Bully
World War 2 Poetry
A Burnt Ship 17th century war and literature blog
This post came about from reading 'King John -An Underrated King' by Graham E. Seel, A worthy book and very much the case for the defence as far as King John's reputation is concerned. The author credits John with establishing a 'standing navy' and Ithought that the notion of King John as a maritime king needed further consideration.
In 1204 Normandy, Anjou and Maine fell to the French king, Philip Augustus. The Anglo-Norman hegemony, the range of territory that was later to be called the Angevin empire, with King John as its overlord since 1199, was breached. No longer stretching from Carlisle to The Pyrenees, taking in most of the western seaboard of what is now France .Historians have stressed that the rulers of England were used to the Channel being under their control, crossing from Normandy to England with few mishaps apart from the White Ship disaster of 1120. At least 80 crossings were made by royals between the two regions from 1066 to the start of the 13th century (SUDBURY) .
Henry II had his own personal galley, and there were other boats to take his personal effects across the Channel when needed. Otherwise the Cinque ports ( Dover, Hastings, Hythe, Romney and Sandwich ) were called upon to supply ships and crew for fifteen days of the year. If a fleet was needed for a major expedition,such as Richard I embarking on the Third Crusade in 1189, his fleet numbered some 100 ships, taken from ports along the South coast and the Bristol Channel (MCLYNN).
Richard I attacked by Jaffa by sea in 1192, and constructed a fleet of galleys for use on the River Seine during his 1195-1199 campaign so the idea that ships could be used for more than just transport vessels had gained in strength. But having the French control of the south side of the Channel risked invasion. ... this was something more than having an enemy attacks raiding the English coast, a threat that was to carry on for centuries. Furthermore, the province of Gascony in south-west France still belonged to the English crown, but trade links and communication with England generally would become more difficult and easy to disrupt. The implications for trade with a danger from enemy ships, and the rise of piracy were serious. Now previously landlocked France could assemble a fleet by commandeering ships already in ports. And it would not be long before a French fleet was mustered to threaten England.
In 1205 John had 51 galleys stationed around the coast of England. It is not clear whether there were still vessels left from Richard's reign. John was already ordering more galleys in 1204 ( STANTON) .
Galleys could convey men swiftly and useful in coastal and river areas. For carrying large numbers of men and supplies, cogs were needed.John embarked on a programme for building new ships and ordered merchant ships to remain in port, ready to be commandeered for a new French campaign.
( WILSON).
At the same time England was placed on a war footing with each shire having a chief constable, who appointed further constables to raise local levies, with all males over the age of 12 having to swear an oath of loyalty. The 1205 campaign faltered due to lack of support from the barons : In 1206 King John ventured to south-west France to defend Gascony from an invasion led by Alfonso VIII of Castille, landing at La Rochelle. John successfully drove Alfonso's forces out of the province and headed northwards as if to reclaim his lost territories (TURNER). He reached as far as Anjou before the English forces retreated ,culminating in a truce when both John along with his allies and Philip Augustus wanted to avoid a full scale battle. Gascony was saved, and Poitou came under King John's rule (CHURCH).
John also fortified the Channel Islands, he hired the notorious Eustace the Monk and other Flemish privateers to patrol the Channel -Eustace would later change sides and work from the French in 1212
( STANTON ) A new group of officials were paid to administrate the naval programme, William of Wrotham, Reginald of Cornhill, William of Funerll, William Marsh, John Le Warr. The 'prize' system was organised for taking goods from captured enemy merchant ships, A new mole was built as Portsmouth ( WARREN). Eustace the Monk even raided Upper Normandy and Harfleur in the name of King John. ( STANTON)
In 1213 Philip Augustus gathered a fleet at Boulogne with the intention of invading England. Count Ferrand of Flanders, nominally allied to France in 1212, refused to take part. Philip diverted his fleet to Flanders and invaded , taking major cities such as Tournai Cassel ,Bruges. It was possible that Philip feared an attack on the north of France from Flanders whilst he was engaged in a war with England. Count Ferrand immediately sent representatives to England and an alliance was arranged.
On 30th May -31st May 1213 , an English fleet of 500 ships under the command of Sir William Longspee, John's half-brother, and Reginald Count of Boulogne fell upon the French Fleet of 1700 ships at anchor, at Damme on the now silted up Swijn estuary whilst the French were besieging Ghent nearby. Possibly England's first naval battle and certainly a decisive victory. The French under-estimated the threat from England, and left insufficient guards to protect their vessels. Vast numbers of French ships were destroyed, plenty of booty taken back to England (SEEL, CARPENTER).
Philip Augusts, for his part, destroyed the remnants of his own fleet, and the town of Damme. He successfully took Ghent, and demanded hefty compensation from Flanders. Yet for just over a year, from the battle of Damme, until the major French victory at the Battle of Bouvines on 27th July 1214, there was a possibility that John's plans to fund and to construct an international anti-French alliance might have succeeded. And the threat of a French invasion of England had passed
Yet in spite of whether or not we accept King John as a maritime king, crown prince Louis of France still successfully landed in Kent on 21st May 1216 to assist the rebel barons who by now who had risen up against King John. It seems that the navy were prepared to engage Louis' ships, but had been scattered by a severe storm on 18th May 1216, a contingency that could not have been forestalled. (SEEL) .
The rebel barons and crown - prince Louis were in control of at least half of England when King John died at Newark on the night of 16th October 1216. However, by the following year, forces loyal to the crown defeated the rebels at the Battle of Lincoln on 20th May 1217. And on August 24th 1217 an English fleet commanded by Hubert de Burgh heavily defeated a French armada of 70 supply ships accompanied by 10 warships under the command of Robert de Courtenay and Eustace the Monk off the Kent coast. Eustace was captured shortly after the battle and beheaded on board his ship. Usually referred to as the Battle of Sandwich, sometimes known as the Battle of Dover , the victory ensured that the English royalists were now in control of the Channel. Louis and his French followers could no longer remain in England. One naval historian described the battle as
"A watershed in the naval history of medieval Europe. For the first time in northern waters a decisive battle of naval tactic and manoeuvre was fought on the open sea" (STANTON)
It is probably difficult to place King John as the founder of a permanent English navy. Yet the victory at Sandwich arguably was the consequence of King John's drive to ensure that England had become a maritime nation.
There are a number of works I would like to have consulted but currently not in a position to do so with 'lockdown' in force. Have considered the sources listed below: I stress that I do not necessarily agree with all the conclusions cited in the material. Furthermore, all interpretations, misrepresentations and errors are my own responsibility, not the fault of any author whose work I have referred to.
-Michael Bully,
10th May 2020.
Picture at top of the post -"Portrait of King John of England (John Lackland) by Matthew Paris from his Historia Anglorum 1250-59. British Library Royal MS 14 C.VII, f.9 "
Courtesy of Wikipedia Netherlands , who claim that it is the public domain.
Books
'The Struggle for Mastery -The Penguin History of Britain 1066-1284' , David Carpenter, Penguin Books, 2004
'King John, England Magna Carta, and the Making of a Tyrant' by Stephen Church , Macmillan, 2015
'Lionheart and Lackland', King Richard, King John and the Wars of Conquest' , Frank McLynn, Jonathan Cape , 2006
'King John,Treachery Tyranny and the Road to Magna Carta' , Marc Morris , Hutchinson 2015
'King John-An Underrated King' , Graham E. Seel , Anthem Press, 2012.
'Medieval Maritime Warfare' ,Charles D. Stanton, Pen and Sword Books, 2015
'King John' by W.L.Warren, Eyre & Spottiswood, 1961
'Empire of the Deep, the Rise and Fall of the British Navy' Ben Wilson, Weldenfield and Nicholson, 2013,
Other websites by Michael Bully
World War 2 Poetry
A Burnt Ship 17th century war and literature blog
This is a very well-considered assessment - I enjoyed it very much. Not a period much visited these days, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ken. A possible follow up will be looking at how the navy fared under the reign of Henry III . A lot will depend on when I can get back to using libraries again.
Delete