Pale of Calais

Coordinates: 50°56′53″N 1°51′23″E / 50.94806°N 1.85639°E / 50.94806; 1.85639
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Pale of Calais
1347–1558
Motto: Veritas Temporis filia
"Truth, the daughter of Time"
Mary I
(last)
Reynold Cobham (first)
• 1553–1558
Thomas Wentworth (last)
Historical era
Siege of Calais
3 August 1347
8 May 1360
8 January 1558
2 May 1598
CurrencySterling
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
County of Boulogne
Kingdom of France
Today part ofFrance

The Pale of Calais

siege of Calais, was confirmed at the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360. It became an important economic centre for England in Europe's textile trade centred in Flanders
.

The Pale, which was historically part of

Calais constituency
.

During the reign of Mary I of England, the Pale was unexpectedly retaken by the French following a siege in 1558 during their campaigns against the Spanish (whose king was also married to queen Mary) in the County of Flanders. Subsequently, the English textile trade abandoned Calais and moved to the Habsburg Netherlands.

Toponym

The pale is a "jurisdiction, area"

Celtic people who lived along the coast of the English Channel.[7]

Geography

The Pale of Calais c. 1360.

The actual area of the Pale of Calais is difficult to delineate because boundaries constantly changed and often included ill-defined marsh and waterways. Over those wetlands, the territory was roughly divided in low hills on the west and the lower coastlands to the east.[8] The Pale roughly encompassed the land between Gravelines and Wissant, which was about 20 square miles (52 km2).[9][8] Throughout its history, the French were continually retaking small pieces of the territory, particularly land in the southwest.[8]

The Pale of Calais is roughly within the modern French communes of Andres, Ardres, Balinghem, Bonningues-lès-Calais, Calais, Campagne-lès-Guines, Coquelles, Coulogne, Fréthun, Guemps, Guînes, Les Attaques, Hames-Boucres, Hervelinghen, Marck, Nielles-lès-Calais, Nouvelle-Église, Offekerque, Oye-Plage, Peuplingues, Pihen-lès-Guînes, Sangatte, Saint-Pierre,[10] Saint-Tricat, and Vieille-Église.

History

Calais was a prize of war won in the

long siege. Its capture gave England not only a key stronghold in the world’s textile trade centered in Flanders, but provided a strategic, defensible military outpost for England to regroup in future wars on the continent; the city's position on the English Channel could be reinforced over the short distance by sea. English sovereignty was confirmed under the Treaty of Brétigny, signed on 8 May 1360, when Edward renounced the throne of France in return for substantial lands, namely Aquitaine and the territory around Calais.[11] By 1453, at the end of the Hundred Years' War, the Pale was the last part of mainland France in English hands. It served successfully as a base of English expeditions; for example in 1492, from it Henry VII launched the Siege of Boulogne
.

The short trip across the

Boulogne.[8]

Gold quarter noble of Edward III minted in Calais between 1361 and 1369.

The Pale of Calais remained part of England until unexpectedly lost by

Raphael Holinshead records that a few months later a distraught Mary, lying on her death bed, graphically confided to her family her feelings: “When I am dead and opened, you shall find ‘Calais’ lying in my heart”.[12] Subsequently, the English wool market adjusted and the English textile trade shifted up to the Habsburg Netherlands.[13]

During English governance, the weavers of the Pale maintained their output, which industry was a distinctive mark of Flemish culture.[3] At the same time, the Pale performed as an integral part of England in election of its members to Parliament, and as English citizens the Pale sent and received people to and from various parts of the British Isles.

Artistic interpretations

The hardships endured during the prolonged siege of 1346–47 are the subject of Auguste Rodin's poignant sculpture of 1889, The Burghers of Calais.[14]

See also

References

  1. West Flemish: Kales; French
    : Calaisis)
  2. ^ Rose, Susan (2008). Calais: An English Town in France, 1347–1558. pp. 107, 156.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7546-5542-8
    .
  4. ^ Rose, Susan (2008). Calais: An English Town in France, 1347–1558. pp. passim.
  5. ISBN 9781115448154
    .
  6. English Pale
    in Ireland.
  7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary.
  8. ^
    ISBN 9781115448154
    .
  9. ISBN 0-520-21610-5
    .
  10. ^ Calais absorbed Saint-Pierre-lès-Calais inhabited with 33290 inhabitants in 1885, now southern part of Calais
  11. ^ Fisher, H.A.L. (1936). A History of Europe. Great Britain: Edward Arnold & Co. p. 322.
  12. ISBN 0670832065
    . Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  13. ISBN 0-203-98177-4
    .
  14. ISBN 0-13-062084-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )

50°56′53″N 1°51′23″E / 50.94806°N 1.85639°E / 50.94806; 1.85639

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