yet more archers.(541) In September, the king informed
the mayor by letter that, owing to the defective state of his fleet and
the prevalence of contrary winds, he had postponed setting sail for a
short time; the civic authorities were to keep their men-at-arms and
archers ready to set out the morrow after the receipt of orders to
march.(542) Six months elapsed, during which the citizens were kept under
arms waiting for orders, when, on the 18th March, 1346, another letter was
sent by the king to the effect that he had now fully made up his mind to
set sail from Portsmouth a fortnight after Easter. The men-at-arms, the
horsemen, and the archers, were to be ready by a certain day on pain of
losing life, limb, and property. On the 28th March, the archers mustered
in "Totehull" or Tothill Fields, near Westminster.(543)

(M306)

The expedition did not actually sail from Portsmouth until the 10th July,
the fleet numbering 1,000 vessels more or less.(544) Previous to his
departure, Edward caused proclamation to be made in the city and
elsewhere, to the effect that the assessments that had been made
throughout the country for the purpose of equipping the expedition, should
not be drawn into precedent.(545)

(M307)

On the 3rd August the regent forwarded to the city a copy of a letter he
had received from the king, giving an account of his passage to Normandy
and of the capture of various towns, and among them of Caen. There he had
discovered a document of no little importance. This was none other than
an agreement made in 1338, whereby Normandy had bound itself to assist the
king of France in his proposed invasion and conquest of England.(546) This
document the king transmitted to England by the hands of the Earl of
Huntingdon, who was returning invalided, and it was publicly read in St.
Paul's Churchyard, with the view of stirring the citizens to fresh
exertions in prosecuting the war. The king's own letter was also publicly
read in the Husting by the regent's order.(547) The City was exhorted to
have in readiness a force to succour the king, if need be. Every effort
was made to raise money, and the regent did not hesitate to resort to
depreciation of the coinage of the realm in order to help his father. The
City made a free gift to the king of 1,000 marks and lent him 2,000
more.(548)

(M308)

On the 26th August the battle of Crecy was won against a force far
outnumbering the English army. The victory was due in lar