The study of the sixteenth-century merchant fleet of England, Wales, and the Channel Islands is a neglected area of research in comparison to the volume of work undertaken into trade, the development of the Royal Navy, the age of exploration, privateering, great personalities, ship design, and naval warfare. The only major book-length study of English merchant shipping in this period – focusing upon the ships themselves rather than trade routes, commodities, and mercantile communities – is Dorothy Burwash's English Merchant Shipping, 1460-1540, which is now over seventy years old, and research into Welsh and Channel Islands shipping is similarly scant.2 This lack of research into the size and geographical distribution of the merchant fleet is unfortunate, because shipping was central to the economic lifeblood of the nation. Goods were imported and exported to and from Europe (and increasingly as the sixteenth century progressed from further afield), and whilst foreign shipping contributed to this overseas trade, by the sixteenth century at least it was indigenous shipping which bore the brunt of this mercantile activity in most ports. Merchant vessels were also essential to native trade, moving commodities coastwise and navigating the extensive Anglo-Welsh riverine networks to transport goods to and from hundreds of settlements both on the coast and much further inland. Fishing vessels, which were also employed as trading vessels on occasion, were also an essential part of the economy.

What is more, these vessels were of considerable political interest. The English Crown (which had suzerainty over Wales and the Channel Islands) had the prerogative right to tax overseas trade (imports and exports) on certain commodities carried in both native and foreign vessels, and the government thus had a vested financial interest in monitoring the activities of the merchant fleet. In short, an understanding of the merchant fleet of England, Wales, and the Channel Islands opens an important window into the country's economy. The Crown was also interested in the size and tonnage of the fleet because it was able to requisition or hire merchantmen for naval duties: knowing how many ships existed, how large they were, and where they were located (their home ports) was vital information.

Sir Robert Knolles’ chevauchée through northern France between August and December 1370 is arguably the most fascinating English expedition of the fourteenth century. Outwardly it displayed all the hallmarks of a structurally uniform English army typical of the period: fully-mounted mixed retinues of roughly equal numbers of men-at-arms and archers, with their pay and other terms of service likely to have been stipulated by contracts of indenture. Yet in other respects the army was entirely unconventional. The pay, terms of service under which the men were to serve, and the senior command structure were novel. It was also the last campaign in the fourteenth century for which charters of pardon for military service were issued in significant numbers and, unconventionally, they were issued prior to the campaign – for service to be rendered – rather than after it. It was also the only English force of the entire period which came apart at the seams in the field, fragmenting into four divisions due to bickering between its commanders and their subordinates, with disastrous consequences. The newly appointed French Constable, Bertrand du Guesclin, confronted and defeated two of the four divisions in pitched battle, temporarily reversing the French King Charles V's Fabian strategy and dealing a huge military, and perhaps psychological, blow to the English.

To fully comprehend why the failure of this army was so important for future English martial organisation, and contributed to an overhaul of English war strategy, it is necessary to examine the army's organisational and structural framework, its command hierarchy, and the bonds between its personnel, to see how these differed, if at all, from other armies of the period, and what bearing, if any, these factors had on why it imploded so spectacularly.

Preparations for War

Since the renewal of Anglo-French hostilities in 1369, the English had largely been on the back foot. Charles V's forces had begun recapturing lands in south-western France that had been ceded to Edward III by the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360. Two English armies sent to France in 1369 had alleviated some of the pressure but achieved little else. At a Great Council in London in February 1370, it was decided to launch another expedition to France in the summer of four thousand men, part of a joint enterprise with Charles II of Évreux, king of Navarre.

Given the contribution Andrew Ayton has made to the study of late medieval military history we hope he is not surprised by the production of a Festschrift in his honour. All the editors of this volume were supervised by Andrew for their doctoral studies, and all no doubt thrashed out the general outlines to their theses in one of the infamous ‘Ayton’ meetings that regularly ran into the late evening. Andrew's enthusiasm for his subject was infectious and it is to his credit that many of his former students have gone on to publish contributions on late medieval military and naval history. The papers featured in the present volume highlight the important international impact Andrew's work has had on his students and academic colleagues.

Andrew, a native of Dorset, is in his own words ‘a country dweller at heart’ but has spent much of his working life in the big city. He studied as an undergraduate at the University of Hull in the early 1980s, during which time he undertook several modules taught by Professor John Palmer. John's module on the Hundred Years’ War in particular seems to have kindled Andrew's interest in medieval military history and military communities; it certainly began a fruitful association between two like-minded scholars which was to span some three decades until John's retirement in 2002. Andrew often visited John's home to discuss their latest research and he will be pleased to know he is remembered with some affection by John's children.

After graduating, Andrew spent a brief spell in a ‘real’ job, before returning to Hull to study for his Ph.D. under John Palmer – ‘The Warhorse and Military Service under Edward III’ – and from 1985 to 1987 Andrew was employed, alongside Virginia Davis, on John's Domesday Project. This was a role for which Andrew was particularly well equipped. He had taken John Palmer's special subject on the Domesday Book as an undergraduate, which had provided him with the essential background plus the basic computing skills – in particular related to databases – needed for the research: rare qualifications in the mid-1980s. This period, of course, included the 900th anniversary of Domesday Book, which for Andrew and Virginia entailed a frenetic year, giving lectures and demonstrations around the UK while trying to keep to a research schedule and do some work on their own account.