CALAIS

. Originating as a fishing village along the northern coast of France, Calais (Pas-de-Calais) began to prosper first under Arnulf I, count of Flanders, who in 938 gave the village and nearby land to the monks of Saint-Bertin, and later under Gerard de Gueldre, the count of Boulogne, who in 1224 fortified it and established it as a town. In 1346, Calais was besieged by Edward III in one of the early engagements of the Hundred Years’ War. Fresh from victory at the Battle of Crecy, the English army besieged Calais because of its strategic location, lying only twenty-three miles from Dover, and because of its proximity to their allies in the southern Low Countries. The English forces, perhaps numbering 30,000, constructed large siegeworks that completely cut the town off from all land and most sea commerce. Calais was besieged for nearly a year. Its inhabitants held out, hoping for relief from their king, Philip VI. Finally, in July 1347, Philip arrived at Calais with a relief army, but he was unable to raise the siege. The French retreated to Paris, and the town surrendered on August 4, 1347. The captors exiled all French citizens of the town, replacing them with English merchants and soldiers.

Calais remained an English possession for more than 200 years, despite several attempts to return it to French control, including another extended but unsuccessful siege in 1435-36 by Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy. In 1558, it was recaptured by Frangois de Lorraine, duke of Guise.

Kelly De Vries

[See also: CRECY; HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR; PHILIP VI]

Daumet, Georges. Calais sous la domination anglaise. Arras: Repesse-Crepel, 1902.

DeVries, Kelly. “Hunger, Flemish Participation and the Flight of Philip VI: Contemporary Accounts of the Siege of Calais, 1346-47.” Studies in Medieval and Renaissance EUstory 12 (1991):129-81.

Lennel, F. Histoire de Calais. 2 vols. Calais: Peumery, 1910.

Viard, Jules. “Le siege de Calais.” Moyen age 40(1929):129-89.