Since the
Norman Conquest of 1066, English monarchs had held titles and lands within France, the possession of which made them
vassals of the kings of France. Following a series of disagreements between
Philip VI of France () and
Edward III of England (), on 24 May 1337 Philip's
Great Council in Paris agreed that the lands held by Edward in France should be taken back into Philip's hands on the grounds that Edward was in breach of his obligations as a vassal. This marked the start of the
Hundred Years' War, which was to last 116 years. After nine years of inconclusive but expensive warfare, Edward landed with an army in northern
Normandy in July 1346. He then undertook a
large-scale raid through Normandy, including the
capture and sack of Caen, to the gates of Paris. After retreating in the face of Philip's large and increasing army, the English turned to fight at the
Battle of Crécy, where the French were defeated with heavy loss. Edward needed a defensible port where his army could regroup and be resupplied from the sea. The
Channel port of
Calais suited this purpose. It was also highly defensible: it boasted a double moat; substantial city walls; and its
citadel in the north-west corner had its own moat and additional fortifications. It would provide a secure
entrepôt into France for English armies. Calais could be easily resupplied by sea and defended by land. Edward's army
laid siege to the port in September 1346. With French finances and morale at a low ebb after Crécy, Philip failed to relieve the town, and the starving defenders surrendered on 3 August 1347. It was the only large town successfully besieged by either side during the first thirty years of the Hundred Years' War. Following further inconclusive military manoeuvres by each side for four weeks, and given that both sides were financially exhausted,
emissaries despatched by Pope
Clement VI found willing listeners. Negotiations began in early September and by the 28th the
Truce of Calais, intended to bring a temporary halt to the fighting, had been agreed. This strongly favoured the English, confirming them in possession of all of their territorial conquests. It was to run for nine months to 7 July 1348, but was extended repeatedly over the years until it was formally set aside in 1355. The truce did not stop ongoing naval clashes between the two countries, nor small-scale fighting in
Gascony and
Brittany.
Amerigo of Pavia Calais was vital to England's effort against the French for the rest of the war, it being all but impossible to land a significant force other than at a friendly port. Edward had succeeded in 1346 due to a fortunate combination of circumstances. Earlier, in 1340, Edward's forces had to
fight a French fleet larger than his to gain access to the port of
Sluys to disembark his army. Possession of Calais also allowed the accumulation of supplies and
matériel prior to a campaign. The town had an extremely strong standing garrison of 1,200 men, virtually a small army, under the command of the
captain of Calais. He had numerous deputies and specialist under-officers. These included Amerigo of Pavia, who was employed as Calais's
galley master from April 1348. He had command of a tower overlooking Calais's harbour, which contained an entrance into the town's citadel.
Geoffrey de Charny was a senior and well-respected
Burgundian knight in French service. In 1346, freshly returned from a crusade in the east, he assisted the King's son during a campaign in south-west France. In 1347, when the French army had approached Calais to relieve it, the English were found to be so strongly entrenched that to attack them was hopeless; Charny was one of the senior knights sent by Philip to formally challenge Edward to bring his army out and fight in the open field. Confounded, the French marched away in humiliation and the next day Calais surrendered. In July 1348, as a member of the King's Council, Charny was put in charge of all French forces in the north east. The truce at an end, his forces harassed the English to little effect. Both monarchs were exasperated at the fruitless expense of the war and the truce was renewed. Amerigo had served the French and Charny arranged for him to be approached with a view to betraying Calais in exchange for a bribe. The truce facilitated contact and Charny reasoned that, as a man of low status, Amerigo would be more susceptible to avarice and as a non-Englishman, he would have fewer scruples regarding treachery. In mid-1349 Charny came to an agreement with him to open the gate under his control, so as to deliver up Calais, in exchange for 20,000
écus (approximately £ in terms) and they met to personally seal the agreement. Contemporary English and French chroniclers, who usually exalt Charny, sarcastically report this as him having "gone shopping" () for Calais. According to most accounts, Edward heard of the plot from others and agreed to spare Amerigo the punishment for treason (being
hanged almost to the point of death, emasculated, disembowelled, beheaded and chopped into four pieces) on condition that he go along with Edward's counter-plan. One of the three versions of his 14th-century
Chronicles published by
Jean Froissart states that Amerigo voluntarily betrayed Charny. There is agreement that Edward first heard of the plot on or a little before 24 December, and the contemporary sources agree that he interviewed Amerigo at
Havering near London on 24 December. Edward responded rapidly, gathering 900 men300 men-at-arms and 600 archers and sailed for Calais with Amerigo. To maintain secrecy the expedition was carried out under the
titular command of Sir
Walter Manny, previously the first captain of Calais. Amerigo's brother was held in England to ensure Amerigo's cooperation.
French preparations By that point, Charny had gathered a force of some 5,500 men at Saint-Omer, from Calais. This consisted of 1,500
men-at-arms, including most of the senior military figures of north-east France, and 4,000 infantry. They would be opposed by the 1,200-strong garrison of Calais, plus several hundred other English inhabitants who could be called to arms in an emergency. Charny needed a large force to avoid being repulsed by the strong garrison once he entered the town. The gate controlled by Amerigo was too difficult of approach to be used by such a large force, although it provided easy access to the harbour for ship's crews. Worse, the gate could be reached only on foot at
low tide along a narrow beach, up against the town walls. Even to get as far as Amerigo's gate would be difficult; Calais was surrounded by a broad belt of
marshes, and the few roads through them were controlled by English
blockhouses. The French came up with a plan to set off on
New Year's Eve, when the hours of darkness would be
close to their maximum, low tide would be shortly before dawn, and the English sentries and garrisons might be caught celebrating or sleeping. The blockhouses would be bypassed and Calais reached before dawn. The bulk of the French would wait not far from the town, while a force of 112 men-at-arms entered through Amerigo's gate at night. Some would secure the citadel, while others made their way through the sleeping town to the Boulogne Gate, one of the main gates. The
gatehouse would be seized, the gate opened and the majority of Charny's force, led by the mounted men-at-arms, would enter and bring overwhelming force to bear on the garrison by surprise. The leader of the group to enter through Amerigo's gate was
Oudart de Renti, a French knight who had been
banished, joined the English and been given a command in the army of 20,000
Flemings who supported Edward's siege of Calais. In 1347 he was pardoned by Philip,
turned his coat again and was appointed by Charny because of his detailed knowledge of the area around Calais, and to give him an opportunity to redeem his honour. ==Battle==