Calais was a prize of war won in the
Battle of Crécy of 1346 by
Edward III of England after a
long siege. Its capture gave England not only a key stronghold in Europe's textile trade centred 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. 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 for English expeditions such as the
Siege of Boulogne, launched by
Henry VII in 1492. The short trip across the
Strait of Dover afforded convenient garrison and supply by sea. However, the lack of natural inland defences necessitated the construction and maintenance of military fortifications, at some expense. A critical factor in the stability of English government there over the centuries was the rivalry of France and
Burgundy, both of which coveted the strategic position of the city; each left it to the English rather than to concede it to each other. Eventually, political strategies shifted at the division of
Burgundian territory in the Low Countries between France and Spain and, when
Henry VIII suffered setbacks in the
Sieges of Boulogne, the approach to Calais opened to the south. Then in 1550, the Crown, in a crisis of royal succession, withdrew from
Boulogne. of Edward III minted in Calais between 1361 and 1369 The Pale of Calais remained part of England until unexpectedly lost by
Mary I to France in 1558. After secret preparations, 30,000 French troops, led by
Francis, Duke of Guise,
took the city, which quickly capitulated under the
Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559). In England, blame was attached to the Queen, entrenching Protestant resolve against her. Although the loss of the Pale of Calais was a lesser blow to the English economy than was feared, the retreat of English power was a permanent blot to her reign. Indeed, the chronicler
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". Subsequently, the English wool market adjusted and the English textile trade moved to the
Habsburg Netherlands. During English governance, the weavers of the Pale maintained their output, which industry was a distinctive mark of
Flemish culture. 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==