Editing Calais (section)

===14th–15th century; the Pale of Calais===
{{Main|Pale of Calais}}
[[File:LeDevouementDesBourgeoisDeCalais.jpg|thumb|upright|"Le Devouement des Bourgeois de Calais 1347", "The Devotion of the Burghers of Calais". [[Philippa of Hainault]] begs King Edward III to spare the lives of the six volunteers for martyrdom. 19th-century mural in Council Chamber, ''Hôtel de Ville'', Calais.]]
[[Medieval English wool trade|English wool trade]] interests and King [[Edward III of England|Edward III]]'s claims to be heir to the Kingdom of France, led to the [[Battle of Crécy]], between England and France, in 1346,<ref name="Tucker2009">{{Cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5_tSnygvbIC&pg=PA304 |title=A global chronology of conflict: from the ancient world to the modern Middle East |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-85109-667-1 |page=304}}</ref> followed by Edward's siege and capture of Calais, in 1347.<ref name="Philadelphia.)1856">{{Cite book |last=Baldwin |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sd0TAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA332 |title=Lippincott's pronouncing gazetteer: a complete pronouncing gazetteer or geographical dictionary of the world ... |publisher=J.B. Lippincott |year=1856 |page=332}}</ref> Angered, the English king demanded reprisals against the town's citizens for holding out for so long ("obstinate defence") and ordered that the town's population be killed ''en masse''.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} He agreed, however, to spare them, on condition that six of the principal citizens would come to him, bareheaded and barefooted and with ropes around their necks, and give themselves up to death.<ref name="Goodrich1861">{{Cite book |last=Goodrich |first=Samuel Griswold |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RmAAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA124 |title=A pictorial history of France |publisher=E.H. Butler & Co. |year=1861 |page=124}}</ref> On their arrival, he ordered their execution, but [[pardon]]ed them when his queen, [[Philippa of Hainault]], begged him to spare their lives.<ref name="Larrington2004">{{Cite book |last=Larrington |first=Carolyne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T2sCEpD4dLEC&pg=PA180 |title=Women and Writing in Medieval Europe: A Sourcebook |publisher=Taylor and Francis |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-203-35824-5 |page=180}}</ref><ref name="TresemerSchiappacasse2007">{{Cite book |last1=Tresemer |first1=David Ward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yfUdccGRmdIC&pg=PT277 |title=Star wisdom & Rudolf Steiner: a life seen through the oracle of the solar cross |last2=Schiappacasse |first2=Robert |publisher=SteinerBooks |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-88010-574-3 |page=277}}</ref> This event is commemorated in ''[[The Burghers of Calais]]'' (''Les Bourgeois de Calais''), one of the most famous sculptures by [[Auguste Rodin]], erected in the city in 1895.<ref name="ElsenJamison2003">{{Cite book |last1=Elsen |first1=Albert Edward |url=https://archive.org/details/rodinsartrodinco00else |title=Rodin's art: the Rodin Collection of the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University |last2=Jamison |first2=Rosalyn Frankel |last3=Barryte |first3=Bernard |last4=Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University |date=13 March 2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-513381-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/rodinsartrodinco00else/page/65 65] |access-date=5 February 2012 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Though sparing the lives of the delegation members, King Edward drove out most of the French inhabitants, and settled the town with English. The municipal charter of Calais, previously granted by the [[Countess of Artois]], was reconfirmed by Edward that year (1347).<ref name="Finance and Trade Under Edward Iii.">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cA0NAQAAIAAJ&pg=PR12 |title=Finance and Trade Under Edward Iii. |publisher=Manchester University Press ND |year=1965 |page=12 |id=GGKEY:ZB8KKXHK4QY |access-date=5 February 2012}}</ref>
[[File:VlaanderenArtesie1477.png|left|thumb|220x220px|Map showing the situation of 1477, with Calais, the English Pale and neighbouring counties]]
In 1360, the [[Treaty of Brétigny]] assigned [[Guînes]], [[Marck, Pas-de-Calais|Marck]] and Calais—collectively the "[[Pale of Calais]]"—to English rule in perpetuity, but this assignment was informally and only partially implemented.<ref name="Grummitt2008">{{Cite book |last=Grummitt |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yIthoIVk1lgC&pg=PA143 |title=The Calais Garrison: war and military service in England, 1436–1558 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-84383-398-7 |page=143 |access-date=5 February 2012}}</ref> On 9 February 1363 the town was made a [[The staple|staple port]].<ref name="Rose2008">{{Cite book |last=Rose |first=Susan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BTN3CkBigm8C&pg=PA44 |title=Calais: an English town in France, 1347–1558 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-84383-401-4 |page=44}}</ref> It remained part of the [[Diocese of Thérouanne]] from 1379, keeping an ecclesiastical tie with France.<ref name="Patourel1984">{{Cite book |last=Patourel |first=John Le |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aGlLTOOeBG0C&pg=RA1-PA53 |title=Feudal empires: Norman and Plantagenet |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-907628-22-4 |page=1 |access-date=5 February 2012}}</ref>

The town came to be called the "brightest jewel in the English crown" owing to its great importance as a gateway port for the [[tin]], [[lead]], [[cloth]] and [[wool]] trades (or "staples").<ref name="Froude1870">{{Cite book |last=Froude |first=James Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rl8JAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA75 |title=History of England from the fall of Wolsey to the defeat of the Spanish Armada |publisher=Longmans, Green and Co |year=1870 |page=75}}</ref> Its customs revenues amounted at times to a third of the English government's revenue, with wool being the most important element by far. Of its population of about 12,000 people, as many as 5,400 were recorded as having been connected with the wool trade. The governorship or [[Captaincy of Calais]] was a lucrative and highly prized public office; the famous [[Richard Whittington|Dick Whittington]] was simultaneously [[Lord Mayor of the City of London]] and Mayor of the Staple in 1407.<ref name="Arnold-Baker2001">{{Cite book |last=Arnold-Baker |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VNAMjuMw_5kC&pg=PA220 |title=The companion to British history |publisher=Routledge |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-415-18583-7 |page=220}}</ref>

[[File:MarchesOfCalaisTempHenryVIII.jpg|thumb|220x220px|The Marches of Calais in the time of Henry VIII. (Top: south, bottom: north): "Cales Market" within citadel, shown at bottom, top "[[Guînes|Gyenes Castel]]", bottom left "[[Gravelines|Graveling]]", bottom right "[[Sangatte|Sand Gat]]"]]
Calais was an integral part of the English trading economy, though not regarded as being a part of the [[Kingdom of England]] until the days of [[Henry VIII of England|King Henry VIII]], from which time the Pale of Calais sent two members to the English [[Parliament of England|Parliament]]. The continued English hold on Calais however depended on expensively maintained fortifications, as the town lacked any natural defences. Maintaining Calais was a costly business that was frequently tested by the forces of France and the [[Duchy of Burgundy]], with the Franco-Burgundian border running nearby.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lvjtoAmUIToC&pg=PA262 |title=The Chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet |year=1853 |page=262}}</ref> The British historian [[Geoffrey Elton]] once remarked "Calais—expensive and useless—was better lost than kept".<ref>Rose (2008), p.172</ref> The duration of the English hold over Calais was, to a large extent, the result of the feud between Burgundy and France: both sides coveted the town, but preferred to see England control it rather than their domestic rivals. The stalemate was broken by the victory of the French crown over Burgundy following [[Joan of Arc]]'s final battle in the [[siege of Compiègne]] in 1430, and the later incorporation of the duchy into France.<ref name="VillalonKagay2005">{{Cite book |last1=Villalon |first1=L. J. Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=apzpiXLLy48C&pg=PA430 |title=The Hundred Years War: a wider focus |last2=Kagay |first2=Donald J. |publisher=BRILL |year=2005 |isbn=978-90-04-13969-5 |page=430}}</ref>