officer chose the latter course, and so completely justified himself that the vessels were rettu'ned to their Flareand owners

Janutu'y, 1416.

The :Parliament which met on lIarch 15th of that year com- plained of the seizure of private craft by king's officers, who p;tid nothing for their use; of the discontinuance of the payment of tonnage allowance for ships regularly taken up by the government, and of the consequent ruin of shipowners; and it made use of the remarkable expression to which attentiou has been called iu the previous chapter: "pur taunt qe la dit navye est la greinde substance du bien, profit, et prosperit6e du vostre dit roialme." The king promised to do what justice seemed to require. a

It is clear, from a petition presented during the same session, that it was customary in the fifteenth century for merchantmen sailing in consort to elect the master of one of their uumber as their "admiral" for the voyage, and for the other masters to swear obedience and loyalty to him. This h;td been done in the case of a home-coming flotilla of wine ships froin :Bordeaux, the master of ship called the Christople', of Hull, being the "athniral" for the occasion. On the voyage, the Christopher had been attacked hy some carracks, and taken in consequeuce of the cowardly desertion of her 5y all her friends. The owners p.r;;yed that, in view of what had occurred, the owners of all the other ships should be made responsible for the value of the lost vessel. The matter was referred to the chancellor, and it would seem not only that the owners were held liable for the value of the Cl'ist(qgher, but also that the cowardly masters were imprisoned?

The Emperor Sigismund came to ]England in lIay, chiefly to endearour to arrange peace between lEngland and ]?rance. Vessels were impressed to convey him from Calais, and he spent some months in ]England; but the action of the French prevented any thotght of peace. Their army, under the Count d'Armagn;tc, invested Harfieur on the land side, and their fleet, reinforced by eight carracks hired from the Genoese, and commanded by the Bastard of :Botu'Lon and Robinet de ]Braquemont, Admiral of France, blockaded the port, while another French squadron ranged the Channe'l, did much injury to shipping, endeavoured to destroy the English vessels at Southampton, and ravaged Portland and other

Pro. and Ord. of Privy Coum'il, ii. 157, 188. s Parl. Rolls, iv. e6.

Parl. Rolls, iv. 79. t. Remy, 103.