In January, 1340, Edward entered Flemish territory and was magnificently entertained in the abbey of Saint Bavon at Ghent.  “The three towns of Flanders,” declared Artevelde to his guest, “are ready to recognise you as their sovereign lord, provided that you engage yourself to defend them.”  The deputies of the three towns took oaths to Edward as their suzerain, and thereupon Edward was proclaimed King of France with much ceremony in the Friday market of Ghent.  A new great seal was fashioned and new royal arms assumed, in which the lilies of France were quartered with the leopards of England.  The new regnal year of Edward, which began on January 25, was styled the fourteenth of his reign in England, and the first of his reign in France.  Urgent affairs called Edward back to his kingdom, but his debts to the Flemings were already so heavy that they only consented to his departure on his pledging himself to return before Michaelmas day, and on his leaving as hostages his queen, his two sons, and two earls.  At last, on February 20, he crossed over from Sluys to Orwell.  He had been absent from home for nearly a year and a half.

From February 21 to June 22, 1340, Edward remained in England.  During that period, formal treaties with the Flemings confirmed the hasty negotiations of Ghent.  Benedict XII, still pursued Edward with remonstrances.  He warned the English king to have no trust in allies like the Flemings, who had shamefully driven away their natural lords and whose faithlessness and inconstancy were by-words.  He told him that his strength was not enough to conquer France, and reproached him with calling himself king of a land of which he possessed nothing.  Somewhat inconsistently, he offered his mediation between Edward and Philip.  But Philip was only less weary than Edward of the self-seeking pontiff.  Benedict was forced to drink the cup of humiliation, for after the rejection of his mediation, he was confronted with a proposal that the schismatic Bavarian should arbitrate between the two crowns.  Meanwhile, after many delays, Edward embarked a gallant army on a fleet of 200 ships, and on June 22 a favourable west wind bore them from the Orwell towards Flanders.  On arriving next day off Blankenberghe, he learned that a formidable French squadron was anchored in the mouth of the Zwyn, and that he could only land in Flanders as the reward of victory.

From the outbreak of hostilities in 1337, there had been a good deal of fighting by sea, and in the first stages of warfare the advantage lay with the French.  Since the days of Edward I., and Philip the Fair, the maritime energies of the two countries had developed at an almost equal rate, and the parallel growth had been marked by bitter rivalry between the seamen of the two nations.  The Normans had taken the leading share in this expansion of the French navy.[1] They welcomed the outbreak of war with enthusiasm, as giving them a chance of measuring their forces with their