Pale of Calais
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The Pale of Calais (French: Calaisis) is a historical region of France that was controlled by the Kingdom of England until 1558.
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[edit] History
After the Battle of Crécy in 1346, Edward III of England, having renounced the throne of France, kept some territory within France, namely Aquitaine and the area around Calais, under the Treaty of Brétigny, signed on the 8 May 1360.[1] By 1453, at the end of the Hundred Years' War, it was the only part of France to remain in English hands. In 1550, England surrendered the area around Boulogne.[2]
The Pale of Calais was controlled by England until the area was finally ceded to France in 1558 by Mary I of England after French troops, led by Francis, Duke of Guise, took the town of Calais. The effect of the loss of the Pale of Calais was not as severe as might have been expected, because by this time England was focusing its trade on the Netherlands.[3]
During the English occupation the people of the Pale of Calais retained their identity as French and Flemish speakers.[4]
[edit] Geography
The area of the Pale of Calais comprised the communes of: Andres, Balinghem, Bonningues-lès-Calais, Calais, Campagne-lès-Guines, Coquelles, Coulogne, Fréthun, Guemps, Guînes, Hames-Boucres, Hervelinghen, Marck, Nielles-lès-Calais, Nouvelle-Église, Offekerque, Oye-Plage, Peuplingues, Pihen-lès-Guînes, Sangatte, Saint-Pierre (Calais absorbed Saint-Pierre-lès-Calais inhabited with 33 290 inhabitants in 1885, now southern part of Calais), Saint-Tricat, and Vieille-Église.
The area of the Pale of Calais is difficult to define because the boundaries were not clearly defined, due to swampy land and artificial waterways,[5] and were constantly changing, but extended from Gravelines almost to Wissant and covered about 20 square miles (52 km2).[2] Furthermore, the French were continually reclaiming small pieces of the territory, particularly in the southwest.[2]
Much of the area of the Pale consisted of wetlands, and the territory was roughly divided into high lands in the west and lower country in the east.[2]
[edit] See also
- List of Captains, Lieutenants and Lords Deputies of English Calais
- History of Calais
- English claims to the French throne
- Hundred Years' War
[edit] References
- ^ Fisher, H.A.L. (1936). A History of Europe. Great Britain: Edward Arnold & Co. pp. 322.
- ^ a b c d Sandeman, George Amelius Crawshay. Calais under English Rule. pp. 114. http://books.google.com/books?id=tgrJjQlYYc0C&pg=PA114.
- ^ Hunt, Jocelyn (1999). The Renaissance. New York: Routledge. pp. 97. ISBN 0-203-98177-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=lI8G8i3rJLIC&pg=PA97.
- ^ Dumitrescu, Theodor (2007). The early Tudor court and international musical relations. England: Ashgate Publishing Limited. pp. 53. ISBN 978-0-7546-5542-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=fKu21vh_bWkC&pg=PA53.
- ^ Darian-Smith, Eve (1999). Bridging divides: the Channel Tunnel and English legal identity in the new Europe. University of California Press. pp. 77. ISBN 0-520-21610-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=SOSetgkNhzMC&pg=PA77.
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