The character of Jacob van Artevelde has had but scant justice done toit by most of the historians of the time. These, living in an age ofchivalry, when noble blood and lofty deeds were held in extraordinaryrespect, had little sympathy with the brewer of Ghent, and deemed itcontrary to the fitness of things that the chivalry of France shouldhave been defied and worsted by mere mechanics and artisans. But therecan be no doubt that Artevelde was a very great man. He may have beenpersonally ambitious, but he was a true patriot. He had great militarytalents. He completely remodelled and wonderfully improved the internaladministration of the country, and raised its commerce, manufactures,and agriculture to a pitch which they had never before reached. Afterhis death his memory was esteemed and revered by the Flemings, who longsubmitted to the laws he had made, and preserved his regulations withscrupulous exactitude.
Edward now hastened to get together a great army. Every means wereadopted to raise money and to gather stores, and every man betweensixteen and sixty south of the Trent was called upon to take up arms andcommanded to assemble at Portsmouth in the middle of Lent. A tremendoustempest, however, scattered the fleet collected to carry the expedition,a great many of the ships were lost, and it was not until the middle ofJuly, 1346, that it sailed from England.
It consisted of about 500 ships and 10,000 sailors, and carried 4000men-at-arms, 10,000 archers, 12,000 Welsh, and 6000 Irish.
This seems but a small army considering the efforts which had beenmade; but it was necessary to leave a considerable force behind forthe defence of the Scottish frontier, and England had already armies inGuienne and Brittany. Lionel, Edward's second son, was appointed regentduring his father's absence. On board Edward's own ship were Godfrey ofHarcourt and the Prince of Wales. Walter, as one of the personal squiresof the prince, was also on board.
The prince had been greatly interested in the details of Walter's escapefrom Van Artevelde's house, the king himself expressed his approvalof his conduct, and Walter was generally regarded as one of the mostpromising young aspirants to the court. His modesty and good temperrendered him a general favourite, and many even of the higher noblesnoticed him by their friendly attentions, for it was felt that he stoodso high in the goodwill of the prince that he might some day becomea person of great influence with him, and one whose goodwill would bevaluable.
It was generally supposed, when the fleet started, that Guienne wastheir destination, but they had not gone far when a signal was made tochange the direction in which they were sailing and to make for La Hoguein Normandy. Godfrey of Harcourt had great influence in that province,and his persuasions had much effect in determining the king to directhis course thither. There was the further advantage that the King ofFrance, who was well aware of the coming invasion, would have made hispreparations to receive him in Guienne. Furthermore, Normandy was therichest and most prosperous province in France. It had for a long timebeen untouched by war, and offered great abundance of spoil. It had madeitself particularly obnoxious to the English by having recently made anoffer to the King of France to fit out an expedition and conquer Englandwith its own resources.