our of
every one of the ships.[127] Never had such a display of naval force
left the English shores; twenty-four ships ranging downwards from the
1,600 tons of the _Henry Imperial_, bore nearly 5,000 marines and
3,000 mariners.[128] The French dared not venture out, while Howard
swept the Channel, and sought them in their ports. Brest was
blockaded. A squadron of Mediterranean galleys coming to its relief
anchored in the shallow water off Conquet. Howard determined to cut
them out; he grappled and boarded their admiral's galley. The
grappling was cut away, his boat swept out in the tide, and Howard,
left unsupported, was thrust overboard by the Frenchmen's pikes.[129]
His death was regarded as a national disaster, but he had retrieved
England's reputation for foolhardy valour.

[Footnote 127: _L. and P._, i., 3809, 3820.]

[Footnote 128: _Ib._, i., 3977.]

[Footnote 129: _Ib._, i., 4005; see also _The War
of 1512-13_ (Navy Records Society) where the
documents are printed in full.]

Meanwhile, Henry's army was gathering at Calais.[130] On 30th (p. 064)
June, at 7 P.M., the King himself landed. Before his departure, the
unfortunate Edmund de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, was brought to the
block for an alleged correspondence with his brother in Louis'
service, but really because rumours were rife of Louis' intention to
proclaim the White Rose as King of England.[131] On 21st July, Henry
left Calais to join his army, which had already advanced into French
territory. Heavy rains impeded its march and added to its discomfort.
Henry, we are told, did not put off his clothes, but rode round the
camp at three in the morning, cheering his men with the remark, "Well,
comrades, now that we have suffered in the beginning, fortune promises
us better things, God willing".[132] Near Ardres some German
mercenaries, of whom there were 8,000 with Henry's forces, pillaged
the church; Henry promptly had three of them hanged. On 1st August the
army sat down before Therouanne; on the 10th, the Emperor arrived to
serve as a private at a hundred crowns a day under the English
banners. Three days later a large French force arrived at Guinegate to
raise the siege; a panic seized it, and the bloodless rout that
followed was named the Battle of Spurs. Louis d'Orleans, Duc de
Longueville, the famous Chevalier Bayard, and others of the noblest
blood