privateers were daily committing ravages on English commerce;
Aquitaine was continually threatened by desultory attacks; and Philip,
though he hesitated to accept the responsibility of being the first to
declare war, scarcely attempted to conceal his endeavors to throw that
responsibility on Edward. Edward sailed for Flanders July 16, 1338,
and at Coblentz held a conference with the Emperor Louis V., at which
the latter appointed him his vicar-general, and gave orders for all
the princes of the Low Countries to follow him in war for the space of
seven years. In 1339 Edward laid siege to Cambrai, but soon afterward
raised the siege and invaded France. Philip advanced to meet him, but
declined battle, and Edward concluded his first campaign without
achieving anything to compensate him for its cost.

In 1340 he defeated the French fleet before Sluys. The French fleet of
one hundred and ninety galleys and great barges was superior to his
in strength, for many of his ships were small. Nineteen of their ships
were the biggest that had ever been seen, and grandest of all was the
Christopher that had been taken from the English. Edward's fleet seems
to have been "to the leeward and westward" of the enemy, and about
noon he ordered his ships to sail on the starboard tack, so as to get
the wind which presumably was north-east, and avoid having the sun in
the faces of the archers. Then, having made their tack and got the
wind, his ships entered the port and engaged just inside it. The
French ships seem to have hugged the shore, and could not manoeuvre,
for they were lashed together in four lines. All in three of the lines
were taken or sunk, the Christopher and other English ships being
retaken; the fourth line escaped in the darkness, for the battle
lasted into the night. The king's victory was complete, and the naval
power of France was destroyed.

Shortly after his return to England a great tournament was held by him
at Windsor in memory of King Arthur. In 1346 he set sail on the
expedition which resulted in the great victory of Crecy[15] and the
capture of Calais. It was a strong place, and the inhabitants had done
much harm to the English and Flemings by their piracies. He built a
regular town before the walls, sent for a fleet to blockade the
harbor, and laid siege to the town with about thirty thousand men.
Meanwhile the Scots, who at Philip's instance had invaded England,
were routed at Neville's Cross, Durham, on Octob