chivalrous bearing of the king created
great enthusiasm and delight in England, and did much to rouse the
people from the state of grief into which they had been cast by the
ravages of the plague. The king did his utmost to maintain the spirit
which had been evoked, and the foundation of the order of the Garter,
and the erection of a splendid chapel at Windsor, and its dedication,
with great ceremony, to St. George, the patron saint of England, still
further raised the renown of the court of Edward throughout Europe as
the centre of the chivalry of the age.

Notwithstanding many treaties which had taken place, and the near
alliance which had been well-nigh carried out between the royal families
of England and Spain, Spanish pirates had never ceased to carry on a
series of aggressions upon the English vessels trading in the Bay of
Biscay. Ships were every day taken, and the crews cruelly butchered
in cold blood. Edward's remonstrances proved vain, and when threats of
retaliation were held out by Edward, followed by preparations to carry
those threats into effect, Pedro the Cruel, who had now succeeded to the
throne of Spain, despatched strong reinforcements to the fleet which had
already swept the English Channel.

The great Spanish fleet sailed north, and capturing on its way a number
of English merchantmen, put into Sluys, and prepared to sail back
in triumph with the prizes and merchandise it had captured. Knowing,
however, that Edward was preparing to oppose them, the Spaniards filled
up their complement of men, strengthened themselves by all sorts of the
war machines then in use, and started on their return for Spain with one
of the most powerful armadas that had ever put to sea.

Edward had collected on the coast of Sussex a fleet intended to oppose
them, and had summoned all the military forces of the south of England
to accompany him; and as soon as he heard that the Spaniards were about
to put to sea he set out for Winchelsea, where the fleet was collected.

The queen accompanied him to the sea-coast, and the Black Prince, now in
his twentieth year, was appointed to command one of the largest of the
English vessels.

The fleet put to sea when they heard that the Spaniards had started,
and the hostile fleets were soon in sight of each other. The number
of fighting men on board the Spanish ships was ten times those of the
English, and their vessels were of vastly superior size and strength.
They had, moreover