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The naval Battle of La Rochelle took place on 22 and 23 June 1372 between a Castilian fleet commanded by the Castilian Almirant Ambrosio Boccanegra and an English convoy commanded by John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. The Castilian fleet had been sent to attack the English at La Rochelle, which was being besieged by French forces. Besides Boccanegra, other Castilian commanders were Cabeza de Vaca, Fernando de Peón and the Basque Ruy Díaz de Rojas. Pembroke had been dispatched to the town with a small retinue of 160 soldiers and instructions to recruit an army of 3,000 soldiers around Aquitaine. The strength of the Castilian fleet is estimated as between the 12 galleys given by the Castilian chronicler and naval captain López de Ayala and the 40 sailing ships and 13 barges mentioned by the French chronicler Jean Froissart, while the English convoy probably consisted of 20 vessels, of which just 3 were escort warships with towers; the other 17 are believed to have been small barges of about 50 tons.〔 The Castilians used their superior number of ships and fighting men to overwhelm the English.〔〔 The victory was complete and the entire convoy was captured. On his return to the Iberian Peninsula, Boccanegra seized four additional English ships. However, the English recovery was swift, and the following year saw a resurgence of English naval power along the French coast. ==Background== In 1372 the English monarch Edward III planned an important campaign in Aquitaine under the newly appointed lieutenant of the Duchy, the Earl of Pembroke. He contracted to serve a year in the duchy with a retinue of 24 knights 55 squires and 80 archers besides another companies led by Sir Hugh Calveley and Sir John Devereux, who finally did not serve or did not appear. Pembroke received instructions to recruit a host of 500 knight, 1,500 squires and 1,500 archers after his arrival in France.〔 One of Edward's clerks, John Wilton, was appointed to accompany the Earl with a large amount of money to pay the troops.〔 The Earl of Pembroke, his retinue and Wilton embarked at Plymouth aboard a transport fleet which was unprepared for serious engagement.〔 The Castilian chronicler Pero López de Ayala estimated that this fleet had 36 ships,whereas the chronicler of the French court estimated it to be 35.〔 Jean Froissart, in one of his two descriptions of the battle, put the English force on 'perhaps' 14 ships. A fleet of 20 vessels is considered a creditable force.〔 As most of them were small transports, Sir Philip Courtenay, the Admiral of the West, was detached to escort them with 3 ships with large tonnage and towers utilizable by archers.〔 The English rule in Aquitaine was by then under threat. Since 1370 large parts of the region had fallen under French rule and in 1372 Bertrand du Guesclin lay siege at La Rochelle. To respond to the demands of the Franco-Castilian alliance of 1368, the king of Castile, Henry II of Trastámara, dispatched a fleet to Aquitaine under Ambrosio Boccanegra, who was seconded by Cabeza de Vaca, Fernando de Peón and Rui Díaz de Rojas. The size of this fleet is also uncertain.〔 According to López de Ayala, is was composed of 12 galleys. Froissart, in his first relation, mentioned 40 sailing ships and 13 barges, but later reduced this numbers to 13 galleys. ''Quatre Premiers Valois'' and ''Chronique des Pays-Bas'' mention respectively 20 and 22 galleys.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of La Rochelle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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