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XXVII. An Account of some ancient English Historical Paintings at Cowdry, in Sussex. By Sir Joseph Ayloffe. Bart. V.P.A.S. and F.R.S.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2012

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Extract

In a Memoir which I formerly laid before the Society, touching the royal picture of the interview between King Henry VIII. and the French King Francis the First, I took notice of the advantages which might result to the historian and antiquary from a careful inspection of such remaining historic paintings and sculptures, as, being executed with accuracy and fidelity, are coaeval with the transactions they are intended to record.

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Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1775

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References

page 239 note [a] See before, p. 185.

page 248 note [b] Rymer's Foed. vol. XV.

page 249 note [c] The Risbank, corruptly so called from its more ancient name of Rysbrook, is supposed by several of the French writers (1) to have been the work of the Emperor Caligula, but in fact it was originally built by the English, so late as the reign of King Richard II. as is evident from the French Rolls now preserved in the Tower of London, In the year 1391, the French having augmented the fortifications of Ardres, St. Omers, and Boulogne, and placed strong garrisons in each, thereby alarmed the English, who began to suspect some design was forming against Calais. John Duke of Lancaster was thereupon appointed lieutenant general of the English territories in Picardy, and sent to inspect and examine into the condition of the fortresses in those parts (2). On his arrival at Calais, he gave orders for putting the fortifications of that place into a proper state of defence, and finding it weak on that side next to the harbour, he there erected a strong fortified tower, which obtained the appellation, first of The New Tower, and afterwards that of Lancaste's New Tower (3). After the battle of Agincourt John Gerrard, who was then commandant of this tower, by order of King Henry V. added thereto two strong bastions, separated by a curtain of one hundred and thirty-two feet in length, which served as a wall for the casements, which, were carried on throughout its whole extent, and fortified with turrets at each angle (4), From that time it was called the Fortress of Rysbrook. Some of those works are now remaining.

(1) Etat de la France par M. Boulainvilliers, tom. I. p. 64. Memorial of Mons. Bignon, Intendant of Picardy, MS. in the Depôt at Versailles, Annales de Calais, par M. Barnard, chap. iv. p. 28.

page 250 note [d] Tom. II. p. 292.

page 250 note [e] The origin of fort Nieulai is not exactly known; but it is generally supposed to be one of those forts which were built by the Emperor Charlemagne in the year 810, upon the sea coast of Picardy, to defend it against the invasions of the Danes, and other Northern pirates, who then infested the seas between Flanders, France, and England. Malbr. de Morin. lib. v. c. 46. Hist. de la Ville de Calais, per M. Lefebure, tom. I. p. 628, 629.

(2) Rot. Franc. m. 5.

(3) Ibid. m. 1. & 9. Hist. de Calais, par M. Lefebure, tom. I, p. 133.

(4) Rot. Franc, m. 9, & 17. Hist. de Calais, par M, Lefebure, tom. II. p. 100.

page 251 note [f] The ancient Gessoriacum changed its name for that of Bononia, under the empire of Dioclesian, about which time Carausius, finding that town a proper retreat for his troops then employed in an expedition against: the Morini, took possession of the place, and fortified it; but not long after he was dispossessed thereof by Constantius Chlorus, who thenceforth kept his court there, whenever his affairs did not call him to Treves. From the frequent residence of the subsequent emperors at this place, and more particularly when the harbours of Wissan and Ambletuse were abandoned, Boulogne became a flourishing town, being then the only port in Gaul at which the Romans embarked for Britain, and was then calles Bononia Oceanensis, to distinguish it from Bononia in Italy. In the year 463 appears to be generally called Boulogne; for in that year, Leger, the principal of the chiefs of the Morini, on the submission of those people to the Franks, was appointed Earl of Boulogne, and its territories, which extended to the river Escaut; but he going soon after into Britain to the assistance of Uther-Pendragon, was deprived of those his then new dignity and acquisitions. His son Leger II. however, by the aid of our British King Arthur, recovered them from Clotaire, King of Soissons, to whose lot they had fallen upon the partition made between him and his three brothers, after the death of their father Clovis. In 881, the northern intruders, who had ravaged Flanders and the sea coast of Picardy, laid siege to Poulogne, and having entirely rased its ancient walls, which from their excessive height had occasioned the town, to be sometimes called Haut-mur, or Haultemure (1), massacred great part of the inhabitants, without distinction of age or sex. From that time Boulogne was in great measure deserted, till Philip, Earl of Boulogne, uncle to King Lewis IX. in the year 1227, re-edified its walls, divided the upper from the lower town, and strengthened the former, by erecting on its east side a castle, defended by a wet ditch, which separated it from the town, wherewith it had communication by means of a bridge; as also by raising at a small distance a strong tower, called Parquet, or Martinienne (2). From these advantages the inhabitants formed the most sanguine hopes of seeing their town flourish once more; but they were greatly disappointed in their expectations, by Philip's fortifying of Calais, cleansing and deepening its harbour, erecting a strong castle for its defence, making it the place of his residence, and giving every encouragement to the establishment of trade and commerce therein; of all which advantages the inhabitants made the best use. The taking of Calais by, the English, in the year 1347, gave a new turn to the affairs of Boulogne, as from that time it became the frontier town of the French territories, and the only fortress that could cover Picardy on that side next Calais. On this account Charles VI. enlarged and strengthened its fortifications considerably; and the town, by reason of the numerous garrison usually kept there, and the conveniency of its harbour, soon grew rich and flourishing, notwithstanding the frequent incursions made into its neighbourhood by the English garrison at Calais. In the year 1488 K. Henry VII. with a powerful army besieged it, but soon after raised the siege, on the exchanging the ratification of the peace concluded between him and Charles VIII. which the latter purchased at the price of seven hundred and forty thousand crowns. Francis l. soon after his accession, increased the fortifications, by adding thereto the tower of our Lady, that of St. Francis, and a third called le Moineau, Which latter commanded the low town, was strengthened with ramparts faced with freestone, and flanked at due distances with turrets mined and countermined. In 1532 it was honoured with being the place of interview between King Henry VIII and Francis I. when they entered into that agreement which obliged the Grand Signior to lay aside his design of invading Christendom (3). In 1544. it was besieged and taken by King Henry VIII. and continued in the possession of the English till the month of January 1550, when, in consideration of four hundred thousand crowns, agreed to be paid by the French King Henry II. to King Edward VI. it was, pursuant to treaty, delivered up to the French.

(1) Coutumier general de Picardie, par Duhours.

(2) Mem. de Du Bellai, Arn, Ferron. ad Hist. P, Æmil. addit. p. 148.

page 253 note [g] The face of the King, as represented in this part of the painting is far from being a good likeness, and is painted in a style inferior to that of any other portrait in the room. This circumstance is the more necessary to be taken notice of, as it will be observed in the sequel, that our painter was peculiarly attentive to the giving an exact portrait of the King, and succeeded happily in that attempt. The case was this. During the grand rebellion, Cowdry being made a place of arms for the Parliament forces, the then noble owner caused all the paintings in the dining-parlour to be covered with a thick white-wash. One of the officers quartered there, diverting himself with his half-pike, accidentally struck the point against that part of the wall whereon the King's face was portrayed, and broke it off. After the Restoration, the white-wash was taken off, and the damage being discovered, was repaired by another painter; who, probably having never seen any good portrait of King Henry, hath there given but a faint resemblance of his features.

(3) Corps Diplom. T. IV. part. IV. p. 89. Du Tillet, v. iv. Recueil des Traites des R. du Fr. & d'Angl. Let. fur l'ordre et cerem. obsorv. à l'entrevue des Rois, M de Du Bellai.

page 255 note [h] During the time of the assault, the great artillery did beat still upon them that presented themselves at the breaches to repel the assailants. Hollinshed's Chron.

page 256 note [i] And. Ferron, in his additions to the History of P. Æmilius, p. 148, says, that this tower was called Parquet, or Martinienne.

page 256 note [k] When a piece of the castle was blown up, and the breaches made as was thought reasonable, the assault was given by the Lord Dudley. Hollinshed's Chronicle.

page 256 note [l] Lefebure and other French writers say, that the armies of Henry and Francis amounted together to 80,000 foot, and 20,000 horse, and that each of them had a much greater train of artillery and warlike stores than had ever before been seen in Europe.

page 257 note [i] The building of this tower, called by the French Tour d'Ordre, and by the English The Old Man, is by father Montfaucon and others [I] ascribed to the Emperor Caligula, at the time of his vaunted, although only pretended, conquest of Britain, and as intended by him for a monument of that vain-glorious expedition. The discovery made in the year 1681 of the remains of a similar building, together with divers Roman inscriptions, coins, and other antiquities, near the old mouth of the Rhine, hath however induced other writers to six upon Catwick, in the neighbourhood of Leyden, as the true scite of Caligula's Pharos, and to attribute the building of the Tour d'Ordre to some other of the Emperors (2); all the writers on this subject agreeing, that it was undoubtedly a work of the Romans. Upon the decline of the empire, this pharos fell to decay, and continued in a ruinous condition till the year 810, when Charlemagne having pitched upon Boulogne as the place of rendezvous for the fleet which he had fitted out to oppose the invasion of his dominions by the Danish and other piratical Northern states, caused it to be repaired, fortified, and lighted up for the better direction and safety of his cruizers on that coast (3), If we may credit some of the French historians, that Emperor entertained so high an opinion of the utility of this pharos, that in token thereof he created one of the sons of Otton, Earl of Boulogne, a Baron, by the stile of Baron d'Ordre (4). This matter however is very much controverted (5). When the Danish pirates laid siege to Boulogne, in the year 881, the Tour d' Ordre, by means of the cross-bow men posted in it, was of great service to the town, by galling the enemy's flank, and impeding their approaches, till, the wall being broke down in many places, it was taken by storm. From the departure of the Danes, this tower continued the only defence of the harbour and town till the year 1227, when Philip Earl of Boulogne, uncle to Lewis IX, divided the upper from the lower town, and re-edified the ancient walls of the former, which had in great measure been demolished during the before-mentioned siege (6). King Henry VIII, after he had taken Boulogne, encompassed this pharos with a small fort, turreted at each angle, and strengthened it with other out-works, so that the ancient tower looked like the dungeon or keep of the fort-refs (7). It remained in this state till the year 1644, when the people of Boulogne having opened a quarry between the fort and the harbour, and drawn from thence a large quantity of stone, which they sold to the Dutch, the sea broke in, and, washing away large pieces of the rock, undermined the foundation so far, that about noon of the 29th day of July, the top part of the cliff, together with the sort and pharos, fell down at the same instant (8). Of this octagonal tower father Montsaucon gives the following description, which is here inserted as a testimony of the accuracy of the painter of the Cowdry pictures. “According to Bucherius, “each side of this building was at its base twenty-four or twenty-five inches broad; “the circumference of the whole being about two hundred feet, and i.s dimension “sixty-six. Its elevation consisted of twelve-stages or stories, each of which “gradually diminished, and was at its base less in diameter than that immediately “ beneath it. This reduction was effected by decreasing the thickness of the wall of “the reduced story, and revealing or setting it back within the thickness of that of “its under story, so that the projectile part of the latter, by its greater thickness, “formed on its top a kind of gallery of about eighteen inches wide, running round “the outside of the tower. And in this manner the building was. carried up to Us “summit, whereon the fires were lighted. In order to give this tower an agreeable “appearance, the walls were built of different-coloured materials. First, three courses “of iron coloured freestone, then two courses of a yellowish stone, and over them “ two courses of found red bricks; and this variation of colour and materials was “regularly observed in carrying up the walls as far as to the underside of the coping”. The original appellation of this tower was Turris Ardens, which afterwards was corrupted to Turris Ordans, or Ordensis; and at length varied by the Boulonois, to la Tour d'Ordre (9).

(1) Memoiresde l'Academie des Inscriptiions, tom, vi, p. 581.

(2) Adrian Junius, in Hist. Batav. p. 108. Ortelii Theat. Mundi, p. 47. Delices de Leyde, par Gerard Goris, p. 20. Lefebure, Hist. de Calais, vol. I. p. 137, & c.

(3) Eginhardi Vita Car. Mag. ap. Du Chesne, T. ii. p. 200, 201.

(4) Chopin de Legibus Andium, p. 378.

(5) Lefebure, Hist. de Calais, vol. i. p. 429.

(6) Le Sr. Le Quien, Hist. de la Ville de Boulogne, M. S. Inscription over the castle-gate at Boulogne.

(7) Mem. de l'Acad, des Inscrip. Tom. vi. p, 589.

(8) Ibid.

(9) Ibid.

page 260 note [k] Journal of the siege in Rymer's Foedera, before cited.

page 260 note [l] Hollinshed says, that the town surrendered on the 8th day of September; but the journal says, that it was on Holyrood day, the 14th of September.

page 261 note [m] Memoires de Du Bellai, liv. 10.

page 262 note [n] Memoires de M. du Bellai.

page 263 note [o] Brit, in Hampshire.

page 265 note [p] Naval History, p. 340. Sir William Monson, in his Naval Tracts, says the same.

page 265 note [q] Du Bellai. F. Daniel, Hist. de la Milice de la France. Gallard, Hist. de Francois, I. &c.

page 267 note [r] The earliest representation of ships of war having port-holes for their guns, Which I have hitherto met with, is in a very remarkable picture preserved at Cowdry, of the landing of the Emperor Charles V. at Dover, in the year 1520, under the convoy of the English fleet, commanded by the Earl of Southampton.