command. At North Walsham he found the rebels intrenched and defended by rude fortifications. But the bishop himself led an assault, rode through their outworks, and overpowered them in a hand-to-hand fight. Many were slain and many captured, including the leader of the insurrection, John the Lister, who was at once put to death. Throughout Despenser, 'episcopus martius,' took the lead, not only 'imperatoris circumspecti ubique gerens officium,' but also as a good soldier at close quarters; and he personally superintended the execution of John Lister (Chron, Angl. pp. 306-8; Walsingham, Hist. Angl. ii. 6-8; Knyghton, p. 2638) But the rigour with which he put down the rebellion made him highly unpopular among the Norfolk men, and in the following year (1382) some of them organised a plot to murder him, together with other great people of the realm. The scheme, however, was betrayed in time by one of the conspirators, and they were taken and beheaded (Chron. Angl. p. 354; Walsingham, Hist. Angl. ii. 70).
Just after this the 'warlike bishop' (Despenser's distinguishing title) was chosen by Urban VI to lead a campaign against the followers of Clement VII in Flanders. Urban issued bulls for the proclamation of a 'crusade' to be conducted by him, and granted him extraordinary powers for the fulfilment of his mission, and plenary indulgence to those who should take part in or contribute support to it (Walsingham, Hist Angl. ii. 76-8; Ypodigma Neustriæ, p.336 et seq.; Chron. Angl. p. 366; Knyghton, p.2671). The king ordered the crusade to be published throughout England, 6 Dec. 1382 (Rymer, iv. 157); and in February the parliament, after some hesitation in entrusting so unprofessional a command to a churchman, ultimately assigned to him the subsidy which it had granted the king in the previous October for carrying on the war in Flanders (Rot, Parl. iii. 146; Walsingham, Hist. Angl. ii. 84). The bishop issued mandates for the publication of the bulls (Walsingham, Hist. Angl. ii. 78 et seq.; Knyghton, p. 2673 et seq.); the archbishop did the same (Wilkins, Concil Magnæ Brit. iii. 176-8). The enterprise was ardently seconded by the friars, and contributions of immense value were made from all quarters, but especially, says Knyghton (p. 2671), from the rich ladies of England.
In the middle of May the expedition started. It consisted of some eight thousand men, and among its leaders Sir Hugh Calverley, Sir William Elmham, Sir William Faringdon, and Sir Thomas Trivet are particularly mentioned. They crossed to Calais 17 May, and proceeded to attack Gravelines, which place, together with the surrounding territory, was now in the hands of the French (Malverne, p.15). Gravelines and Dunkirk soon fell; but reinforcements arriving, of Flemings, French, Bretons, and mercenaries, under the command of the Bastard of Flanders, a pitched battle had to be fought near Dunkirk, 25 May, in which the crusaders were victorious. Despenser next subdued the neighbouring country, including the towns of Bourbourg, Bergues, Poperinghe, and Nieuport, and was persuaded by his followers to attempt the siege of Ypres (9 June). In the meantime the success of the expedition had roused such enthusiasm in England that crowds of people, armed and unarmed, crossed the Channel, more, it is said, in the hope of booty than from any nobler motive; so that the bishop was reputed to have sixty thousand men under his command. This number, however, must evidently include the force, by some reckoned at thirty thousand men, supplied by the town of Ghent.
The siege of Ypres was long and disastrous. The burghers bribed some of the English commanders into inactivity; the army gradually fell away; and, after more than one unsuccessful assault, the siege had to be raised (8 Aug.) When Despenser then proposed to invade Picardy, he was firmly withstood by his principal officers, who established themselves apart at Bergues and Bourbourg. The bishop, after entering Picardy for some distance, was obliged to fall back upon Gravelines. At this juncture, in the totally demoralised state of the English forces, numbers of the soldiers being attacked by disease, the arrival, about the end of August, of a French army headed by the king was decisive. The English troops were driven out of Bergues, and concentrated themselves in Bourbourg. The mediation of the Duke of Brittany put an end to the war, but this was not effected without humiliating circumstances. Large bribes were sent to the English commanders, and they surrendered Bourbourg. Despenser himself came to terms with the French, quitted Gravelines, and shortly after returned to England. The town was burned to the ground by the English, but, according to one account (Froissart, x. 270 n.), not until the bishop had made good his escape. The war terminated about the middle of September.
The eagerness with which the crusade had been hailed could not survive the inglorious collapse in which it had ended. Despenser was received with reproaches by John of Gaunt, who was perhaps mortified at not having been given the command of the expedition (Walsingham, Hist, Angl. ii. 104; cf. Mon. Evesh. p. 44); and when parliament met in November the bishop was called upon to
