brother of the reigning Count, embarked at Dordrecht about September 22nd, with upwards of two thousand seven hundred men-at-arms. After anchoring for a night off the dykes of Holland, the fleet coasted along Zeeland, but was driven out of its course by a gale of wind, and for two days was ignorant of its whereabouts. At length the English coast was sighted, and on September 26th a landing was effected on a sandy beach, probably near Aldborough, or between that place and Southwold. Some of the chroniclers[1] say that the queen landed at Harwich; but this is unlikely, firstly, because it is stated that upon their arrival the troops did not know in what part of England they were—an assertion that cannot be reconciled with the contiguity of one of the largest ports in the kingdom to the place of disembarkation; and, secondly, because there is every reason to suppose that the English ships, ordered to be at the mouth of the Orwell on September 21st, must have been there by the 26th, and because the queen met with no resistance.
Three days were employed in landing the horses and arms. The expeditionary force then marched to Bury St. Edmunds.[2] Isabella's appeal to the country was entirely successful, and she was joined by all classes of the population. The king's appeal,[3] on the other hand, issued on the 27th, and drawing special attention to the presence with the invaders of Roger Mortimer, the queen's paramour, produced no effect; and, on October 20th, Prince Edward assumed the government of the country as Guardian of the Realm.[4] The king, deserted by all except the younger Le Despencer and Robert Baldock, the Chancellor, fled to the west, where, endeavouring to escape to Lundy Island, or to Ireland, he was taken by Sir Henry Beaumont.[5] On January 20th, 1327, he was compelled to abdicate, and on January 25th the Prince ascended the throne as Edward III. In the interim. Isabella had rewarded thirty-five sailors of Bayonne with £10 for their services in conveying her to England; and the Constable of Dover had been ordered to provide twenty passage vessels, to convey some of the Hainault troops back to Flanders.[6]
