page_title: Henry le Despenser
section_title: The Norwich Crusade of 1383
hierarchical_section_title: Henry le Despenser / Bishop of Norwich / The Norwich Crusade of 1383
caption_attribution_description: English: Transferd from enWiki original file en:File:The siege of Ypres (1383).pdf; Original description: Vandenpeereboom, Alphonse. 'Ypriana, notices, études, notes et documents sur Ypres'. [vol.5], Tuindag et Notre-Dame de Tuine - . Bruges&#160;: Aimé de Zuttere, 1881.
context_page_description: Henry le Despenser was an English nobleman and Bishop of Norwich whose reputation as the 'Fighting Bishop' was gained for his part in suppressing the Peasants' Revolt in East Anglia and in defeating the peasants at the Battle of North Walsham in the summer of 1381.
  As a young man he studied at Oxford University and held numerous positions in the English Church. He fought in Italy before being consecrated as a bishop in 1370. Parliament agreed to allow Despenser to lead a crusade to Flanders in 1383, which was directed against Louis II of Flanders, a supporter of the antipope Clement VII. The crusade was in defence of English economic and political interests. Although well funded, the expedition was poorly equipped and lacked proper military leadership. After initial successes, a disastrous attempt to besiege the city of Ypres forced Despenser to return to England. Upon his return he was impeached in parliament. His temporalities were confiscated by Richard II of England, but were returned in 1385, the year he accompanied the king northward to repel a potential French invasion of Scotland.
context_section_description: Soon after Urban VI had been elected pope in 1378, Robert of Geneva was elected as a rival pope, taking the name Pope Clement VII and removing himself to Avignon. The so-called Western Schism subsequently caused a great crisis in the Church and created rivalry and conflict throughout Christian Europe. It was eventually resolved as a result of the Council of Constance (1414–1418).
  In the autumn and winter of 1382, Flanders had been invaded by Charles VI of France. Philip Van Artevelde had fallen at the Battle of Roosebeke and the country had been compelled to submit to the French king, who obliged all the conquered towns to recognise Clement VII. In response to events in Flanders, Pope Urban issued bulls for the proclamation of a crusade, choosing Bishop Despenser to lead a campaign against the followers of Clement VII in Flanders. He granted Despenser extraordinary powers for the fulfillment of his mission and plenary indulgence to those who should take part in or contribute support to it.
  Both the commons and King Richard II were enthusiastic about the launch of a crusade to Flanders, for political and economic reasons: revenues from the English wool staple (that had ceased following the advance of the French) could be resumed; sending the bishop and not the king or his uncles to Flanders would enable John of Gaunt's unpopular plans for a royal crusade to Castille to be abandoned; French forces would be drawn away from the Iberian peninsula; and Anglo-Flemish relations would be strengthened. Another advantage in approving a crusade was that its cost would be borne by the Church and not by means of government levies: ever since the Peasants' Revolt, the government was fearful of the consequences of imposing a tax to pay for a new war against the French.
  On 6 December 1382, Richard ordered the crusade to be published throughout England. Later that month the bishop and his men took the cross at St. Paul's Cathedral. In February 1383 Parliament, after hesitating in entrusting the mission 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. The king's only stipulation was that the crusaders should await the arrival of William Beauchamp before launching offensive operations against the French and their allies.
  The bishop issued mandates for the publication of the bulls and the archbishop did the same. The enterprise was ardently seconded by the friars and contributions of immense value were made from all quarters, but especially, according to Henry Knighton, from "the rich ladies of England". The English landed at Calais in May 1383 and proceeded to attack Gravelines, which was in the hands of the French. Gravelines, Dunkirk and the neighbouring country (including the towns of Bourbourg, Bergues, Poperinghe, and Nieuport) soon fell. On 25 May the crusaders put to flight a Franco-Flemish army, under the command of the Count of Flanders, in a pitched battle fought near Dunkirk. Despenser was then persuaded by his followers to attempt to besiege Ypres, which was to prove to be the turning point of the crusade. He was unwilling to attack the city but his Gantois allies and some of his officers insisted that Ypres should be taken.
  The inhabitants of Ypres were well prepared for a siege by the time the English and their allies arrived and attacked the city on 8 June 1383. Dwellings in the outlying suburbs had been abandoned; the timber from them was used to strengthen the earth ramparts and the stone gates of the city. A mission had been dispatched to Paris to replace artillery powder stocks. The city was well organised under the command of the Castellan of Ypres, John d'Oultre, and had been divided into different defensive sectors. Although the ramparts were low, they were well protected with a double wet ditch, a high thorny hedge reinforced with stakes and a wooden stockade and fire-step.
  The English attacked the Temple Gate on the first day but were beaten off. Over the next three days the city gates were attacked simultaneously, withou
caption: Ypres during the Bishop of Norwich's siege. The illustration, a reproduction of an engraving published in 1610, shows the siege in progress.
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