THE CAREER OF SIR THOMAS TRIVET (1330-88)

The 1380s saw a disagreement among those advocating war with France over whether to open up an offensive against the French through Flanders or through Spain. The pro-Spain party (led by Gaunt who had interests in the peninsula) had won the argument so far with the parliamentary backing of the Earl of Cambridge's joint expedition with the Portuguese against Castile in 1382, but by November of the same year, Cambridge was back in England humiliated after the Portuguese and Castilians had come to an agreement behind his back. Undeterred, Gaunt applied for a new expedition at the more modest subsidy of £43,000 in the parliament of October 1382. However, events in Flanders had by this time taken a more dramatic turn, swaying opinion towards English intervention in the Low Countries. From around 1379 onwards, the city of Ghent had launched a civil war against the ruler of Flanders, Count Louis of Male. The situation was complicated by the fact that the Count, as a vassal of France looked towards his more powerful neighhour to maintain his authority in the provinces. The provinces, on the other hand, looked to the English for support. England and Flanders enjoyed important trade links which were vital to the economy of both countries, England providing the wool which Flanders made into cloth. The effect of the civil war on the English wool trade was forcing not only mercantile opinion towards the 'way of Flanders', but also governmental opinion, since a poor economy due to the lack of wool exports, meant bad tax returns.¹ The situation was further swayed towards the ‘way of Flanders’ with the attractive proposal for a 'crusade' to Flanders, made in the parliament of Octobcr 1382 by Henry Despenser, Bishop of Norwich.

As Saul states; ‘his was the last genuinely popular expedition to be put into the field by an English government for some forty years’,²

It was proposed that the Bishop should take a force to Flanders, headed by a secular lieutenant and made up of 3,500 men at arms and a similar number of archers.³ It was to be a crusade against the Clementist supporters (i.e. supporters of Pope Clement VII) of the Count of Flanders, but only on the provision that the English army would not take up war against the Flemish Urbanist supporters (i.e. supporters of Pope Urban VI). By proposing a 'crusade', the cost of the expedition would be part-funded by crusading indulgences, thus reducing the financial burden on the taxpayer in the wake of the upheaval of the Peasants' Revolt. The preparations for the crusade were well-organised and extensive. Froissart writes of 2,500,000 francs raised in alms - enough for both the Flanders' expedition and perhaps another expedition to Castile led by the Duke of Lancaster.⁴ Saul writes that at the start of the expedition, Despenser's army perhaps numbered about 3,000 men at arms and 3,000 archers, but when they finally set out on the 16th May 1383 from Sandwich, they perhaps numbered no more than 4,000 to 5000 men. There was no secular lieutenant appointed, although, interestingly, Sir John Neville of Raby had offered his services, but according to Despenser, the King had not allowed him to take up the post.⁵ Neville had been connected to Trivet once before in 1378 when he had provided the troops tO fight alongside CharlesII of Navarre in the province under Trivet.⁶