Pale of Calais
Encyclopedia
The Pale of Calais
is a historical region of France
that was controlled by the Kingdom of England
until 1558.
in 1346, Edward III of England
, having renounced the throne of France
, kept some territory within France, namely Aquitaine
and the area around Calais, under the Treaty of Brétigny
, signed on the 8 May 1360. By 1453, at the end of the Hundred Years' War
, it was the only part of France to remain in English hands. It was controlled by England until the area was finally ceded to France in 1558 by Mary I of England
after French troops, led by Francis, Duke of Guise
, took the town of Calais.
During the English occupation the people of the Pale of Calais retained their identity as French
and Flemish speakers.
In 1550, England surrendered the area around Boulogne.
The effect of the loss of the Pale of Calais was not as severe as might have been expected, because by this time England was focusing its trade on the Netherlands
.
of Calais comprised the communes of: Andres
, Balinghem
, Bonningues-lès-Calais
, Calais
, Campagne-lès-Guines
, Coquelles
, Coulogne
, Fréthun
, Guemps
, Guînes
, Hames-Boucres
, Hervelinghen
, Marck
, Nielles-lès-Calais
, Nouvelle-Église
, Offekerque
, Oye-Plage
, Peuplingues
, Pihen-lès-Guînes
, Sangatte
, Saint-Pierre (Calais absorbed Saint-Pierre-lès-Calais inhabited with 33 290 inhabitants in 1885, now southern part of Calais), Saint-Tricat
, and Vieille-Église
.
The area of the Pale of Calais is difficult to define because the boundaries were not clearly defined, due to swampy land and artificial waterways, and were constantly changing, but extended from Gravelines
almost to Wissant
and covered about 20 square miles (51.8 km²). Furthermore, the French were continually reclaiming small pieces of the territory, particularly in the southwest.
Much of the area of the Pale consisted of wetlands, and the territory was roughly divided into high lands in the west and lower country in the east.
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
is a historical region of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
that was controlled by the Kingdom of England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
until 1558.
History
After the Battle of CrécyBattle of Crécy
The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 near Crécy in northern France, and was one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years' War...
in 1346, Edward III of England
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
, having renounced the throne of France
English claims to the French throne
The English claims to the French throne have a long and complex history between the 1340s and the 19th century.From 1340 to 1801, with only brief intervals in 1360-1369 and 1420–1422, the kings and queens of England, and after the Acts of Union in 1707 the kings and queens of Great Britain, also...
, kept some territory within France, namely Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
and the area around Calais, under the Treaty of Brétigny
Treaty of Brétigny
The Treaty of Brétigny was a treaty signed on May 9, 1360, between King Edward III of England and King John II of France. In retrospect it is seen as having marked the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' War —as well as the height of English hegemony on the Continent.It was signed...
, signed on the 8 May 1360. By 1453, at the end of the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
, it was the only part of France to remain in English hands. It was controlled by England until the area was finally ceded to France in 1558 by Mary I of England
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
after French troops, led by Francis, Duke of Guise
Francis, Duke of Guise
Francis de Lorraine II, Prince of Joinville, Duke of Guise, Duke of Aumale , called Balafré , was a French soldier and politician.-Early life:...
, took the town of Calais.
During the English occupation the people of the Pale of Calais retained their identity as French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Flemish speakers.
In 1550, England surrendered the area around Boulogne.
The effect of the loss of the Pale of Calais was not as severe as might have been expected, because by this time England was focusing its trade on the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Geography
The area of the PalePale
-Color:*Pale, an adjective meaning of a light shade or hue; approaching white*Paleness , a relative lightness of color*Pale, a variance of human skin color, especially:**Pallor, a symptom of low oxygen content in blood or avoidance of sunlight...
of Calais comprised the communes of: Andres
Andres, Pas-de-Calais
Andres is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-Geography:Andres is a farming village located 8 miles southeast of Calais, at the junction of the D244 and D248 roads.-Population:-Places of interest:...
, Balinghem
Balinghem
Balinghem is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Population:-Places of interest:* The sixteenth century church of the Nativité-de-Notre-Dame....
, Bonningues-lès-Calais
Bonningues-lès-Calais
Bonningues-lès-Calais is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A farming village located 5 miles southwest of Calais, on the D243 road near to junction 39 of the A16 autoroute....
, Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, Campagne-lès-Guines
Campagne-lès-Guines
Campagne-lès-Guines is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas de Calais region of France.-Geography:A farming village located 10 miles south of Calais, on the D248 and D215 road junction.-History:...
, Coquelles
Coquelles
Coquelles is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department near Calais in northern France.It is known informally as the town of the Channel Tunnel. The town comprises a shopping centre, hotels and farm in vieille Coquelles , part of the L'Européene autoroute and the Channel Tunnel terminal.The...
, Coulogne
Coulogne
Coulogne is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A large village of light industry and farming located just 2 miles south of Calais city centre, on the D247 road.-Population:...
, Fréthun
Fréthun
Fréthun is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A village located 3 miles southwest of Calais, at the junction of the D215 and D246 roads...
, Guemps
Guemps
Guemps is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A farming village situated 5 miles southeast of Calais, at the D229 and D32 crossroads.-Population:-Places of interest:...
, Guînes
Guînes
Guînes is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-Geography:Guînes is located on the border of the two territories of the Boulonnais and Calaisis, at the edge of the now-drained marshes, which extend from here to the coast. The Guînes canal connects with...
, Hames-Boucres
Hames-Boucres
Hames-Boucres is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A village located 6 miles southwest of Calais, at the junction of the D215 and D231E2.-History:...
, Hervelinghen
Hervelinghen
Hervelinghen is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A small farming village situated near to Wissant, some north of Boulogne, on the D244 road.-History:...
, Marck
Marck, Pas-de-Calais
Marck is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Marck is a farming and light industrial town located 6 km east of Calais, at the junction of the D940 and D248 roads. The A26 ‘autoroute des Anglaises’ passes through the commune and the...
, Nielles-lès-Calais
Nielles-lès-Calais
Nielles-lès-Calais is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Nielles-lès-Calais is located 4 miles south of Calais, at the junction of the D304 and D245E roads.-Population:-References:...
, Nouvelle-Église
Nouvelle-Église
Nouvelle-Église is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Nouvelle-Église lies about 6 miles east of Calais, at the junction of the D229 and the D219 roads, half a mile from junction 50 of the A16 autoroute.-Population:-References:*...
, Offekerque
Offekerque
Offekerque is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Offekerque is a farming village, originally of marshland, now drained by the river Oye and ditches around the commune, some 6 miles east of Calais, on the D230, half a mile from the A16...
, Oye-Plage
Oye-Plage
Oye-Plage is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Oye-Plage lies about 7 miles east of Calais, on the junction of the D219 and the D940. The commune is nearly a mile from the English Channel.-History:The commune has ancient origins...
, Peuplingues
Peuplingues
Peuplingues is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Peuplingues is located 5 miles southwest of Calais, at the junction of the D243 and D243E roads, about a mile from the A16 autoroute....
, Pihen-lès-Guînes
Pihen-lès-Guînes
Pihen-lès-Guînes is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Pihen-lès-Guînes is located 7 miles southwest of Calais, at the junction of the D243 and D244 roads and there is a station called: Gare De Pihen-History:The name of Pihen appeared...
, Sangatte
Sangatte
Sangatte is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department on the northern coast of France on the English Channel.Like many place names in French Flanders, the name is of Flemish origin and means "gap in the sand".-Engineering:...
, Saint-Pierre (Calais absorbed Saint-Pierre-lès-Calais inhabited with 33 290 inhabitants in 1885, now southern part of Calais), Saint-Tricat
Saint-Tricat
Saint-Tricat is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Saint-Tricat is located 5 miles southwest of Calais, at the junction of the D215 and D246 roads.-Population:-References:*...
, and Vieille-Église
Vieille-Église
Vieille-Église is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Vieille-Église is located 9 miles east of Calais, at the D229 and D255 road junction, just a hundred yards from the A16 autoroute....
.
The area of the Pale of Calais is difficult to define because the boundaries were not clearly defined, due to swampy land and artificial waterways, and were constantly changing, but extended from Gravelines
Gravelines
Gravelines is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies at the mouth of the river Aa 15 miles southwest of Dunkirk. There is a market in the town square on Saturdays. The "Arsenal" approached from the town square is home to an extensive and carefully displayed art collection....
almost to Wissant
Wissant
Wissant is a seaside commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:...
and covered about 20 square miles (51.8 km²). Furthermore, the French were continually reclaiming small pieces of the territory, particularly in the southwest.
Much of the area of the Pale consisted of wetlands, and the territory was roughly divided into high lands in the west and lower country in the east.
See also
- List of Captains, Lieutenants and Lords Deputies of English Calais
- History of CalaisHistory of CalaisThe history of Calais dates back centuries and is chiefly influenced by its being the closest major port to Great Britain.-To the 13th century:...
- English claims to the French throneEnglish claims to the French throneThe English claims to the French throne have a long and complex history between the 1340s and the 19th century.From 1340 to 1801, with only brief intervals in 1360-1369 and 1420–1422, the kings and queens of England, and after the Acts of Union in 1707 the kings and queens of Great Britain, also...
- Hundred Years' WarHundred Years' WarThe Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
- Marian exilesMarian exilesThe Marian Exiles were English Calvinist Protestants who fled to the continent during the reign of Queen Mary I.-Exile communities:According to English historian John Strype, more than 800 Protestants fled to the continent, mainly to the Low Countries, Germany, Switzerland, and France, and joined...