The Bishop of Norwich's Crusade, May 1383

Six hundred years ago, on May 17th, 1383, the vanguard of an English army disembarked at Calais. Amongst the many expeditionary forces which arrived to fight against the French in the course of the Hundred Years' War, this one was unique, for it was a full-scale crusade Many, if not all, of its participants were crusaders (crucesignati ) who had taken the cross to fight for a year in return for the remission of their sins Much of the money to pay for the expedition came from the sale of the crusade indulgence during the preceding winter and spring, on the march and in battle the army followed a vexillum sanctae crucis, a banner displaying the sign of the cross, and it was led by an extraordinary warrior-prelate, Henry Despenser, Bishop of Norwich and nuncio of Pope Urban VI What was in essence a national enterprise had assumed all the characteristics of a crusade, and the result, futile as it turned out to be, deserves to be recalled.