England

England is presented chiefly as the intended destination of a major French campaign, not as a setting described in detail. The prospect of invasion pulled Charles VI and his court away from a local legal dispute, then weather forced the campaign to be deferred; its preparations also shaped the timing of the duel between Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris.

England as a Strategic Objective

In 1386, Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, proposed that Charles VI lead a large invasion of England and deliver a decisive blow against the kingdom. The proposal followed an earlier French expedition to Scotland. That force had raided the border counties, drawing Richard II and his troops north and away from London, but the accompanying plan for a second French attack from the south had not been launched. The projected invasion of 1386 was to be larger still, with the young king himself at its head.

England therefore enters the narrative as the focus of an international military ambition that competed with the affairs of the French royal court. While the Parlement of Paris pursued its inquiry into the Carrouges–Le Gris quarrel, the invasion plan gave the king a cause that seemed to demand his personal presence and promised him military renown.

The Fleet and the Delay

Charles approved the proposal and prepared to leave Paris for Sluys, the Flemish port where he intended to join an invasion force supported by an armada of more than a thousand ships. Before departing, he attended a solemn mass at Notre-Dame Cathedral and vowed not to return to Paris before setting foot on English soil. The vow gave a personal edge to the campaign: the king was not merely authorizing an expedition but publicly binding his return to its success.

The preparations were overtaken by severe weather. Violent thunderstorms sank ships, uprooted trees, and killed people and animals with lightning. Reports of other unusual events circulated in France, including a lightning strike that damaged a church near the Marne and fires at farm buildings near Laon. The storms delayed the expedition, and Charles and his uncles eventually called it off until the following year. The account records a postponement, not a landing in England.

England and the Duel’s Timing

The invasion also altered the pace of the legal proceedings. In July, Charles and the royal court followed the quarrel closely; in August, as the Parlement’s inquiry entered its second month, the king’s attention shifted to the looming conflict with England. After Charles and his uncles left Paris, the Parlement’s business resumed, including the inquiry. The knight and the squire remained in the city under obligations to appear when summoned.

By mid-September, the Parlement had ordered a duel and set it for late November. Charles, then travelling toward Sluys, learned of the decision while in Arras. He was eager to witness the combat, but the invasion’s delay brought him back toward Paris: in mid-November he prepared to depart for the city. Concerned that he might miss the duel, he persuaded his uncles to intervene, and the king sent sealed letters ordering it postponed from November 27 to December 29. England’s planned invasion thus remained unrealized in this account, yet its preparations helped determine when the domestic dispute would reach its public climax.