The Battle of Arnemuiden is a naval battle fought on 23 September 1338 at the start 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...

 between England and France. It was the first naval battle of the Hundred Years' war and the first naval battle using artillery, as the English ship Christofer had three cannon and one hand gun.

It faced a vast French fleet under admirals Hugues Quiéret

Hugues Quiéret

Hugues Quiéret was a French nobleman, admiral and military commander. He was a knight, lord of Tours-en-Vimeu and of Hamicourt, in Picardie. Before becoming an admiral, he had been a conseiller, chambellan, maître d'hôtel du roi, then the seneschal of Beaucaire and Nimes from 1325 to 1332.He was...

 and Nicolas Béhuchet

Nicolas Béhuchet

Nicolas or Béhuchet was a French admiral and financier....

 against a small squadron of five great English nef

Nef

-Historical:* Nef an extravagant table-ornament in the shape of a ship, from* a French name for a type of ship called a carrack in English* the French word for nave of a church-People:* Alain Nef , Swiss footballer...

s transporting an enormous cargo of wool to the count of Flanders

Count of Flanders

The Count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders from the 9th century until the abolition of the position by the French revolutionaries in 1790....

, ally of 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...

. It occurred near Arnemuiden

Arnemuiden

Arnemuiden is a small city of around 5000 people in the municipality of Middelburg in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands. It is located on the former island of Walcheren, about 3 km east of the city of Middelburg.It received city rights in 1574....

, the port of the island of Walcheren

Walcheren

thumb|right|250px|Campveer Tower in Veere, built in 1500Walcheren is a former island in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Oosterschelde in the north and the Westerschelde in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus...

 (now in the Netherlands, but then part of the County of Flanders

County of Flanders

The County of Flanders was one of the territories constituting the Low Countries. The county existed from 862 to 1795. It was one of the original secular fiefs of France and for centuries was one of the most affluent regions in Europe....

, formally part of the Kingdom of France). Overwhelmed by the superior numbers and with some of their crew still on shore, the English ships fought bravely, especially the Christofer under the command of John Kingston, commander of the squadron. Kingston only surrendered after a day's fighting and exhausting every means of defence.

The French captured the rich cargo and took the five nefs into their fleet, but massacred the English prisoners. The chronicles write: