Editing History of Jersey (section)

=== Plague and Hundred Year's War (1337–1455) ===
In 1336, the Scots king David Bruce attacked the Channel Islands, committing arson, murder and other atrocities.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|page=40}} Due to this attack, other attacks<ref>Including twice in the [[English Channel naval campaign, 1338-1339|1338-39 Channel campaign]]</ref> and the threat of further attacks from the Scots, an Island Militia was formed in 1337, which was compulsory for the next 600 years for all men of military age. In November 1337, King Edward III broke off negotiations with the French, starting the [[Hundred Years' War|Hundred Year's War]].

In March 1338, a French force led by Admiral Béhuchet landed on Jersey, intent on capturing the island.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|page=41}}<ref>Watts (2007), pp. 8-17</ref> The French devastated the island. In four parishes, all tithe corn was burnt.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|page=41}} Although the island was overrun, Mont Orgueil remained in English hands, besieged by Béhuchet.<ref>Ford (2004), pp. 18–25</ref><ref name=":8" />{{Rp|page=41}} The French remained until September, when they sailed off to conquer Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark. In 1339, the French returned, allegedly with 8,000 men in 17 [[Genoa|Genoese]] galleys and 35 French ships. Led by Robert Bertrand, to whom the islands had been transferred by the French King, the French forces promised islanders their ancient liberties, which had not been ratified by the English King in recent times. A number of senior islanders were pro-French at the time. Again, they failed to take the castle and, after causing damage, withdrew.<ref>Ford (2004), p. 22</ref>

In 1341, in recognition of islanders' efforts during the war, Edward III declared that Jerseymen should 'hold and retain all privileges, liberties, immunities and customs granted by our forebares'. This began the tradition of successive Monarchs devolving powers over the island to Islanders, giving them certain privileges and protecting the separation between the Channel Islands and the rest of their royal realm.<ref name=":7" /> In 1342, the Warden Sir Thomas of Hampton attempted to recapture Castle Cornet with a contingent of Jerseymen. His Lieutenant Henry de la More however lost the faith gained from the islanders by the King's charter. Islanders petitioned the King to punish de la More and Hampton. The island was thrown in a sullen revolt, which sometimes broke out into fighting.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|page=42–3}}

The change in England to a written language in "English" was not taken up in Jersey, where Norman-French continued until the 20th century.<ref name="BHJ" />{{rp|44}}

In 1348, when the [[Black Death]] would likely have reached the island, there are no kept records for the number of deaths seen on the island. Coastal France was highly affected by the plague and it is likely that the death toll was around 30–40 percent in Jersey. In the wake of the plague, the island experienced economic stagnation but high levels of employment, with population numbers kept down by late marriage and declining fertility.<ref name=":7" />

In July 1373, [[Bertrand du Guesclin]] overran Jersey and besieged Mont Orgueil. His troops succeeded in breaching the outer defences, forcing the garrison back to the keep. The garrison came to an agreement that they would surrender if not relieved by [[Michaelmas]] and du Guesclin sailed back to Brittany, leaving a small force to carry on the siege. An English relief fleet arrived in time.<ref>Ford (2004), p. 23</ref>

In 1378, the island was placed in an awkward position during the [[Western Schism]]. The island was under the Diocese of Coutances in France, while administered politically by England. Therefore, as France supported Clement's claim to the Papal see and England supported Urban's, there was tension in the island between the Government and Church. The Warden ordered the banishment of the Dean, labelled a 'supporter of the anti-Pope'. The island was placed under an Urbanite Administrator, as a separately administered part of the Coutances diocese.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last1=Syvret |first1=Marguerite |title=Balleine's History of Jersey |last2=Stevens |first2=Joan |publisher=Phillimore & Co. Ltd for Société Jersiaise |year=1998 |isbn=1-86077-065-7 |location=West Sussex}}</ref>{{Rp|page=48}}

In the 1390s, under [[Richard II of England|Richard II]] who was eager for peace with France, the island was almost recognised as an integral part of Normandy and returned to the French Crown.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|page=49}} He did however in 1394 grant the islands the right of exemption from tolls, duties and customs in England.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Thornton |first=Timothy John |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/843179654 |title=The Channel Islands, 1370-1640 : between England and Normandy |date=2012 |publisher=GB |isbn=978-1-84383-711-4 |oclc=843179654}}</ref>{{Rp|page=17}}

However, this matter was interrupted by the usurpation of [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]] in England in 1399. When he seized the throne, Henry renewed the charters confirming the privileges of Jersey. Henry's much firmer stance on relations with the French caused the war with France to resume.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|page=49}} On 7 October 1406, 1,000 French men at arms led by Pedro de Niño, a Castilian nobleman turned corsair, invaded Jersey, landing at St Aubin's Bay and defeated the 3,000 defenders but failed to capture the island.<ref name="BHJ" />{{rp|50–1}} They landed in St Aubin's Bay (at the islet where Elizabeth Castle now stands) at night, then the next morning advanced across the beach towards the town, but lost the battle. The next day they moved towards Mont Orgueil. An agreement was reached with the invaders that the island would pay a hefty ransom and they left on 9 October.<ref name="RL" />{{Rp|page=37}}

In 1412, [[Henry V of England|Henry V]] came to the throne with a renewed vigour to reclaim England's former continental possessions. In 1413, Parliament ordered the transfer of all foreign-owned property to the Crown, which led to the closure of six priorities in England and the cessation of tithes to the Church in France. Instead, the tithes from the Church's land in Jersey was reverted to the Crown. Henry's successful campaign against the French involved Jerseymen: in the siege of Cherbourg in 1418, every boat on the island was called out to support the blockade. In 1420, Henry entered Paris, leaving Jersey no longer an outpost of the English realm, leading to years of prosperity and the enlargement of many parish churches. When Henry called the bishops of Normandy to do him homage in Rouen, only Coutances obeyed. As a result, Jersey was returned to his full jurisdiction.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|page=52–3}}

From 1429, animosity towards the English rulers by the French and the subsequent rise of [[Joan of Arc]] inspired France to evict the English from mainland France, with the exception of Calais, returning Jersey to the front line.<ref name="BHJ" />{{rp|54}} This eviction cemented Jersey's Britishness. Had England not lost its possessions, France would certainly have become the dominant part of the Anglo-French combined realm, and its relative geographic and cultural proximity would have made Jersey markedly part of France.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|page=54}}