Elis Gruffydd, often referred to as the ‘Soldier of Calais’ was born at Gronant in Flintshire, in 1490. He ventured to London, entering the service of Sir Robert Wingfield, who undertook many forms of service for Wolsey and for Henry VIII, and later became Deputy of Calais. Elis was almost inevitably with Wingfield in garrison and on active service- he was present at the ‘Field of the Cloth of Gold’ in 1520. He was a soldier first, and saw a good deal of service becoming a Captain in what we would now call the infantry, but was also a skilled administrator and a competent writer and translator. His “Six Ages”, chronicling the world from the ‘Anglo-Welsh’ perspective from the Garden of Eden to 1552, remains to this day the most substantial single work in the Welsh language. He also kept a journal of his experiences and recorded the plight of Tudor soldiery, a substantial number of whom were Welshmen, and the competence ( or lack of it) and arrogance of many of Henry’s commanders. A Protestant, he was much influenced, it seems, by Thomas Cromwell. Elis’ active career ended at Calais, a garrison always containing significant numbers of Welshmen under arms; it seems Elis Gruffydd died in the late 1550’s.

Elis Gruffydd, though a crucial figure in understanding Wales and Welsh soldiery as a central part of Tudor military activity, is difficult to track down. He and his work remains to be brought to the forefront of the study of Wales at War. Indeed, there are occasionally, articles in journals such as “Cymmrodorion” and ‘Welsh History Review’, but, there are available two recent transcriptions, short editions of his writing on warfare. Both were originally transcribed by M.Bryn Davies, and both were published in the Journal of the Faculty of Arts of a Cairo University during and just after WWII, and updated in the last decade by Jonathan Davies. These are both published by the ‘Pike & Shot’ Society, the details of which are given at the end of this note.

“An ill jurney for the Englshemen”, Elis Gruffydd and the 1523 campaign of the Duke of Suffolk is an A5 65 page booklet containing M.Bryn Davies’ original introduction and notes, a new introduction and additional notes, footnotes and references by Jonathan Davies, and the original, most perceptive and readable  manuscript of Gruffydd. There are also ten appendices, relating to the itinerary of the appalling, misguided, meandering campaign, the military actions around Calais, and other logistical and ordnance matters. All very valuable to the enthusiast and the interested reader alike. Oman, the best known of renaissance historians referred to Suffolk’s misadventure as the ‘most ill-conceived and ill-managed war’. Quite so.

The second booklet, ‘Elis Gruffydd and the 1544 ‘Enterprises’ of Paris and Boulogne’ is a slightly larger work, again A5, but of 80 pages length. It comments, very vigorously, on the third, and final, utterly disastrous attempt by Henry VIII to invade France and assert the claims made by his predecessors. It was a pathetic failure, but he actually turned up at one stage, after the battles were over, claiming a great victory! The structure of this booklet follows that of the first; both contain good campaign maps, incidentally. There’s the original M.Bryn Davies introduction, a new contribution by Jonathan Davies and the substantial uncompromising account of the disasters, as written by Elis himself. The appendices are substantial, and fortunately a Chronology from Norfolk’s sailing to Calais in early June of 1544, to Henry’s ‘triumphant’ arrival, then the appearance of the Dauphin and the French Army before Calais’ walls in early October. There’s an appendix dealing with the logistics of the affair, and some other contemporary accounts. A poignant read for any historian.

Dr. Rob Morgan.

May  2020