for France, the army that won at Crecy, the
army that won at Agincourt. All the glory of mediaeval England
Southampton has seen pass by.
That the abandonment of Guienne and Aquitaine by the English was a
severe blow to Southampton is certain, but still it had the Venice
trade, the "Flanders Galleys" laden with the spoil of the East, the
wines of the Levant, the "fashions of proud Italy"; and the real
decline of Southampton dates from the moment when Venice too was
wounded even to death by the discovery of the Cape route to the East
and the rise of Portugal.
As it happens we have at the time of her greatest prosperity a
description of the town from the hand of Leland. "There be," he writes,
"in the fair and right strong wall of New Hampton, eight gates. Over
Barr Gate by north is the _Domus Civica_, and under it the town prison.
There is a great suburb without it, and a great double dyke, well
watered on each hand without it. The East Gate is strong, not so large
as Barr Gate, and in its suburb stands St Mary's Church, to the South
Gate joins a Castelet well ordinanced to beat that quarter of the
haven.
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