Battle of Bonchurch - Background

Background

The Italian War of 1542-1546 occurred because the disputes between the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Francis I of France had not been settled by the Italian War of 1535-1538, and those disputes resulted in a war between France, aided by the Ottoman Empire and Jülich-Cleves-Berg, and the Holy Roman Empire, aided by the Kingdom of England, Spain, Saxony, and Brandenburg. After two years of fighting Charles V, and Henry VIII of the Kingdom of England, invaded France. In September 1544, English forces captured Boulogne. France attempted to re-capture the city by force, but failed. Peace talks to end the fighting between England and France did not yield any positive results, partly because Henry VIII refused to consider returning Boulogne. As a result of the failure of diplomacy to get back Boulogne for France, Francis I decided to invade England, hoping that Henry VIII would return Boulogne to France in return for French forces leaving England. Thirty thousand French troops and a fleet of some 400 vessels were assembled. The fleet left Le Havre, in France, on 16 July.

On 18 July, the hostile engagement of French and English ships by the English coast marked the beginning of the Battle of the Solent. On that day, the outnumbered English ships withdrew. The English hoped to lure the French ships into the shallows and narrow channels of the Spithead, but the French wanted to attack the English in the more open waters of the eastern Spithead where the English ships could be encircled and annihilated. To entice the English ships to abandon their defensive position, and engage the numerically greater French ships, the French decided to invade the Isle of Wight, burning buildings and crops. France hoped that the residents of the Isle of Wight would support them, and rebel against England, and that the Isle of Wight could be used a base to challenge the English. French troops landed on the Isle of Wight, on 21 July. England would oppose this invasion of the Isle of Wight.

The Hundred Years War had resulted in the society which existed on the Isle of Wight being very militarised. Every male adult was obligated to fight when needed, and they participated in regular military training. The Captain of the Isle of Wight, Sir Richard Worsley of Appledurcombe House, is considered to have been a “capable and energetic commander”. He was assisted by Sir Edward Bellingham, an officer in the regular English army, along with a headquarters staff. The English militiamen were equipped with "long pikes topped with a bill hook, and daggers, knives and clubs for close fighting", as well as the Welsh longbow. The French soldiers were equipped with firearms, and steel blades. The militiamen had the advantage of superior morale, speed and agility.

The plan for the advance of the French soldiers at Bonchurch may have been to burn Wroxall and Appuldurcombe, capture and consolidate a position on the heights of St. Boniface Down, and then move towards Sandown to link up with a French landing there. The area around Bonchurch became important in its own right because Dunnose Point, near Bonchurch, offered a safe anchorage for French ships. There were also sources of fresh water nearby that could be used by the soldiers and sailors of the fleet.