There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad-free.

Listen with Wondry Plus in the Wondry app.

As a member of NoisorPlus at noisor.com or in Apple Podcasts,

or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at IntoHistory.com. It's the early hours of January 7, 1558, in the port of Calais in northern France.

Thomas Wentworth is awake instantly. The 33-year-old has barely been in bed an hour and has

slept in his clothes

with his sword ready beside him. Grabbing the weapon, he straps it around his waist as he

crosses his chambers and halls open the door. A captain of the city guard stands outside, his face

pale in the torchlight. The attack that Thomas has long feared has finally come. Calais may be on the coast of France,

but for the last 200 years, the port and the small territory around it have been controlled by the

English. The pale of Calais, as it's known, has given England an important foothold in mainland

Europe, but its existence is an open wound for the French, and a few days ago

they launched a surprise assault. Several English fortifications surrounding Calais have already

been taken, and now the French army is outside the walls of the port itself. Thomas Wentworth

is the Lord Deputy of Calais, the man in charge of its defenses. But the city's fortifications are in disrepair,

and its garrison is undermanned. Thomas has tried to warn the English government that the

port is vulnerable, but those messages have been ignored. Now it seems it's too late.

Rushing from his quarters, Thomas emerges onto the streets of Calais.

Terrified townspeople rushed past him in the darkness, desperate to escape the French.

Thomas shouts at the top of his voice for all able-bodied men to take up arms and join him in

defending the city, but he's ignored by the stampeding crowd.

So, raising his sword, Thomas pushes through the tide of people and heads toward

...