The Pale of Calais was an overseas possession of England that included the northern French city of Calais and the surrounding area. The possession was in English hands from 1347 to 1558, being captured by King Edward III of England in the aftermath of the Battle of Crecy during the Hundred Years' War. After the end of the war in 1453, Calais was the only part of mainland France to remain in English hands. In 1558, during the Italian War of 1551-59, Francis, Duke of Guise secured Calais for the French, and the Pale returned to French control. However, its inhabitants had always spoken in French and Flemish, and its loss was not of economic importance to England, which had been making large amounts of money from trade with the Netherlands.
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Location of the Pale of Calais in 1477