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User:Gog the Mild/Breton Civil War, 1341–1343

Background

Further information: War of the Breton Succession

During the first half of the fourteenth century the Duchy of Brittany, while a part of the Kingdom of France for most purposes, was in many ways an independent principality.[1] Nevertheless, when the Hundred Years' War broke out in 1337 between France and England the Duke of Brittany, John III (r. 1312–1341), fought alongside his feudal lord the King of France, Philip VI (r. 1328–1350). John died on 30 April 1341, leaving a disputed succession, with both his niece, Joan of Penthièvre, and his younger half brother, John of Montfort, claiming the dukedom; Joan was married to Charles of Blois, a well connected and militarily orientated French nobleman who was also a nephew of the King of France. Complicating the legal situation – which was unprecedented in Breton law – John III seems to have on separate occasions formally promised the succession to both John of Montfort and Charles of Blois.[2][3][4]

By the end of 1341 John's cause was being supported by Edward III, the English king, as an extension of the war with France. This was part of Edward's "provincial strategy", whereby he sided with French vassals of Philip in their disagreements with him. This promoted Edward's claim to be the rightful king of France and potentially created military allies.[5] Strategically Edward saw the chance to set up a ruler in Brittainy at least partially under his control which would greatly aid England's naval war as well as give a ready entry to France for English armies. [6] The French declared Charles the rightful duke. Philip found the idea of bringing the traditionally semi-autonomous province more firmly under royal control by having a relative as the duke attractive; he was willing to commit considerable military resources and despatched an army to support him. This army overran all of eastern Brittainy apart from Rennes and captured John.[citation needed][note 1]

While these events were taking place, the Truce of Espléchin was in force between France and England. Ostensibly halting all fighting, in practice it prevented either country from deploying their main field armies, but was otherwise ill observed. Originally due to expire on 24 June 1341 it was extended to 29 August on 9 June, to 14 September on 10 August and on 12 September for nine months to 24 June 1342. Fighting on a large scale continued in south-west France and at sea as both sides prepared to mobilise major forces once the truce expired.[9][10]

John's wife, Jeanne of Flanders, was in Rennes when news of John's capture arrived. She acted rapidly, decisively and aggressively. She recalled the field army from western Brittany, took command[11][12] and moved to Hennebont. This was a small but strongly walled town with access to the sea and from there Jeanne retained control of most of western Brittany, setting up her two-year-old son, also John, as the faction's figurehead and heir to his father's claim to the duchy. She despatched her senior counsellor, Amaury de Clisson, to Edward III with the ducal treasury to encourage active English intervention and waited on events.[11][12]

English intervention

Colour photograph of a small medieval-era single-masted sailing ship
In 1962 a well-preserved wreck of a cog dated to 1380 was found near Bremen, Germany. This is a full-size reproduction. Merchant vessels such as these formed the bulk of the English fleet.[13][14]

English reinforcements took a long time to arrive and the flow of events went against the Montfortists. In May 1342 Rennes fell and Hennebont besieged as Charles and Philip pushed their area of control westward.[12] A small force, 234 men, arrived under Sir Walter Mauny in May and relieved the siege of Hennebont.[15] The Truce of Espléchin expired and in July the English readied a larger force, even as Vannes and Auray fell to Charles's forces.[16] They moved on to besiege Auray and, again, Hennebont; both fell. By August little was left to Jeanne's forces, most of whom were besieged in the western port of Brest by a large army and blockaded from the sea by 14 mercenary Genoese galleys.[17] Brest was on the brink of surrender when the English arrived on 18 August. Their fleet of 140 converted merchantmen and an unknown number of galleys took the Genoese galleys by surprise and 11 were burnt.[18][16]

class=notpageimage|
A map of Brittany, with modern administrative boundaries, showing the locations of some of the places mentioned in the text

The English ships carried 1,350 men,[18] a force far inferior to that of the French besieging Brest. But, seeing so many English ships crowded into the Brest Roads and the English vanguard disembarking onto the beach, they anticipated an attack by a vast host. Charles promptly broke off the siege and withdrew 65 kilometres (40 mi), abandoning western Brittany, where the populace strongly favoured the Montfort cause.[19][20] Part of Charles' force withdrew along the south coast of Brittany, but the bulk of the army accompanied him to Guingamp.[21] Here he concentrated his forces and called up local levies.[19] The English were commanded by William, Earl of Northampton who was reinforced by 800 men under Robert of Artois a few days after landing. He also absorbed several other small English forces and an unknown number of John of Montfort's Breton partisans.[21] Edward III was planning to follow on with a further substantial force, so Northampton's first mission was to secure a port on the north coast of Brittany.[21]

Notes, citations and sources

Notes

  1. ^ John surrendered on the granting of a safe conduct to Paris and back by John, Duke of Normandy, King Philip's oldest son, who escorted him. He was released in 1943 on condition that he gave up the struggle. He stayed away from Brittany until his death in 1345.[7][8]

Citations

  1. ^ Sumption 1990, pp. 17, 34–35.
  2. ^ Sumption 1990, pp. 370–371.
  3. ^ Burne 1999, pp. 66–67.
  4. ^ Graham-Goering 2020, pp. 47–49.
  5. ^ Ormrod 1990, p. 17.
  6. ^ Allmand 2001, p. 14.
  7. ^ Sumption 1990, pp. 388–391, 432.
  8. ^ Mortimer 2007, pp. 204, 219.
  9. ^ Wagner 2006, pp. 122–123.
  10. ^ Sumption 1990, pp. 358–359, 379–380, 383, 385.
  11. ^ a b Sumption 1990, pp. 389–390.
  12. ^ a b c Mortimer 2007, p. 204.
  13. ^ Rodger 2004, p. 120.
  14. ^ Rose 2007, p. 16.
  15. ^ Sumption 1990, p. 393.
  16. ^ a b DeVries 1998, p. 139.
  17. ^ Sumption 1990, pp. 393, 397–398.
  18. ^ a b Rodger 2004, p. 100.
  19. ^ a b Burne 1999, p. 70.
  20. ^ Sumption 1990, pp. 399–400.
  21. ^ a b c Sumption 1990, p. 400.

Sources

  • Allmand, Christopher (2001). The Hundred Years' War: England and France at War, c. 1300–c. 1450. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-31923-2.
  • Ayton, Andrew (2007) [2005]. "The Battle of Crécy: Context and Significance". In Ayton, Andrew & Preston, Philip (eds.). The Battle of Crécy, 1346. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. pp. 1–34. ISBN 978-1-84383-115-0.
  • Bennett, Matthew (1999). "The Development of Battle Tactics in the Hundred Years War". In Curry, Anne; Hughes, Michael (eds.). Arms, Armies and Fortifications in the Hundred Years War. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer. pp. 1–20. ISBN 978-0-85115-755-9.
  • Burne, Alfred (1999) [1955]. The Crécy War. Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions. ISBN 978-1-84022-210-4.
  • Curry, Anne (2002). The Hundred Years' War 1337–1453. Essential Histories. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-269-2.
  • DeVries, Kelly (1998) [1996]. Infantry Warfare in the Early Fourteenth Century. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-567-8.
  • Edge, David; Paddock, John (1988). Arms & Armor of the Medieval Knight. New York: Crescent Books. ISBN 978-0-517-64468-3.
  • Graham-Goering, Erika (2020). Princely Power in Late Medieval France: Jeanne de Penthièvre and the War for Brittany. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-80554-4.
  • Harari, Yuval N. (2007). "For a Sack-full of Gold Écus: Calais 1350". Special Operations in the Age of Chivalry, 1100–1550. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. pp. 109–124. ISBN 978-1-84383-292-8.
  • Livingstone, Marilyn & Witzel, Morgen (2004). The Road to Crécy: The English Invasion of France, 1346. London: Routledge (published 19 November 2004). ISBN 978-0-582-78420-8.
  • Mallett, Michael (1974). Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy. London: Bodley Head. ISBN 978-0-370-10502-4.
  • Magier, Mariusz; Nowak, Adrian; et al. (2017). "Numerical Analysis of English Bows used in Battle of Crécy". Problemy Techniki Uzbrojenia. 142 (2): 69–85. doi:10.5604/01.3001.0010.5152. ISSN 1230-3801.
  • Mitchell, Russell (2008). "The Longbow-Crossbow Shootout at Crécy (1346): Has the "Rate of Fire Commonplace" Been Overrated?". In L. J. Andrew Villalon & Donald J. Kagay (eds.). The Hundred Years War (Part II): Different Vistas. Leiden: Brill. pp. 233–257. ISBN 978-90-04-16821-3.
  • Mortimer, Ian (2007). The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation. London: Pimlico. ISBN 978-1-84413-530-1.
  • Ormrod, W. Mark (1990). Edward III. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11910-7. OCLC 1039705847.
  • Pratt, P. L. (2010). "Testing the Bows". In Hardy, Robert (ed.). Longbow: A Social and Military History. Yeovil, Somerset: Haynes Publishing. pp. 205–217. ISBN 978-1-85260-620-6.
  • Prestwich, Michael (2007) [2005]. "The Battle of Crécy". In Ayton, Andrew & Preston, Philip (eds.). The Battle of Crécy, 1346. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. pp. 139–157. ISBN 978-1-84383-115-0.
  • Rodger, N.A.M. (2004). The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain. 660–1649. Vol. I. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-029724-9.
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  • Rogers, Clifford J. (2008). "The Battle of Agincourt". In Villalon, L. J. Andrew; Donald J., Kagay (eds.). The Hundred Years' War (Part II): Different Vistas. Leiden: Brill. pp. 37–132. ISBN 978-90-474-4283-7.
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  • Strickland, Matthew & Hardy, Robert (2011). The Great Warbow: From Hastings to the Mary Rose. Somerset: J. H. Haynes & Co. ISBN 978-0-85733-090-1.
  • Sumption, Jonathan (1990). The Hundred Years War 1: Trial by Battle. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-13895-1.
  • Sumption, Jonathan (1999). Trial by Fire. The Hundred Years' War. Vol. II. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-13896-8.
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