The Battle of Bourgthéroulde was a skirmish between the forces of king

Henry I of England Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in ...

led by Odo Borleng and rebel forces led by Waleran de Beaumont which took place on 26 March 1124. The battle took place south-west of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

in the

Duchy of Normandy The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between King Charles III of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans. From 1066 until 1204, as a result of the Norman c ...

, not far from the location of the

Battle of Brémule The Battle of Brémule was fought on 20 August 1119 between Henry I of England and Louis VI the Fat of France. Henry I had to defend his holdings in Normandy several times and his victory at this battle repelled a French invasion. The French defe ...

which had been fought five years earlier. The exact site of the battle is unknown. Although the battle is considered to be a minor skirmish between two small bands of soldiers, it had a profound impact on the stability of the region during a time when the ownership of the duchy was in question. The battle was the first of many early examples of the English primarily using

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

s and

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

(in this case, dismounted

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

) in battle before the

infantry revolution The Military Revolution is the theory that a series of radical changes in military strategy and tactics during the 16th and 17th centuries resulted in major lasting changes in governments and society. The theory was introduced by Michael Roberts i ...

and the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

. After the battle, the English would continue to employ this tactic, as seen in the

Battle of the Standard The Battle of the Standard, sometimes called the Battle of Northallerton, took place on 22 August 1138 on Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire, England. English forces under William of Aumale repelled a Scottish army led by King David ...

, but would later drop its use for more conventional medieval tactics in the late 12th and 13th centuries.

Origin

Rebellions and wars had been occurring in the Duchy of Normandy for over two decades before the events of the battle.

Robert Curthose Robert Curthose, or Robert II of Normandy ( 1051 – 3 February 1134, french: Robert Courteheuse / Robert II de Normandie), was the eldest son of William the Conqueror and succeeded his father as Duke of Normandy in 1087, reigning until 1106. ...

, Henry's older brother and

Duke of Normandy In the Middle Ages, the duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in north-western Kingdom of France, France. The duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles the Simple, Charles III in ...

, attacked Henry to take the throne of England for himself; this prompted Henry to invade Normandy, ending in the

Battle of Tinchebray The Battle of Tinchebray (alternative spellings: Tinchebrai or Tenchebrai) took place on 28 September 1106, in Tinchebray (today in the Orne ''département'' of France), Normandy, between an invading force led by King Henry I of England, and th ...

and allowed Henry to usurp the title for himself. Constant border conflicts with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and a claim to the Duchy by

William Clito William Clito (25 October 110228 July 1128) was a member of the House of Normandy who ruled the County of Flanders from 1127 until his death and unsuccessfully claimed the Duchy of Normandy. As the son of Robert Curthose, the eldest son of William ...

, Robert's son, prompted

Louis VI of France Louis VI (late 1081 – 1 August 1137), called the Fat (french: link=no, le Gros) or the Fighter (french: link=no, le Batailleur), was King of the Franks from 1108 to 1137. Chronicles called him "King of Saint-Denis". Louis was the first member ...

to invade Normandy, and ended in the

which was an English victory. Norman rebels who continued to support William's claim to the Duchy continued to cause disorder in the region. One of these rebels, Waleran de Beaumont, Count of

Meulan Meulan-en-Yvelines (; formerly just ''Meulan'') is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It hosted part of the sailing events for the 1900 Summer Olympics held in neighboring Paris, and would d ...

, led a force of approximately 40 local

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

s, including Amaury de Montfort, to raid the area south-west of Rouen near Vatteville. In response to the raids, Odo Borleng,

castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

of Bernay, gathered knights of Henry's household known as the ''Familia Regis'', and raised a force from the local garrisons. In total, the English army numbered around 300 men.Hill 2015, p. 142. The king himself, however, did not attend the campaign and resided in

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Hill 2015, pg. 143. Other notable members of Odo's party were William of Tancarville, the king's chamberlain, and Ralph of Bayeux, the

of Evreux. Waleran's force was making its way from the rebellion's main headquarters at the castle of

Beaumont-le-Roger Beaumont-le-Roger () is a commune in the department of Eure in Normandy region in northern France. Geography The commune is located in the valley of the Risle on the edge of the forest with which it shares its name. It is crossed by the Paris- ...

to raid when their path was blocked by Odo's army on March 26. The forces met in the Brotonne forest north-west of Bourgtheroulde although little is known about the exact details of the terrain where the battle took place.

Battle

Odo decided to dismount most of his knights, including himself, contrary to the conventional mounted tactics employed by knights of the time. Furthermore, he placed 40 archers on the front line to weaken the enemy cavalry before they could reach his force, specifically by targeting their horses. Some primary sources of the battle also claim that the English had

horse archers A horse archer is a cavalryman armed with a bow and able to shoot while riding from horseback. Archery has occasionally been used from the backs of other riding animals. In large open areas, it was a highly successful technique for hunting, f ...

that were used to flank the enemy; however, this was extremely rare in western Europe at the time and is considered unlikely. Waleran's plan of attack was simply to charge the English line with his mounted knights, which he attempted to do. The English archers fired their arrows continuously as the rebels charged, unhorsing most of them before even making contact with the English knights on foot. Presumably, the mounted cavalry that were held in reserve were immediately tasked with chasing down any fleeing enemies and were able to capture them, including Waleran himself.

Aftermath

Most of the rebels were captured, and there were no fatalities. Henry brought up the question of the fate of the rebels with his court in Rouen.Freeman 1876, pg. 132. Two of the rebels, Geoffrey de Tourville and Odo du Pin, refused to pay homage to the king and were thus sentenced to be blinded,Hill 2015, pg. 144. while another rebel by the name of Luke of Barre was to be punished similarly for writing satirical poems about the king; however, on hearing his fate he committed suicide via self-inflicted head trauma. Waleran was treated well relative to his former allies and was imprisoned first at Rouen, then at

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. History B ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

and finally at

Wallingford Castle Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire (historically Berkshire), adjacent to the River Thames. Established in the 11th century as a motte-and-bailey design within an Anglo-Sa ...

, before being released in 1129. Overall, the result of this conflict was in favour of Henry, who brought an end to the conflicts in Normandy in his lifetime.

Notes

References

Hill, Paul (2015). ''The Norman Commanders: Masters of Warfare 911-1135.'' Pen and Sword. pp. 142–43. {{ISBN, 978-1783462285. Freeman, Edward Augustus (1876). ''The History of the Norman Conquest of England: The effects of the Norman conquest 1876.'' Clarendon Press. pp. 132–33.

External links

A Brace of Battles: Bremule (1119) and Bourgtheroulde (1124)

The Myths of Medieval Warfare
(Paragraphs 24 & 25)
Killing or Clemency? Ransom, Chivalry and Changing Attitudes to Defeated Opponents in Britain and Northern France, 7-12th centuries
(Paragraph 28) Conflicts in 1124