Philip Of Navarre

Philip of Navarre, Count of Longueville (1336–1363) was a younger brother and supporter of Charles II of Navarre, a claimant to the French throne. The son of Philip III of Navarre and Joan II of Navarre, he married Yolande of Flanders in 1353. She was the daughter of Robert of Flanders and Joan of Brittany (from the House of Capet) and the widow of Henry IV of Bar. The marriage was childless, though by his mistress Jeannette d'Aisy Philip had two illegitimate children - Lancelot (who was granted Longueville as a gift in 1371 by his uncle Charles II of Navarre so long as he served in the company of the Duke of Brittany) and Robine (granted Longueville by her uncle Louis of Navarre in 1367). Philip and his brother Charles fought against John II of France in 1353.

Murder of Charles de la Cerda

Christmas 1353 he followed his brother Charles to Paris where they intended to pick a quarrel. On arrival they exchanged insults with Charles de la Cerda (also known as Charles of Spain), the Constable of France, in the king's presence, Philip even going so far a drawing his dagger.

Two weeks later Charles de la Cerda was travelling unescorted through Normandy when on 7 January 1354 Philip with a band of Norman and Navarrese followers including John, Count of Harcourt, the Bascon de Mareuil and Rabigot Dury, came to the village of l'Aigle and inn where Charles was spending the night. After surrounding the inn Philip stormed into Charles bedroom saying "Charles of Spain, I am Philip, son of a King, whom you have foully slandered". According to one account Charles begged for his life and promised to leave France forever, but the Bascon de Mareuil and Rabigot Dury fell upon him with four other troopers and stabbed him to death. In all eighty wounds was found on the body of Charles of Spain. The murder of Charles of Spain brought about a break in relations between the King of Navarre and the King of France and occasioned the first of Charles of Navarre's many rapprochements with the English. This time it was not to last long. Already in February Philips brother was, formally at least, reconcile to King John II. In the Treaty of Mantes concluded 22 February Charles of Navarre gained considerable territories in Lower Normandy as well as promises of pardons for Charles, his brothers and confederates for the murder of Charles of Spain.

Alliance with England

On 5 April 1356, John II unexpectedly, and to contemporaries quite shockingly, personally had Charles II arrested while he was attended a council of the leading noblemen of Normandy at Rouen. And so open war broke out between the Houses of Evreux and Valois as the King of France's armies lay siege to Evreux, Charles' administrative seat in Normandy. It fell to Philip to defend his imprisoned brother's interests in Normandy. After a brief attempt to negotiate with John II he withdrew to the Cotentin where he set up headquarters at Cherbourg and proclaimed himself his brother's lieutenant in France. Though the region had a long tradition of opposition to the French Crown the local nobility were reluctant to throw in their support as the Navarrese caused appeared doomed to fail. Philip sent his chief lieutenants Martin Henriques and Pedro Remirez back to Navarre to raise troops. There Louis, the youngest of the three brothers, was already busy raising money and seeking allies in Spain and at Avignon. However Philip knew that the resources of Navarre alone could never be enough to sustain a war against France and by the end of April he had sent to emissaries to England to seek an alliance. Though initially sceptical by 4 May the English government had decided to divert Henry, Duke of Lancaster's planned invasion of Brittany to Normandy. On 28 May Philip formally renounced his homage to the King of France and declared war on his former liege.

Henry of Lancaster arrived in the Contentin 1 June 1356 bringing with him some 1300 men. To this Philip added 300 of his own retainers. They were also joined by Robert Knolles bringing with him 800 men from the English garrisons in Brittany. The small but all mounted army rode out from Montebourg on 22 June. They were too late to save Evereux, but arrived in time to relieve and reinforce the Navarrese garrison at Pont-Audemer. From there they moved south reaching Conches-en-Ouche on 3 July only to find that the place had just fallen to the French. Driving off a small French army outside the walls of Breteuil they went to capture Verneuil by storm before turning west again on 8 July. By 13 July the army was back at Montebourg. They had failed to relieve Evreux, but brought back considerable booty making the short campaign a profitable venture for the participants. The raid also caused John II to be caught in a pointless siege of Breteuil instead of focusing on the threatening events taking place to the south. On 20 August he paid the garrison an enormous sum for surrendering the castle and rejoin Philip in the Cotentin.

The rest of the year Philip spent in England together with his Chancellor Thomas de Ladit to settle the terms of his alliance with Edward III. Philip did homage to Edward III as King of France and Duke of Normandy and promised to serve Edward against anyone except his own brothers. The formal agreement was concluded at the king's hunting lodge at Clarendon in Wiltshire. Philip was to have possession of anything own by him or his brother and keep all his conquests up to a value of 60 000 écus, a considerable sum. Edward was to have the demesne lands of the dukes of Normandy and anything else Philip might conquer. Philip was also required to surrender any place of special military or political value. Well satisfied Philip left England in early December with letters appointing him Edward III's Lieutenant in Normandy.

The capture of John II in the Battle of Poitiers on 17 September threw the French government, now headed by the Dauphin, into disarray. This allowed Philip reinforced with several shiploads of fresh soldiers from Navarre, to go on the offensive. Avranches was captured early December, by the end of 1356 Saint-Lô

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