Siege Of Breteuil

The siege of Breteuil was the investment of the Norman town of Breteuil, held by partisans of Charles II, King of Navarre, by French forces. It lasted from April to about 20 August 1356. It was interrupted on 5 July when a small English army commanded by Henry, Earl of Lancaster relieved and resupplied it. The French king, John II, attempted to bring Lancaster to battle with the much larger French royal army, but Lancaster marched away and the attempt failed. John then renewed the siege of Breteuil.

The French force attracted great contemporary praise for its splendour and the high status of many of its participants, but it made little progress as the town was well garrisoned and had been left by Lancaster with food for a year. John attempted to mine under the walls, to no avail. Meanwhile, the Black Prince, the son and heir of the English King, had assembled an Anglo-Gascon army at Bergerac and marched into French-held territory, devastating the countryside as he went. At some point in August an unusually large mobile siege tower was pushed up to the walls of Breteuil and a large assault launched. The defenders set fire to the tower and repulsed the attack, inflicting many casualties. Taking Breteuil became a matter of prestige for John and he refused to take the army south to face the Black Prince.

Eventually, some time around 20 August, John gave the garrison of Breteuil free passage to the Cotentin and a huge bribe in order to persuade them to vacate Breteuil. The French army promptly marched south as all available forces were concentrated at Chartres to oppose the Black Prince. John and his army pursued the Black Prince's force, cut off their retreat and forced it to battle at Poitiers. The French were defeated with heavy casualties and John was captured.

Background

Since the Norman Conquest of 1066, English monarchs had held titles and lands within France, the possession of which made them vassals of the kings of France. On 24 May 1337, following a series of disagreements between Philip VI of France () and Edward III of England (), Philip's Great Council in Paris agreed that the lands held by Edward III in France should be taken into Philip's direct control on the grounds that Edward III was in breach of his obligations as a vassal. This marked the start of the Hundred Years' War, which was to last 116 years.

In 1346 Edward led an army across northern France, defeating the French at the Battle of Crécy and successfully laying siege to the port of Calais. Following further inconclusive military manoeuvres by each side, and given that both sides were financially exhausted, on 28 September the Truce of Calais, intended to bring a temporary halt to the fighting, was agreed. This strongly favoured the English, confirming them in possession of all of their territorial conquests. It was to run for nine months to 7 July 1348, but was extended repeatedly over the years until it was formally set aside in 1355. The truce did not stop ongoing naval clashes between the two countries, nor small-scale fighting in Gascony and the Duchy of Brittany, nor occasional fighting on a larger scale.

A treaty ending the war was negotiated at Guînes and signed on 6 April 1354. The French king, now John II (), decided not to ratify it and it did not take effect. The latest extension to the truce was due to expire on 24 June. It was clear that from then both sides would be committed to full-scale war. In April 1355 Edward and his council, with the treasury in an unusually favourable financial position, decided to launch offensives that year in both northern France and Gascony. John attempted to strongly garrison his northern towns and fortifications against the expected descent by Edward III, at the same time assembling a field army; after allocating garrisons the French field army was inadequate, largely due to lack of money to recruit more men.

Prelude

While French attention was focused on the north, Edward III's eldest son, Edward of Woodstock, later commonly known as the Black Prince, arrived in Bordeaux, the capital of English-held Gascony, in September 1355 accompanied by 2,200 English soldiers. During October and November 1355 an Anglo-Gascon force of between 5,000 and 6,000 men marched from Bordeaux to Narbonne and back to Gascony. Known as the Black Prince's ''chevauchée'', this march devastated a wide swathe of French territory and sacked many French towns. While no territory was captured, enormous economic damage was done to France; the modern historian Clifford Rogers concluded that "the importance of the economic attrition of the ''chevauchée'' can hardly be exaggerated." The English component resumed the offensive after Christmas to great effect, and more than 50 French-held towns or fortifications in south-west France were captured during the following four months. Several local lords went over to the English, bringing a further 30 fortified places with them.

Money and enthusiasm for the war were running out in France. The modern historian Jonathan Sumption describes the French national administration as "fall ngapart in jealous acrimony and recrimination". Much of the north of France was openly defying John and a contemporary chronicler recorded that "the King of France was severely hated in his own realm". The town of Arras rebelled and killed loyalists. The major nobles of Normandy refused to pay taxes. On 5 April 1356 several of these nobles were dining at the table of Charles, John's eldest son, the dauphin, when John arrived and arrested ten of the most outspoken; four were summarily executed. One of those imprisoned was the inveterately treacherous Charles II, King of Navarre, who was one of the largest landholders in Normandy. The Norman nobles who had not been arrested sent to Navarre for reinforcements and turned to Edward for assistance.

First siege

During April 1356 the French took control of most of Normandy and laid siege to those fortifications which refused to surrender. The Cotentin area in the north-west was pro-Navarrese, but the French concentrated on mopping up Navarrese strongholds in central Normandy. Charles, who was also the duke of Normandy, took charge of suppressing these holdouts. The major Navarrese strongholds in central Normandy were Pont-Audemer

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