The siege of Cambrai was undertaken by an English army led by King

Edward III of England Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ...

during September and October 1339 in the early stage of the Hundred Years War. At the time Cambrai, located in the Nord department of the Hauts-de-France region in France, was not part of France but a

Free imperial city In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. In 1339, Cambrai became the centre of a struggle between supporters of the Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and William II, Count of Hainaut, on the one hand, and those of king Philip VI of France on the other. Among Philip VI's allies were counts

John I of Bohemia John the Blind or John of Luxembourg ( lb, Jang de Blannen; german: link=no, Johann der Blinde; cz, Jan Lucemburský; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of ...

Philip III of Navarre Philip III ( eu, Filipe, es, Felipe, french: Philippe; 27 March 1306 – 16 September 1343), called the Noble or the Wise, was King of Navarre from 1328 until his death. He was born a minor member of the French royal family but gained prominen ...

, Aymon, Count of Savoy,

Humbert II of Viennois Humbert II de la Tour-du-Pin (1312 – 4 May 1355) was the Dauphin of the Viennois from 1333 to 16 July 1349. Humbert was the last dauphin before the title went to the French crown, to be bestowed on the heir apparent. Character Humbert was a s ...

and vassals of King Alfonso XI of Castile and Leon. Cambrai had allowed the French to garrison the city with 300 men-at-arms. Meanwhile, Edward III left Flanders in August 1339, where he had been on the continent since July 1338. Edward had asserted his rights to the throne of France, openly defying the authority of Philip VI. Wanting to satisfy his Bavarian allies, he decided to seize Cambrai. Edward asked the

bishop of Cambrai The Archdiocese of Cambrai ( la, Archdiocesis Cameracensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Cambrai'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, comprising the arrondissements of Avesnes-sur-Help ...

, Guillaume d'Auxonne, a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire, to let him in, however the bishop also had instructions from Philip VI informing him to hold on for a few days until he arrived with a French army. Guillaume proclaimed his allegiance to France and prepared to resist a siege. The defence of Cambrai was provided by the governor Étienne de la Baume, grand master of the crossbowmen of France. The French garrison had artillery comprising 10 guns, five of iron and five of other metals. This is one of the earliest instances to the use of cannon in siege warfare. Edward launched several attacks from 26 September, with Cambrai resisting every assault for five weeks. When Edward learned on the 6 October that Philip was approaching with a large army, he abandoned the siege on 8 October. He retreated across Picardy, devastating the plains of Cambresis along the way. A strong English garrison was left in the castle of Thun-l'Eveque. Edward then proceeded to Saint-Quentin. On 23 October, the armies of England and France faced each other across the plain between La Capelle and Buironfosse. They separated without engaging in battle.

Bibliography

* J. Aicard, F. Bourquelot, A. Bravais, F. Chassériaux, A. Deloye, D. Denne-Baron, Desportes, P. Gervais, Jung, Léon Lalanne, Ludovic Lalanne, Le Chatelier, A. Le Pileur, Ch. Louandre, Ch. Martins, V. Raulin, F. Régnier, L. Vaudoyer et Ch. Vergé, ''Patria : La France ancienne et moderne morale et matérielle ou Collection encyclopédique et statistique de tous les faits relatifs à l'histoire physique et intellectuelle de la France et de ses colonies'', Paris, 1847, p. 1244 * N. Chareyron, ''Jean le Bel maître de Froissart grand imagier de la Guerre de Cent Ans,'' Ed. De Boeck Université, Bruxelles, 1996, p. 220 * L. Figuier, ''Exposition et histoire des principales découvertes scientifiques,'' t. 3, 1858, p. 336 * A. Ch. N. de Lateyssonnière, ''Recherches historiques sur le département de l'Ain,'' t. 3, Bourg, 1841, pp. 284–293 * A. Guilbert, ''Histoire des villes de France'', Paris, 1845, p. 274 * Pères Richard et Giraud, ''Bibliothèque Sacrée et Dictionnaire Universel,'' t. 20, Paris, 1827, p. 206 * C. Robert, ''Numismatique de Cambrai,'' Paris, 1861, p. 100

References

{{reflist Conflicts in 1339 Cambrai 1339 in England 1330s in France Edward III of England Cambrai