HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Battle of Baugé, fought between the English and a Franco- Scots army on 22 March 1421 at Baugé, France, east of
Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...
, was a major defeat for the English in the
Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
. The English army was led by the king's brother Thomas, Duke of Clarence, while the Franco-Scots were led by both John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, and Gilbert Motier de La Fayette, the
Marshal of France Marshal of France (, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to General officer, generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1793–1804) ...
. English strength was 4,000 men, although only 1,500 deployed, against 5,000 French and Scots.


Background

In 1415 Henry V, with the intention of resuming the war, sailed from England to France with a force of about 10,500. He then pursued a highly successful military campaign, including the decisive victory at the Battle of Agincourt, and regained from the French crown much of England's previously held lands in France.Curry. Arms, Armies and Fortifications in the Hundred Years' War. pp. 44–45 The Scots had been in an alliance with France since 1295.Prestwich. The Plantagenets. pp. 304–305 In 1419 the situation in France was desperate.
Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
was lost to the English and
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
to the
Burgundians The Burgundians were an early Germanic peoples, Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared east in the middle Rhine region in the third century AD, and were later moved west into the Roman Empire, in Roman Gaul, Gaul. In the first and seco ...
. France was in a state of an ongoing civil war between the
Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
faction and the supporters of the dukes of Burgundy. In these deteriorating circumstances, the Dauphin appealed to the Scots for help. A Scottish army was assembled under the leadership of John, Earl of Buchan, and Archibald, Earl of Wigtown, and from late 1419 to 1421 the Scottish army became the mainstay of the Dauphin’s defence of the lower Loire valley.Brown. The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Late Medieval Scotland, 1300–1455. pp. 216–218 When Henry returned to England in 1421, he left his heir presumptive, Thomas, Duke of Clarence, in charge of the remaining army. Following the King's instructions, the Duke of Clarence led 4000 men in raids through the provinces of Anjou and
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
.Wagner. Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years' War. pp. 43–44 This chevauchée met with little resistance, and by Good Friday, 21 March, the English army had made camp near the little town of Vieil-Baugé. The Franco-Scots army of about 5000 also arrived in the Vieil-Baugé area to block the English army's progress. It was commanded by the Earl of Buchan and the new Marshal of France, the Seigneur of La Fayette; however, the English forces were dispersed, and, significantly, many of the English archers had ridden off in search of plunder or forage. On Easter Saturday, one of these foraging groups captured a Scots man-at-arms who was able to provide the Duke of Clarence with intelligence on the 5000 strong Scottish army. Clarence was keen to engage the enemy; however, he had a problem: the following day was Easter Sunday, one of the most holy days in the Christian calendar, when a battle would be unthinkable. A two-day delay was also deemed as out of the question.Neillands. The Hundred Years' War. p. 233, According to the chronicles of Walter Bower both commanders agreed to a short truce for Easter.Macdougall. An Antidote to the English p. 65


Battle

There are several accounts of the Battle of Baugé; they may vary in the detail; however, most agree that principal factor in the Franco-Scottish victory was the rashness of the Duke of Clarence. It seems that the Duke of Clarence did not realise how big the Franco-Scottish army was as he decided to rely on the element of surprise and attack immediately. He discounted the advice of his lieutenants, the Earl of Huntingdon and Gilbert Umfraville, to consolidate his own force and position; instead he ordered the Earl of Salisbury to round up all the archers and follow him as soon as possible. Clarence then with only about 1500 men-at-arms available, and virtually no archers, charged the Franco-Scottish lines. The Scots rallied hastily, and battle was joined at a bridge which Clarence attempted to cross. A hundred Scottish archers, under Sir Robert Stewart of Ralston, reinforced by the retinue of Hugh Kennedy, held the bridge and prevented passage long enough for the Earl of Buchan to rally the rest of his army.G. L. Harriss, ‘Thomas , duke of Clarence (1387–1421)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept 201
accessed 30 May 2013
/ref> When Clarence finally forced his way across, he was confronted with the main body of the Franco-Scottish army; its men-at-arms were dismounted and were well defended by the Scottish archers. In the ensuing melée, John Carmichael of Douglasdale broke his lance unhorsing the Duke of Clarence. There are several versions of how Clarence met his death, but, according to ''Bower'', the Scottish knight Sir John Swinton wounded the prince in his face, but it was Alexander Buchanan who is credited with killing the Duke with his mace and holding the dead Duke's coronet aloft on his lance in triumph. Another version stated that a Highland Scot, Alexander Macausland of Lennox, was responsible for Clarence's demise, whereas the Burgundian chronicler Georges Chastellain has the Duke killed by a Frenchman.See Francis M. Nichol
The Battle of Bauge, and the Personages Engaged in it
in John Gough Nichols ' The Herald and Genealogist, Volume 5.' pp. 340–351 for a discussion on the variation of details and sources on how Clarence met his death.
Later on in the day, probably in the evening, decisive action was taken by Salisbury, who, having succeeded in rounding up the English archers, used a contingent of them to rescue what was left of the English force and retrieve some of the bodies of the fallen, including that of Clarence.Matusiak. Henry V. pp. 218–219


Aftermath

However, the Scots allowed the remnant of the English army, led by Salisbury, to escape and so missed an opportunity to remove the English from France. Nevertheless, the battle did secure the reputation of the Scottish army in France. On hearing of the Scottish victory,
Pope Martin V Pope Martin V (; ; January/February 1369 – 20 February 1431), born Oddone Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 November 1417 to his death in February 1431. His election effectively ended the We ...
passed comment by reiterating a common medieval saying, that "Verily the Scots are the antidote of the English." The Dauphin was able to exploit the victory at Baugé by announcing his intention to invade English-held Normandy. He made Archibald Douglas, Earl of Wigtown, the Count of Longueville and Lord of Dun-le-Roi. Sir John Stewart of Darnley received the lands of Aubigny-sur-Nere and Concressault, whilst the Earl of Buchan was made Constable of France. In 1422 the Dauphin created the "hundred men-at-arms of the King's bodyguard", known as the "Hundred Lances of France", to supplement the 24 archers of the Garde Ecossaise. The Hundred Lances eventually became the company known as the Gendarmerie of France, who distinguished themselves at Fontenoy in 1745. John Carmichael was elected bishop of Orléans in 1426, and was one of the 6 bishops to attend the coronation of the Dauphin as Charles VII in 1429 at Rheims. Hugh Kennedy of Ardstinchar,
Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ;  – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
’s Scottish Captain and known to the French as Canede, was granted the right to quarter his coat of arms with the
fleur-de-lis The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...
of France. Meanwhile, Henry V had been busy in England with his wife Catherine of Valois. Catherine had been crowned at Westminster in late February. Soon after the queen's coronation, Henry and Catherine had set out on separate tours of England. It was while Henry was in the north of England he was informed of the disaster at Baugé and the death of his brother. He is said, by contemporaries, to have borne the news manfully. Henry returned to France with an army of 4000–5000 men. He arrived in
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...
on 10 June, before going on to Paris (which was occupied by the England-friendly Burgundian forces under Philip the Good); he then visited
Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...
and Gâtinais before returning to Paris. Several key southern towns were still loyal to the Dauphinist forces, leading Henry to decide to remove them as a factor for good. After taking the first town, he moved to lay siege to the strongly fortified Dauphin-held town of Meaux. It turned out to be more difficult to overcome than first thought. The siege began about 6 October, and the town held for seven months before finally falling on 11 May 1422. Whilst on his campaign in France, Henry fell ill and soon died (probably of
dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...
) on 31 August 1422. England's war in France continued under the Duke of Bedford's generalship, and the English won several battles including a decisive victory at the Battle of Verneuil (17 August 1424). At the battle of Baugé, Clarence had attacked the Franco-Scots army without the support of his archers. At Verneuil the English archers, although initially routed by a Milanese cavalry charge, later rallied and fought to devastating effect. The result of the battle was to virtually destroy the Dauphin's field army. By that time James I, who had returned to Scotland, was reluctant to send more relief to the French, and Scottish expeditions in aid of France were no longer a factor in the war.Wagner. Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years' War. pp.307–308R. A. Griffiths, ‘Henry VI (1421–1471)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept 201
accessed 1 June 2013
/ref>


Notable casualties and captives


English deaths

* Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence * John Grey, 1st Earl of Tankerville * John de Ros, 7th Baron de Ros *William de Ros * Gilbert V de Umfraville


English captives

* John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset captured by Laurence Vernon * Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, captured by Tanneguy du Châtel. * John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon captured by Sir John Sibbald of Balgonie * Thomas Beaufort captured by Sir John Stewart of Darnley * Walter FitzWalter, 7th Baron FitzWalter captured by Henry Cunningham


French deaths

*Charles le Bouteiller *Guérin de Fontaine


See also

* Auld Alliance


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bauge, Battle of 1421 1421 in England 1420s in France Conflicts in 1421 Battles involving England Battles involving France Battles involving Scotland Battles of the Hundred Years' War Auld Alliance Battles between England and Scotland History of Maine-et-Loire Military history of Pays de la Loire 15th-century military history of Scotland 1420s in Scotland Hundred Years' War, 1415–1453