Hervé de Portzmoguer ( – 10 August 1512), also known as "Primauguet", was a Breton naval officer who was killed in action when his ship blew up at the Battle of Saint-Mathieu.

Early life and military career

Hervé de Portzmoguer was born in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

into a

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

family. Upon coming of age, he joined the French navy and escorted merchant

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

s, protecting them from attacks by pirates and enemy warships. His motto is said to have been ''War vor ha war zouar'' (

for "On sea and on land"). De Portzmoguer also plundered several foreign merchantmen in violation of French law, and in 1506 he was convicted of looting a Scottish merchant ship. Operation out of

Morlaix Morlaix (; , ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. History The Battle of Morlaix, part of the Hundred Years' War, was fought near the town on 30 Septembe ...

, he attacked English merchantmen, which resulted in a complain from the English ambassador to France to

Louis XII Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), also known as Louis of Orléans was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples (as Louis III) from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second ...

, who wrote that de Portzmoguer had captured and looted "more than thirty vessels". In retaliation, English forces under Admiral Edward Howard looted and burned de Portzmoguer's mansion in the spring of 1512.

Death

On 10 August 1512, de Portzmoguer fought in the Battle of Saint-Mathieu against a English fleet under Howard. His ship, ''Marie de la Cordelière'', blew up in a struggle with the English warship ''Regent'', destroying both ships. Of the crew of ''Marie de la Cordelière'', 1,230 were killed. The incident immediately became famous, and the French poet-scholar Germain de Brie wrote a Latin poem which portrayed de Portzmoguer in such a heroic light that English writer

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...

attacked it mercilessly. In his epigrams addressed to de Brie, More ridiculed the poem's description of "Hervé fighting indiscriminately with four weapons and a shield; perhaps the fact slipped your mind, but your reader ought to have been informed in advance that Hervé had five hands." The explosion that killed de Portzmoguer was subsequently portrayed as a deliberate act of self-sacrificing heroism. He is supposed to have said "''Nous allons fêter saint Laurent qui périt par le feu!''" ("We will celebrate the feast of

Saint Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence (; 31 December 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the Persecution of Christians, persecution of the Christians that the Roman Empire, Rom ...

, who died by fire!") before blowing up the ship to avoid its otherwise inevitable capture by the English. In fact there is no evidence that the explosion was intentional.Max Guérout, LE MYTHE DE LA CORDELIÈRE
/ref> The Breton poet

Théodore Botrel Jean-Baptiste-Théodore-Marie Botrel (14 September 1868 – 28 July 1925) was a French singer-songwriter, poet and playwright. He is best known for his popular songs about his native Brittany, of which the most famous is ''La Paimpolaise''. Dur ...

wrote a heroic poem about this version of the incident. Another heroic poem was written by Alan Simon in the song "''Belle Marie de la Cordelière''" for his 2008 rock opera '' Anne de Bretagne''.

French ships named for him

Six ships in the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

were named after him, using his gallicised nickname "Primauguet" - see French ship ''Primauguet''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herve de Portzmoguer 15th-century Breton people Military personnel killed in action