Английская Википедия:Black Prince's chevauchée of 1355
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Use British English Шаблон:Infobox military conflict
The Black Prince's chevauchée, also known as the grande chevauchée, was a large-scale mounted raid carried out by an Anglo-Gascon force under the command of Edward, the Black Prince, between 5 October and 2 December, 1355 as a part of the Hundred Years' War. John, Count of Armagnac, who commanded the local French forces, avoided battle, and there was little fighting during the campaign.
The Anglo-Gascon force of 4,000–6,000 men marched from Bordeaux in English-held Gascony Шаблон:Convert to Narbonne and back to Gascony, devastating a wide swathe of French territory and sacking many French towns on the way. 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 aspect of the chevauchée can hardly be exaggerated."Шаблон:Sfn The English component resumed the offensive after Christmas to great effect, and more than 50 French-held towns or fortifications were captured during the following four months. In August 1356 the Black Prince headed north on another devastating chevauchée with 6,000 men; he was intercepted by the main French army, 11,000 strong, and forced to battle at Poitiers, where he decisively defeated the French and captured King John II of France.
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.Шаблон:Sfn Following a series of disagreements between Philip VI of France (Шаблон:Reign) and Edward III of England (Шаблон:Reign), on 24 May 1337 Philip's Great Council in Paris agreed that the lands held by Edward III in France should be taken back into Philip's hands 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.Шаблон:Sfn
Before the war commenced, at least 1,000 ships a year departed Gascony. Among their cargoes were more than 80,000 tuns of wine.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Efn The duty levied by the English Crown on wine from Bordeaux, the capital of Gascony, was more than all other customs duties combined and by far the largest source of state income. Bordeaux had a population of more than 50,000, greater than London's,Шаблон:Sfn and Bordeaux was possibly richer. However, by this time English Gascony had become so truncated by French encroachments that it relied on imports of food, mostly from England.Шаблон:Sfn Any interruptions to regular shipping were liable to starve Gascony and financially cripple England; the French were well aware of this.Шаблон:Sfn
Although Gascony was the cause of the war, Edward III was able to spare few resources for its defence, and previously when an English army had campaigned on the continent it had operated in northern France. In most campaigning seasons the Gascons had to rely on their own resources and had been hard-pressed by the French.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn In 1339 the French besieged Bordeaux, the capital of Gascony, even breaking into the city with a strong force before they were repulsed.Шаблон:Sfn Typically the Gascons could field 3,000–6,000 men, the large majority infantry, although up to two-thirds of them would be tied down in garrisons.Шаблон:Sfn In July 1346, Edward III landed the main English army in Normandy in northern France. Philip concentrated French forces against this threat and over the following year the Anglo-Gascons were able to push the focus of the fighting away from the heart of Gascony.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
The French port of Calais fell to the English on 3 August 1347 after an eleven-month siege and shortly after the Truce of Calais was signed.Шаблон:Sfn This was partially the result of both countries being financially exhausted.Шаблон:Sfn The same year the Black Death reached northern France and southern England,Шаблон:Sfn resulting in the death of approximately 45 per cent of the population.Шаблон:Sfn Fighting continued in Picardy and Brittany, and especially fiercely in south-west France, where the English raided deep into French territory, but no large forces took the field.Шаблон:Sfn Negotiations for a permanent peace commenced in 1353 in Avignon under the auspices of Pope Innocent VI and the war died down to skirmishes and small-scale raids.Шаблон:Sfn These talks collapsed in early 1355.Шаблон:Sfn In April 1355 Edward III and his council, with the treasury in an unusually favourable financial position, decided to launch offensives that year in both northern France and Gascony.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn John II of France (Шаблон:Reign) attempted to strongly garrison his northern towns and fortifications against the expected descent by Edward III, at the same time assembling a field army; he was unable to, largely due to lack of money.Шаблон:Sfn
Prelude
In their 1345 and 1346 Gascon campaigns, the English had pushed the main front back well beyond the borders of Gascony to the north and west, among other things guaranteeing its food supplies and putting the Gascon territory beyond reach of French advances from those directions.Шаблон:Sfn Numerous French-held castles and small towns remained within what was nominally English territory, just as the English had outposts deep within French territory.Шаблон:Sfn To the immediate south lay the County of Armagnac, largely untouched by the war.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn It was the heartland of John, Count of Armagnac, the French King's personal representative in the south west and the most powerful French noble in the region.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn John had long been a proponent of pressing the war against Gascony.Шаблон:Sfn He had ignored his orders to keep the truce in 1354, raiding repeatedly into Agenais and besieging several important towns, albeit unsuccessfully.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn In spring 1355 he again made unsuccessful attempts to capture English-held towns.Шаблон:Sfn Frustrated, and with the peace talks having failed, he launched repeated raids deep into Gascony throughout the summer, to great effect.Шаблон:Sfn He devastated agricultural areas and burnt down the suburbs of several Gascon towns.Шаблон:Sfn
Edward III's eldest son, Edward of Woodstock, later commonly known as the Black Prince, was given the Gascon commandШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn and began assembling men, shipping and supplies.Шаблон:Sfn He was scheduled to sail in July, but eventually set off on 9 September, arriving in Bordeaux, the capital of Gascony, on the 20th accompanied by 2,200 English soldiers.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The next day he was formally acknowledged as the king's lieutenant in Gascony, with plenipotentiary powers.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The Gascon nobility pressed on him the advantages of striking at the County of Armagnac.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The Black Prince agreed to make Armagnac his first target. Gascon nobles, who had been preparing for the expedition for some time, reinforced him to a strength of somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 and provided a bridging trainШаблон:Sfn and a substantial supply train. The latter largely carried grain for the horses, although later it was used to transport the spoils of the chevauchée.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
The English expedition to Normandy was intended to be carried out with the cooperation of the French magnate Charles II of Navarre,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn but Charles reneged on the agreement.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Instead a chevauchée, a large-scale mounted raid, was attempted from the English enclave of Calais in November.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn However, the French King had stripped the area of fodder, food and potential booty, causing the English to return to Calais within ten days.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn They had achieved nothing, but did focus French attention on the north.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Chevauchée
Heading east
On 5 October 1355 the Black Prince's Anglo-Gascon force left Bordeaux on their own carefully planned chevauchée.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn It took in reinforcements and supplies at Saint-Macaire,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Convert to the south, and continued through Bazas,Шаблон:Sfn reaching the border with Armagnac on 12 October.Шаблон:Sfn The rapid march to this point caused many of the expedition's 15,000 horsesШаблон:Sfn to die or break down, especially those which had accompanied the English on the exhausting eleven-day sea voyage and been given inadequate time to recover;Шаблон:Sfn this had been allowed for, and they were replaced locally.Шаблон:Sfn Before crossing the border new knights were dubbed, as if it were the eve of a formal battle, and banners were unfurled.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn As soon as Armagnac was entered the army started devastating the countryside;Шаблон:Sfn the Anglo-Gascons divided into three columns,Шаблон:Sfn which marched parallel to each other, to maximise the destruction.Шаблон:Sfn Over eleven days the chevauchée traversed Armagnac from west to east,Шаблон:Sfn in sight of the Pyrenees.Шаблон:Sfn The weather was fine,Шаблон:Sfn and one combatant reported the area to be "a noble, rich and beautiful region".Шаблон:Sfn Most towns were fortified in name onlyШаблон:Sfn and were easily stormed and burnt.Шаблон:Sfn Within reach of the line of march only two towns escaped destruction.Шаблон:Sfn The Black Prince wrote "we rodeШаблон:Nbsp... through the land of Armagnac, harrying and wasting the country, the [Gascon lords] were much comforted."Шаблон:Sfn
John of Armagnac deliberately avoided battle,Шаблон:Sfn even though the French forces in the region outnumbered the English.Шаблон:Sfn He was reinforced by James de Bourbon, Constable of France, and Jean de Clermont, Marshal of France,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn and the French concentrated in the strongly fortified large city of Toulouse, expecting a siege.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn They broke the bridges enabling access to the cityШаблон:Sfn and confidently expected the Black Prince to withdraw to GasconyШаблон:Sfn once he saw the strength of the fortifications.Шаблон:Sfn The English passed within a few miles of the city and continued east, fording the strongly flowing Garonne and Ariège rivers;Шаблон:Sfn the former described by a member of the expedition as "rough, rocky and most frightening"Шаблон:Sfn and the latter as even "more dangerous".Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Several horses and a small, but unknown, number of men were lost during the operation, but the supply wagons all crossed successfully.Шаблон:Sfn This took the French by surprise;Шаблон:Sfn they had not even guarded the fords.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
The area they now passed through was known as the granary of southern France;Шаблон:Sfn a contemporary described the area east of Toulouse as the "fattest land in the world".Шаблон:Sfn The English continued to burn everything they could, targeting windmills in particular; as a region unable to grind its own grain was unlikely to be able to provide a surplus to support the French military.Шаблон:Sfn As before, they stormed all but the largest towns and strongest castles,Шаблон:Sfn often amidst brutality and slaughter.Шаблон:Sfn Small groups ranged at least Шаблон:Convert from the main body, looting and burning smaller places across a wide front.Шаблон:Sfn The major city of Carcassonne, Шаблон:Convert east of Toulouse, was the cultural, political, religious and financial centre of the areaШаблон:Sfn and was captured when the population abandoned the town and retreated to the strongly fortified citadel.Шаблон:Sfn They offered a huge sum if the English would spare the town, but this was refused.Шаблон:Sfn After three days of rest and looting the town was thoroughly fired.Шаблон:Sfn The tax records for the region were also captured, which enabled the English to form an accurate view of the damage they were doing to the French economy and war effort.Шаблон:Sfn They continued east, in weather which had turned wintery:Шаблон:Sfn "the whole area was burned" according to a participant.Шаблон:Sfn Two days later, on 8 November, they reached Narbonne, Шаблон:Convert from the Mediterranean.Шаблон:Sfn It was only a little less populous than London,Шаблон:Sfn but again the town was rapidly captured and sacked while the citadel was ignored.Шаблон:Sfn The French in the citadel responded by bombarding the English with artillery.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
The whole of southern France was in uproar.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn A major offensive so late in the year had not been expected and the Black Prince's willingness to march Шаблон:Convert from his base, crossing rivers considered impassable to large bodies and living off the land, took the French completely by surprise.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn English scouts, foragers and arson parties pushed out in all directions from Narbonne, some as far as Шаблон:Convert.Шаблон:Sfn French towns up to Шаблон:Convert away began hastily reinforcing their fortifications.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Two nuncios arrived from Pope Innocent, attempting to arrange a truce; they were turned away, being told to apply to Edward III.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Returning west
John of Armagnac, with Bourbon and Clermont, moved at least part of the French army to Homps, Шаблон:Convert west of Narbonne, where the road crossed the River Aude.Шаблон:Sfn They apparently hoped to force the English to attack them across the river, and so fight at an advantage.Шаблон:Sfn The English were unable to remain in any one place for long, as it soon became stripped of food, especially fodder and grain for the 15,000 horses with the army.Шаблон:Sfn So on 10 November the English moved out from Narbonne,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn their rearguard and stragglers being harassed by a sortie of the town militia.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The English crossed the Aude north of Narbonne and then headed north east towards Béziers;Шаблон:Sfn their scouts reported that the town was strongly held, and so after a council of war they turned back to the west, expecting to have to fight Armagnac's force.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn It was an arduous march and water was short; one chronicler writes that the horses, which would normally require Шаблон:Convert of water each day, had to be given wine instead.Шаблон:Sfn The French retreated to Toulouse, not wishing to meet the English on equal terms, when they anticipated that the English combined arms tactics and use of longbowmen would lead to their defeat.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The Black Prince pursued them as far as Carcassonne, where, struggling to forage in territory which had already been well picked over, he struck south towards the prosperous city of Limoux, which was destroyed.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
On Sunday 15 November the English army razed four large French towns and devastated the surrounding area, while their leaders were inducted as lay brothers at the Dominican monastery at Prouille.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The English then turned east again, across the County of Foix. On the 17th the Black Prince met with Gaston, Count of Foix, the most powerful French noble in the region after Armagnac, and a great enemy of his.Шаблон:Sfn The details of the discussion are unknown, but Gaston allowed the English free passage, arranged provisions, allowed his men to join the Black Prince's army and provided guides.Шаблон:Sfn The weather was bad, and the going difficult; the army again forded the Garonne and Ariège in flood, to the amazement of locals.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Numerous towns not belonging to Gaston were looted and burnt.Шаблон:Sfn
The French were initially quiescent as the English swung wide to the south of Toulouse,Шаблон:Sfn but James of Bourbon persuaded John of Armagnac to lead the French army south west from Toulouse on 18 November in an attempt to cut off the English.Шаблон:Sfn They hoped to turn back the English at the River Save, in eastern Armagnac, and so strand them in French territory.Шаблон:Sfn The two advance guards met in a fierce clash on 20 November; the French were defeated and they retreated.Шаблон:Sfn The English followed and camped close to the French on the 22nd, in formation, anticipating a battle the next day,Шаблон:Sfn but the numerically superior French withdrew during the night.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The English headed directly for Gascony, following a different route to that of six weeks earlier.Шаблон:Sfn The marching was hard and water was short in places, causing an increase in deaths among the horses.Шаблон:Sfn On 28 November the English crossed the border of Gascony, and many Gascons left at this point.Шаблон:Sfn The balance of the army returned to La Réole on 2 December, having marched Шаблон:Convert; the Black Prince and his entourage moved on to Bordeaux on the 9th.Шаблон:Sfn
Effect
Contemporary accounts agree the chevauchée left immense destruction in its wake, and that an enormous amount of booty was seized;Шаблон:Sfn according to one account, English soldiers jettisoned the silver they had looted, in order to be able to carry all the gold and jewellery available.Шаблон:Sfn It was reported that the formal booty took 1,000 carts to transport; a gross exaggeration, but indicative of the impression the amount of loot seized made on contemporaries.Шаблон:Sfn The French knights and merchants captured were ransomed.Шаблон:Sfn
While no territory was captured, enormous economic damage was done to France.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Carcassonne alone generated more tax than seven entire provinces combined.Шаблон:Sfn The four main cities burnt down alone paid for 1,000 men-at-arms and generated an additional 100,000 écu in tax each year;Шаблон:Sfn if unadulterated this would be approximately half a tonne (0.5 ton) of silver, or two per cent of the French Crown's annual income.Шаблон:Sfn It was estimated that the towns destroyed generated a total of 400,000 écu annually in war taxes. All were subsequently given considerable tax exemptions and trade privileges for many years.Шаблон:Sfn For example, the town of Avignonet was exempted from war taxes for seven years.Шаблон:Sfn In addition, 500 villages were destroyed.Шаблон:Sfn The modern historian Clifford Rogers concluded that "the importance of the economic attrition aspect of the chevauchée can hardly be exaggerated."Шаблон:Sfn
As well as the direct financial effects, towns throughout the south of France looked to their defences, spending large amounts over several years on building or repairing fortifications, and being much less willing to let troops raised locally serve away from home.Шаблон:Sfn Contemporaries, including the Black Prince, considered the chevauchée to have been as successful in non-financial terms as in financial, itemising the punishment of minor lords who had switched sides to the French; the persuasion of local magnates, especially Gaston of Foix, to move towards the English; the securing of Gascony against attack from the south; and the establishment of a moral ascendancy over the French forces.Шаблон:Sfn All this had been achieved during the Black Prince's first independent command and with almost no losses among the Anglo-Gascons.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Aftermath
The majority of the Gascon troops involved in the chevauchée dispersed to their homes for winter.Шаблон:Sfn After a three-week break and an enthusiastic celebration of ChristmasШаблон:Sfn the English force, plus a small number of Gascons, was divided into four groups and resumed the offensive.Шаблон:Sfn French morale was low, and the lack of money for wages kept garrisons small.Шаблон:Sfn More than 50 French-held towns or fortifications were captured during the following four months,Шаблон:Sfn including strategically important towns close to the borders of Gascony,Шаблон:Sfn and others over Шаблон:Convert away.Шаблон:Sfn Armagnac put John of Boucicaut in charge of defending this front over the winter, but as he had only 600 men he felt there was little he could do.Шаблон:Sfn Other, local, French commanders felt similarly under-resourced and attempted no countermeasures.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Several members of the local French nobility went over to the English; the Black Prince received homage from them on 24 April 1356.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Reinforcements of men and horses and supplies of food and materiel arrived from England during the spring, and at the start of August 1356 the Black Prince headed north on another chevauchée with an Anglo-Gascon force of 6,000. He penetrated as far as the Loire, then withdrew, pursued by the main French army, 11,000 strong, under John II. The English were forced to battle at Poitiers, where they decisively defeated the French and captured John II.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Notes, citations and sources
Notes
Citations
Sources
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