Although it may appear somewhat counter-intuitive to begin an analysis of a medieval Anglo French conflict with a quote from a Second World War French Resistance fighter, it perfectly illustrates the task that awaits any historian as they attempt to do justice to the past.
A word to historians - when we read your studies about our underground world, they appear a bit cold. Without wishing to be pretentious, you should not be afraid of dipping your pens in blood: behind each set of initials you describe with such academic precision, there are comrades who died.
Pascal Copeau from Matthew Cobb’s history of the French Resistance.*
In other words, when representing the past, it is imperative not to hide behind the ramparts of dry facts and analysis; rather, we must venture out and attempt to capture something of that human element - the ambition, the pride, the ecstasy, the pain, the misery - that lies behind the facts and analysis, we must endeavour to dip our pens in blood.
Southampton, England 1415:
On August 11th Henry V, king of England, issued the orders to his invasion fleet, which had, hitherto, remained secret, to make ready and prepare to set sail, destination Normandy. Two days later Henry’s vast 500 ton flagship, the Trinity Royal, dropped anchor and unfurled the royal banners at the mouth of the Seine estuary.
For the next two days, under the powerless gaze of French look-outs, the Anglo Welsh army disembarked. Knights, men-at-arms, squires, archers, gunners, miners, clerics, heralds, grooms, carpenters, masons, smiths, bowyers, fletchers, bakers, butchers, cooks, horses, oxen, livestock, carts, cannons, armour, harness, saddles, tents, lances, poleaxes, swords, boxes of bows, sheaves of arrows, flags, pennons, barrels of wine and beer, barrels of salted beef and salted herrings, spices and cheese, sacks of flour, nets of hay, timber and coal were unloaded as the army began to make its preparations for the siege of the strategically important nearby port of Harfleur. Thus, under the vivid reds and blues of fresh war banners, with the martial sounds of the clanging of armour and the jangling of harness and with the tang of salt in their nostrils and wet sand on their boots began the Lancastrian phase, the final, decisive stage of the Hundred Years War.
Troyes, Champagne, France 1420:
The almost unbroken chain of English military and political success since the battle of Agincourt combined with the triple alliance forged between England, Burgundy and Brittany, the fall of Paris into Burgundian hands, the mental collapse of Charles VI and the inertia of the dauphin Charles in comparison to the iron will of Henry V, led the Valois regime to the clear understanding by 1420 that negotiation with their enemies was a necessity.
The result was the Treaty of Troyes, signed in May 1420, which stipulated that, on the death of Charles VI, the crown of France would pass to the English House of Lancaster. The treaty was further strengthened by the betrothal of Henry V to Katherine the youngest daughter of Charles VI. Thus, with the fixing of a seal was the dauphin disinherited and a dual monarchy, an English kingdom of France, conferred upon Henry V.
Castillon, near Bordeaux, France 1453:
On July 17th an Anglo Gascon army, under the command of the septuagenarian Sir John Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury, overwhelmed and scattered a small company of French soldiers at the Priory of Saint–Florent, near the small town of Castillon, twenty miles or so to the east of Bordeaux. Flushed with success the English moved on to the main concentration of French forces. Acting upon inaccurate intelligence which seemed to indicate that the French were in a state of panic and had been put to flight, Talbot ordered a frontal attack upon the French camp, an artillery park, fortified with earth banks , ditches and wooden palisades.
The elderly Talbot, mounted on a white horse and sumptously dressed, not in armour but in a crimson velvet robe - a condition of his release from French captivity - watched as his soldiers were eviscerated by Jean Bureau’s artillery. In an act of glorious but doomed bravery Talbot’s standard bearer, Sir Thomas Evringham, managed to climb the parapet and plant Talbot’s standard before being killed by cannon shot at point blank range. It does not take the greatest leap of imagination to picture the confusion of that summer day - the roar of cannon, the shouts and oaths of the combatants, the screams and sobbing of the wounded and dying, the metallic clang of sword on armour, the clink of harness, the flap of unfurled banners, the hell stink of saltpetre, sweat, blood and excrement, the thick skeins of smoke, the percussive drumming of horse hooves on the dry August ground.
It was the drumming of horse hooves that sounded the death knell for Talbot and his forces. A detachment of Breton cavalry, under the cover of the smoke and noise of the battle, fell upon the unprotected English flank. What came next, it almost goes without saying, was bloody murder. Blasted by artillery to their front and being ridden down by heavily armoured cavalry to their side and rear, any semblance of organised opposition from the dismounted Anglo Gascon forces evaporated and a vicious rout, that most brutal aspect of medieval warfare ensued. In the subsequent chaos Talbot was cut down, being killed, it is reported, by a blow from an axe wielded by a French archer by the name of Michel Perunin.
With the defeat at Castillon any pretence of a functioning, legitimate English administration in Gascony ended and the remaining politicians, diplomats, merchants and soldiers, recognising the gravity of the situation, shifted for themselves and made the best arrangements that they could. One by one the towns and castles bowed to the inevitable and surrendered to the Valois forces, culminating in October 1453 with the capitulation of Bordeaux, leaving Charles VII as the de facto and, to all intents and purposes, effectively undisputed king of France.
In spite of the price paid in blood and treasure, the English kingdom in France was at an end.
***
These three disparate episodes stand as excellent examples of the remarkable historical story that unfolds in the latter stages of the Hundred Years War.
This blog is part of an historical project upon the English kingdom in France 1420 - 1453** its purpose is to provide a commentary upon some of the key events, sites and personalities that pertain to this extraordinary episode in Anglo French history and, in a wider context, to aspects of the Hundred Years War.
The project will involve a series of articles relating to field studies in France and England. The field studies will involve visits to places that play an important role in the historical narrative of this period - battlefields, castles, towns, villages, manors, cathedrals, abbeys and churches. Added to this, there will be studies of some of the characters who shaped the events. In support of this, other influential factors such as methods of warfare, logistics, topography will be considered. Where appropriate, practical information will be provided - recommended reading - travel/routes - accommodation - restaurants - museums - miscellany.
The realities of blogging and the constraints of time, geography and finance dictate that this blog will not be undertaken, in the context of the Hundred Years War, in strict chronological order - but this is the nature of blogging, a fact which in no way undermines the majesty of this topic or of the historical process in general.
The project has been undertaken as part of the Goldsmiths’ Company Grant for Teachers Scheme and the author wishes to express his gratitude to the Educational Committee of the Goldsmiths’ Company - Lord Sutherland of Houndwood, Michael Galsworthy, Richard Reddaway, Meg Sanders and Robert Straker, whose faith in, and support of, the project have enabled it to come to fruition. Equally, much gratitude is due to Nick Harland and Deborah Wynne at the Goldsmiths’ Company for their help and support.
On the theme of gratitude, many historians, mostly still alive, have, over the years, directly and indirectly provided advice and inspiration to me in my study and enjoyment of this period - in alphabetical order they include - Christopher Allmand, Juliet Barker, Adrian Bell (who together with Anne Curry is the inspiration behind the excellent soldier in later medieval England database), Matthew Bennett, Lt Col. Alfred Burne, Stephen Cooper, Susan Curran, Anne Curry, Katherine Doyle, Ian Friel, Robert Hardy, Richard Holmes, Peter Hoskin, Michael Jones, K.B. McFarlane, David Nicolle, Tony Pollard, Robert Reddaway, Desmond Seward, Matthew Strickland, Jonathan Sumption, Craig Taylor, Malcolm Vale and Richard Vaughan. However, special mention must go to the eminent medievalist and author of the seminal biography of Henry VI, Professor Ralph Griffiths.
Equally, this venture would not have been possible without the encouragement, support and patience of my wife, Nina who not only listened patiently to my vision for the project but also discussed my thoughts and ideas, visited the various places with me, sharing the driving, reading maps, taking photographs, searching the Michelin guide, booking hotels and clearing up, in her fluent French, my many mistakes and misinterpretations . My thanks also to our children - Ben, Tom, Camilla and Ollie - who, in common with my dear wife, accompanied me on many of the English based journeys and who also listened indulgently to my historical anecdotes even though they had heard them a hundred times over.
Notes:
* Quite apart from being an excellent book about the Resistance, Matthew Cobb’s book makes for interesting reading in the context of the Hundred Years War in the sense of parallels between the two periods in terms of conquest, integration, resistance etc.
**The keen observer of history will, no doubt, have spotted the mistake. The English kingdom in France, (if you acknowledge such a thing as ever having existed) or the ‘dual monarchy’ (if you are of a more sensitive disposition) does not quite fit in to the dates given. Strictly speaking the dates should be 1422 to 1453 (or 1801 if one wishes to be pedantic). The English Kingdom in France, the strap line by which we will refer to the dual monarchy of Henry VI in England and France, came into being on the death of Charles VI (Bien Aime or Le Fou depending upon your perspective), king of France on the 21st October 1422. at which point Henry VI of England also became Henry II of France. However, for the purposes of this body of work we will refer to the English kingdom in France/dual monarchy as ‘existing’ - de jure - from May 1420 when the treaty of Troyes was ratified.
