Siege of Vannes (1342)

The sieges of Vannes of 1342 were a series of four sieges in the town of Vannes that occurred in 1342. The two Dukes of Bretange, John of Montfort and Charles of Blois, competed for the city through global war from 1341 to 1365. The successive sieges ruined the city and the countryside, which were sold off in a truce between England and France, signed in January 1343 in Malestroit. Saved by the shock of Pope Clement VI, the city remained in the hands of its own rulers but nevertheless stayed under English control from September 1343 to the end of the war in 1365.

Context

In the beginning of the 14th century, the Duchy of Brittany is culturally close to a part of British isles and made part of the sphere of economic influence of England, to which it supplied salt.

In the 12th century, the Plantagenet reigned on Brittany and the House of Anjou benefited from conflicts between the counties of Nantes and the Dukes of Brittany to take the lead of the Duchy in 1156. Between 1189 and 1204, the Plantagenet Richard Ist Heart of Lion and then John without Land opposed to the attempts of Brittany's autonomy, and the crisis culminated with the alleged murder of Arthur of Brittany. The Duchy rocking in the lap capétien when Philip II of France Peter Mauclerc manages to place at its head.

The Duke of Brittany, John III, died on 30 April 1341 without direct heir and without a will to organize his succession. Charles de Blois, husband of the niece of the late duke Jeanne de Penthievre, and Jean de Montfort, half-brother of John III, claimed the Duchy. In the Kingdom of France torn by the war of hundred years, Blois allied himself with the French, and Montfort had alliance with the English. The two pretenders decided then to defer to royal judgement.

Sensing that the judgment of the king of France would be in favor of Charles de Blois, his nephew, Jean de Montfort, did an about-face. He captured the ducal treasure in Limoges and moved to Nantes, where he convened the noble of Breton for recognition as duke. This attempt failed – the Breton barons did not come for fear of reprisals – so on June 1, he embarked on a ride through the duchy to ensure control of strongholds. The city of Vannes then declared allegiance to him.

The year 1342

First siege

First siege of Vannes in 1342 by Jean de Wavrin

At the beginning 1342, Charles de Blois appeared before the walls of the city, having looted and destroyed part of the suburbs outside the walls. The City Council began discussions with Charles, leading to the surrender of the city from Geoffrey of Malestroit, governor of the city, who was favored by Jean de Montfort. Geoffrey of Malestroit escaped to Hennebont while Charles de Blois was in the city. He stayed for five days before returning to Carhaix.

Second siege

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Second siege of Vannes

In October, Robert III d'Artois debarked within the proximity of the city at the head of 10,000 soldiers. At the same time, Joanna of Flanders, accompanied by Walter Manny, Guillaume of Cadoudal, Yves of Trésiguidy, a hundred men-at-arms, and a hundred archers, left Hennebont to join Artois.

The assault on the ramparts of the city was given on three sides by Artois, Walter Manny and Treziguidy. The besiegers had to retreat in the face of a resistance led by Olivier IV de Clisson. At night, Artois, accompanied by William Montagu, Earl of Salisbury, lit two fires in front of two of the town's doors and attracted the city garrison there. During that time, a small group led by Walter Manny and the Count of Quenfort attacked a section of the wall abandoned by its defenders. The troops made a racket to make it seem that the town had been invaded. Vannes' garrison was flanked, a part of the city's defenders managing to escape while the other part was massacred. The city returned to Monfort.

The day after the capture of the city, Countess de Montfort arrived with all her captains. She remained there for five days then returned to Hennebont with Walter Manny, leaving Robert d'Artois in charge of the Anglo-Breton garrison. In turn, William Montagu and Yves de Trésiguidy went to Rennes.

Third siege

Edward III of England and Robert III of Artois

Clisson, who was absent during the capture of the city by Artois, is piqued. The Franco-Breton party wanted to regain lost land on behalf of Charles de Blois. Clisson raised a band of 12,600 men, plus that of Robert II of Beaumanoir, Marshal of Brittany, and were heading towards the city of Vannes. D'Artois did not have time to gather reinforcements and had to fight with the forces he had left in November. He could not prevent the loss of the city – troops from Blois entered the breaches that had occurred from the previous siege and could not be repaired in time. The city was once again looted. During the siege, D'Artois received a wound from which he died after some time after he was ferried to London for treatment. Vannes was returned to Blois.

Fourth siege

Learning of this, Edward III of England decided to avenge D'Artois. He went in person to Brittany and laid siege to three towns in Brittany (Rennes, Vannes and Nantes). At the same time, Louis of Spain and Antonio Doria, admirals of France at the head of one hundred galleys and thirty ships, attacked all vessels carrying arms and supplies to the English. After losing several ships, Edward III, dispersed his fleet in order to save it: a portion was sent to Brest and the other to Hennebont. All English efforts were concentrated on the siege of Vannes that began on 5 December 1342. In a letter to his son, he described the city as best "the best city in Brittany after the city of Nantes [...], on the sea and well defended." Arriving before the ramparts, he launched an assault, which was sustained by the defenders for six hours. The besiegers settled in for the duration and the surroundings of the town were systematically pillaged. During one of the daily sorties by the besieged, Clisson was taken prisoner. As for the English side, Ralph, Earl of Stafford, was taken prisoner by the defenders of the city. Meanwhile, Philip VI of France assembled a 50,000-man army under the command of his son, the future John II. This amry advanced into Brittany and stopped on the side of Ploërmel. The intervention of two legates of Pope Clement VI avoided confrontation between the two armies: they obtained a three-year truce signed in Malestroit on 19 January 1343. The siege of Vannes was then lifted and the city was handed provisionally to the legates.

Consequences

Occupation by the English

In accordance with the stipulations of the Treaty of Malestroit, signed in January 1343, the town was handed over to the Cardinal Legates of pope Clement VI, who installed governors. For Philip VI, the decree of Conflans regulated the question of the succession of John III. The treaty was therefore, for the court of France and that of Rome, favourable to Charles de Blois. The legates therefore determined to subsequently give the fortress back to the King of France.

The citizens of Vannes as well as the local clergy were favourable to John de Montfort and drove out the papal agents a few months after the signing of the treaty. English troops reoccupied the town in September 1343. They stayed there for twenty years, until the treaty of Guérande of 1365.

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Second enclosure of the eastern walls of Vannes

For Vannes, that occupation marked a slowing down of activity. The surrounding villages and countryside were destroyed by the succession of sieges. The reconstruction could not take place so long as the war continued. Nevertheless, the city profited from the preponderant situation of the English in France and of a significant trade with the occupied ports – Bordeaux and La Rochelle, for example, but also with the ports of England. Furthermore, the town council strengthened its autonomy. For example, they were allowed to send representatives to the 1352 Estates of Brittany.

From 1365, under the authority of Duke John IV, Vannes began to prosper again. However, the scars of the past war were still very much present in the townscape. The Duke then decided to rebuild the destroyed walls, to repair the gates and to enlarge the town wall. The enclosed town area was enlarged towards the south as far as the port, so the area within the walls was doubled by it. Wanting to profit from the more central situation of the town in his Duchy (compared to the towns of Rennes or Nantes), he also constructed his new ducal residence there – the castle of l'Hermine. In 1379, after the return from exile of the Duke, Vannes became the seat of ducal power for several decades.

The execution of Olivier IV of Clisson

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The execution of Olivier IV of Clisson by Loyset Liédet

Olivier IV de Clisson was military governor of Vannes on the side of Charles de Blois and the King of France when the English took the town after the fourth siege of Vannes in 1342. A prisoner, Oliver IV was taken to England and set free for a relatively small amount. Due to the abnormally small amount of that ransom, Philip IV of France and his counsellors suspected Clisson of having intrigued with Edward III of England. Drawn by treachery to Paris, Olivier IV was executed by beheading by order of the French sovereign on 2 August 1343. This hasty execution shocked the nobility, his guilt of treason not having been publicly demonstrated at the time, since the decision had been taken by the king, without process. Moreover, the notion of treason was not at the time understood in the same manner by the nobles. They claimed the right to choose who to render homage to, without thereby being undignified. Olivier IV's execution was accompanied by a posthumous humiliation. His body hung by the armpits from sinister-looking forks on the scaffold of Montfaucon in Paris, and his head was exposed on the Sauvetout Gate at Nantes, while the rest of his corpse was exposed on the gates of Paris. These were outrages reserved for the remains of great criminals.

Olivier IV's widow, Jeanne de Belleville, adjured their sons, Olivier and Guillaume, to avenge their father. Many lords of Brittany supported her cause and, with them, she delivered a war without thanks to the king and at Charles de Blois. She devoted her fortune to raise an army to attack the favourable troops at the French stations in Brittany. Threatened on land, she armed two ships and was accompanied by her two sons. She led a war of piracy against the French ships. This saga ended when some warships of the king of France seize the ships of Jeanne de Belleville, who managed to escape with her two sons on a lifeboat. The next five days were fatal to Guillaume, who died of thirst, cold, and exhaustion. Olivier and his mother were taken to Morlaix by some supporters of Montfort, enemies of the king of France at the time.

In fiction

The second and third seat valves are implicitly subject to the last scene of the last episode ("The Lily and the Lion") of the 2005 Franco-Italian soap opera Cursed Kings. In this scene, D'Artois, contrary to history, died of wounds inflicted directly on the third seat instead of being repatriated to London for treatment. His burial in the Cathedral of St. Paul, however, is mentioned. The violence of the fighting is, though implicit, present throughout the scene.

Bibliography

Sources used for writing this article:

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