CHAP. VI. BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN. 101 "The constant ferment. No part of it was quiet; and A.D. 1364. so intimately were England and France then connected together, that a battle in any part of France might easily have rekindled the flames of war. Charles V., not unaptly called "The Wise," Charles writhed under the treaty of Bretigni; and his wise" brother the Duke of Anjou, above all others, hated wishes to the English, having behaved as a traitor to them, France and having been told so by their King. But Charles renewing was resolved not to precipitate a rupture with Eng- England. land; Normandy and Brittany were as yet by no means certain to support him, and the "Companies might side with Edward. settle before war with of Nor du Gues When the King of Navarre retired to his own Affairs kingdom, after abandoning his just claim to the mandy. Duchy of Burgundy in 1361, he left those parts of Normandy which belonged to him under the charge of his brother Philip. On the death of Philip at Evreux, on August 29th, 1363, the Duke of Normandy, then Regent of the kingdom, endeavoured to recover possession of Normandy. He sent for Bertrand du Bertrand Guesclin, whose high military qualities, as already related, he had discovered at the siege of Melun in 1359. Du Guesclin carried on war after his own fashion, and disregarded the principles on which it was then usually conducted. He cared more for victory, than for obeying the scrupulous laws of honour which chivalry dictated to combatants, and may therefore be considered, as one of those who materially contributed to the decline of chivalry, which began about this time.1 Du Guesclin immediately obeyed the Duke's summons; and, in concert with Bouci 1 See Martin, Hist. France, vol. v. pp. 243, 244; and Sismondi, ii. p. 17. A.D. 1364. cault, Marshal of France, who had just arrived from England with the news of the death of King John, obtained possession of Nantes by means of a stratagem which might without injustice be designated as treachery. The fall of Meulan immediately followed. The free navigation of the Seine, which was of such vital importance to the provisioning of Paris, was thus secured, and Du Guesclin then proceeded to attempt the recovery of the rest of Normandy. The by the King of to defend Normandy. After the fall of Meulan, Du Guesclin advanced appointed from Pacy to attack Evreux. The Captal de Buch, to whom the defence of Normandy had been entrusted by the King of Navarre on the death of his brother Philip, posted himself in an advantageous position at Cocherel between those towns, and waited his attack. The forces on each side were about equal; but the French had suffered from marching under a hot sun and from hunger, the country being still in such a devastated state that they had not been able to obtain sufficient provisions; they were therefore anxious that the fight should not be unnecessarily delayed. But the Captal would not leave his position, and Du Guesclin consequently feigned a hurried retreat, hoping by this means to induce him to descend into the plain. The Captal was not to be deceived, but, in spite of his remonstrances, John Jewel, an English adventurer who had joined the Captal's little army, rushed down to attack the French, crying out "Forward! St. George! let him that loves me follow me!" The French at once turned, and attacked him with the war cry of "Our Lady! Guesclin!" The Captal, who gallantly took and defeat his part in the battle when he saw that it could not be avoided, was taken prisoner by a body of thirty Battle of Cocherel of the Captal. CHAP. VI. SUCCESS OF THE FRENCH. 103 knights, who were ordered to devote themselves to A.D.1364. this object only. Jewel was killed, as were others of the Navarrese captains. The soldiers were consequently left wholly without a leader, and a complete defeat of the Navarrese was the result. This battle took place on May 16th, 1364. brother of of Navarre comes The news of the victory at Cocherel reached Charles V. the day before his coronation at Rheims, the prevention of which had been one of the main objects of the Captal. On his return to Paris, Charles bestowed the earldom of Longueville, the heritage of Philip of Navarre, on Du Guesclin as a reward for his victory. Soon after this terrible defeat of the The Navarrese, Louis, younger brother of the King of the King Navarre, arrived in France, and with a small army of English, Gascon, and German adventurers ravaged the to Norcountry between the Loire and the Allier." Charles therefore placed Du Guesclin, Boucicault and others, under the orders of his brother the Duke of Burgundy, and ordered them to attack the Navarrese either on the borders of the Loire or in Normandy. In the Success latter, especially, the French troops had great success, French. and treated all the Normans and French who fought against them with great severity; but they spared the adventurers, wishing to enlist them on their side to fight for Charles of Blois in Brittany. The treaty of Bretigni had not put an end to the struggle between the two, competitors for the duchy. The Kings of England and France had in vain tried to mediate between them; and Jeanne of Penthièvre, the wife of Charles of Blois, persuaded her husband to break a treaty which he had signed on July 12th, 1363, agreeing to the partition of the duchy. War, 1 Buchon's Froissart, vol. i. p. 473. 2 Ibid. p. 485. mandy. of the The affairs of Brittany. The com petitors apply for help to England and France. A.D. 1364. therefore, between the claimants again broke out, and John of Montfort laid siege to Auray. As before stated, it had been arranged in the treaty of Bretigni, that the Kings of England and France, might each take part in the war in Brittany, without involving their own kingdoms in the strife. Charles of Blois therefore at once appealed to the King of France, who sent Du Guesclin to his aid; and John of Montfort applied in like manner to the Prince of Wales, who was then, as Duke of Aquitaine, holding his court at Bordeaux.1 The Prince sent the gallant old John of Chandos to help him, and numbers of English, under Sir Robert Knolles and Sir Hugh de Calverley, also flocked to his standard. Battle of Auray, Sept. 29, 1364, So soon as Du Guesclin had united his troops with those of Blois at Nantes, he advanced to the relief of Auray, and at the end of September, about four months after the battle of Cocherel, was face to face with the army of Bretons and English under John of Montfort. Montfort's forces were inferior in numbers to those of Blois, and he therefore posted them on a hill behind Auray, where he resolved to wait for the enemy. Day after day vain efforts were made by the Lord of Beaumanoir, on the part of Charles of Blois, to renew negotiations between the two parties, till at last John of Chandos told him it was quite useless to persevere in his attempt; that his people were resolved to lose all, or gain all by a battle; and that if Beaumanoir did not take care, they would certainly gained by kill him. On the 29th of September the battle took Montfort, place, and on this occasion fortune turned against Du Guesclin. The French were routed; Charles of Buchon's Froissart, vol. i. p. John of Cap 489. CHAP. VI. THE AFFAIRS OF BRITTANY AND NAVARRE. 105 killed, Blois was killed, and Du Guesclin taken prisoner; and A.D. 1364. thus was settled the succession to the Duchy of Brit- Count tany, after twenty-five years of war. The Duke of of Blois Anjou, who had married the daughter of Charles, and and Du who hated the English with all the bitterness of a taken traitor, wished still to fight for the duchy; but his prisoner. brother, with greater wisdom, restrained him, and the Kings of France and England once more mediated. Guesclin of the Brittany. At last, on April 11th, 1365, a treaty was signed be- Settlement tween the widow of Charles of Blois and John of affairs of Montfort, by which the latter was secured in possession of the duchy, and the county of Penthièvre was granted to Charles's widow. Five months afterwards Montfort entered into a treaty with the Prince of Wales, and married the daughter of the Princess by her first husband.1 In December of the following year he did homage to the King of France for Brittany. of the About the same time that King Charles thus settled Settlement the affairs of Brittany, his quarrel with the King of affairs of Navarre was also brought to a conclusion. Perplexed Navarre. with the intrigues and crimes of the Kings of Castile and Aragon, in which, on his return to Navarre, each by turns had tried to involve him, the King of Navarre thought it would be well to bring his war with France to an end. He therefore gave instructions to the Captal de Buch, who was then a prisoner in France, to enter into negotiations with the King. A treaty between them was signed on March 6th, 1365,2 by which the King of Navarre recovered all he had lost in the county of Evreux, and received the Lordship of Montpellier in exchange for Lon 1 Buchon's Froissart, vol. i. p. 501. 2 Ibid. |