The
Breton War of Succession was a conflict
between the Houses of Blois and Montfort for control of the
Duchy of Brittany. It was fought
between 1341 and 1364. It formed an integral part of the early
Hundred Years War due to the
involvement of the French and English governments in the conflict;
the French supported Blois whilst the English backed Montfort.
Although Montfort was ultimately successful following the
Battle of Auray in 1364, it was the French
who were to gain the most from his victory.
Background
In the middle of the 14th century,
Brittany
was ruled by the
House of Dreux. The
dukes had both a historical and ancestral connection to England and
were also
Earls of Richmond in
Yorkshire. Duke
Arthur II of
Dreux married twice, first to Mary of Limoges (1260-1291), then
to Yolande of Dreux, countess of Montfort (1263-1322) and widow of
king
Alexander III of
Scotland. From his first marriage, he had three sons, including
his heir
John III and
Guy, count of Penthievre (d. 1331). From Yolande, Arthur had
another son, John, who became count of Montfort. (See
Dukes of Brittany family
tree.)
John III strongly disliked the children of his father’s second
marriage. He spent the first years of his reign attempting to have
this marriage annulled and his half-siblings bastardized. When this
failed, he tried to ensure that
John of Montfort would never
inherit the duchy. Since John III was childless, his heir of choice
became
Joanna of Dreux,
la
Boiteuse, daughter of his younger brother Guy. In 1337 she
married
Charles of Blois,
the second son of a powerful French noble house and son of the
sister of King
Philip VI of
France. But in 1340, John III reconciled himself with his
half-brother, and made a will that appointed John of Montfort the
heir of Brittany. 30 April 1341 John III died. Uttered on his
deathbed, his last words on the succession were, "For God’s sake
leave me alone and do not trouble my spirit with such
things."
The War
Most of the nobility supported Charles of Blois, so if John of
Montfort was to have any chance, he was dependent upon swift action
before organized resistance could be made.
John quickly took
possession of the ducal capital Nantes
and then
seized the ducal treasury at Limoges
.
By the
middle of August, John of Montfort was in possession of most of the
duchy, including the three principal cities, Nantes, Rennes
and Vannes.
Up to this point, the succession crisis had been a purely internal
affair. But to complicate things further, the
Hundred Years' War between England and
France had broken out four years earlier, in 1337. In 1341, there
was truce between the two countries, but there was little doubt
that hostilities would be renewed when the truce ended in June
1342. Thus, when rumours reached
Philip VI of France that John of
Montfort had received English agents, the French Crown naturally
took a more direct interest in the situation. Charles of Blois
became the official French candidate. Whatever had been his
original intentions, John of Montfort was now forced to support
Edward III of England as King
of France.
Edward III was bound by the truce not to take any offensive action
in France. Nothing in it, however, hindered France from subduing
rebellious vassals.
In November, after a short siege and defeat
at the battle of
Champtoceaux, John of Montfort was forced to surrender at
Nantes by the citizens. He was offered safe conduct
to negotiate a settlement with Charles of Blois, but when this led
nowhere he was thrown in prison.
It now fell upon John’s wife,
Joanna
of Flanders to lead the Montfortist cause. Deeming her
possessions in the east undefendable, she set up headquarters at
Hennebont in western Brittany but was
driven into Brest and besieged, the siege being broken by the
arrival of an English army under the
Earl of
Northampton at the
naval
battle of Brest.
In Paris it was feared that Edward III would
land at Calais
once the
truce ran out. The major part of the French army was
therefore withdrawn, and Charles of Blois was left to pursue his
claim on his own. Charles soon proved himself to be an able
soldier: Rennes and Vannes were taken and many of the Montfortist
captains defected.
In late
November, Edward III arrived with his army at Brest
. He almost at once marched against Vannes.
The siege dragged on and a French army was assembled to meet him,
but 19 January 1343, before any major engagements could be fought,
the two kings agreed upon a new truce. Vannes was taken into papal
custody. With John of Montfort in prison, his son an infant, and
his wife recently gone mad, the places under Montfortist control in
practise to be administrated from London, with a large permanent
English garrison at Brest.
The truce was to last until 29 September 1346 with the hopes that
in the meantime the disputes between the two kingdoms could be
permanently settled, but in Brittany it made little difference. The
truce bound the two kings and their followers, but Charles of Blois
claimed to be fighting his own separate war, and was therefore not
bound by any truce. The brutal small scale fighting continued at
the same pace.
In Paris, John of Montfort was released from prison 1 September
1343 in return for a huge bond and a promise to stay on his estates
in the east. The English coastal garrisons held firm, but the
Montfortist party continued to crumble. They had some successes,
such as the expulsion of the papal custodians from Vannes, but with
no unifying leadership, mostly they were reduced to pleading for
men and money from London.
To hamper communication between Brest and Vannes, Charles of Blois
laid siege to
Quimper in
early March 1344. The city fell by assault 1 May and, as usual at
that time, this meant the slaughter of civilians in huge numbers,
between 1400 and 2000. The English prisoners were held for ransom,
but the Breton and Norman captives were dispatched to Paris where
they were executed for treason. During the summer and autumn, the
Montfortist party fell apart. Even those who had been John of
Montfort’s staunchest allies now considered it futile to continue
the struggle. It therefore mattered little that in March 1345 John
finally managed to escape to England. With no adherents of note of
his own, he was now little more than a figurehead for English
ambitions in Brittany.
Edward III decided to repudiate the truce in summer 1345, a year
before it was due to run out. As part of his larger strategy, a
force was dispatched to Brittany under the joint leadership of the
Earl of
Northampton and John of Montfort. Within a week of their
landing in June, the English had their first victory when Sir
Thomas Dagworth, one of
Northampton’s lieutenants, raided central Brittany and defeated
Charles of Blois at
Cadoret near
Josselin.
The follow-up was less impressive. Further operations were delayed
until July when Montfort attempted the recapture of Quimper.
However, news had reached the French government that Edward’s main
campaign had been cancelled and they were able to send
reinforcements from Normandy. With his strengthened army, Charles
of Blois broke the siege. Routed, Montfort fled back to Hennebont
where he fell ill and died 16 September. The heir to the
Montfortist cause was his 5-year-old son,
John.
During the winter, Northampton fought a long and hard winter
campaign with apparent objective of seizing a harbour on the north
side of the peninsula. Edward III had probably planned to land here
with his main force during summer 1346. However, the English
achieved very little for their efforts. Northern Brittany was
Joanna of Dreux’ home region and resistance here was stiff. The
only bright spot for the English was victory at the
Battle of La Roche-Derrien, where
the small town was captured and garrison installed under
Richard Totesham.
In the end, Edward decided upon Normandy as the landing spot for
his 1346 campaign. Northampton was recalled and Thomas Dagworth was
appointed as deputy lieutenant. It was during a tour through the
English strongholds that on 9 June Dagworth and his escort were
trapped by Charles of Blois and his army near
Saint-Pol-de-Léon. They dug in on a
hill top and fought off all attacks until nightfall when Charles
was forced to retreat leaving many of his wounded behind.
Chronology
- 30 April 1341 – John III dies without heirs.
Joanna and Charles of Blois became dukes of Brittany. John of
Montfort refuses to accept and calls for the help of king Edward III of England.
- 1343 – John of Montfort is taken prisoner, but
is released shortly afterwards. Charles tries to take advantage and
attacks Hennebont, but the city is defended with success by
Joanna of Flanders, wife of
Montfort. An English army relieves the siege and forces the Blois
to a truce, broken shortly afterwards.
- 1344 - Charles takes Quimper with the help of
a French army, courtesy of king Philip VI of France, and slaughters 2000
civilians
- 1345 – John of Montfort fails to recover
Quimper and dies. His ambitions over Brittany are inherited by is
son John V. His mother,
Joanna of Flanders, becomes the political and military commander of
the Montfort faction.
- Between 1346 and 1364, several minor battles
are won and lost by both parts, several truces are signed and
broken
- 1365 – John V is recognized as Duke of
Brittany and Joanna of Dreux gives up any claim to the duchy in the
Treaty of Guérande. Surprisingly, the new duke declares himself as
a vassal, not to the English king who helped him, but to king
Charles V of France.
See also
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