Battle of Brest
Part of The Breton War of Succession Hundred Years' War
Date 18 August 1342 Location Brest, Brittany Result Decisive English victory
Combatants
England	Genoa
Commanders
William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton	Carlo Grimaldi
Strength
260 small coastal vessels	14 large galleys
Casualties
Unknown, light	Eleven ships lost

The battle of Brest, sometimes called the battle of the River Penfeld was an action in 1342 between an English squadron of converted merchant ships and that of a mercenary galley force from Genoa fighting for the Franco-Breton faction of Charles of Blois during the Breton War of Succession, a side conflict of the Hundred Years War. The Breton War of Succession was a conflict between the Houses of Blois and Montfort for control of the Duchy of Brittany. ... Combatants France Castile Scotland Genoa Majorca Bohemia Crown of Aragon Brittany England Burgundy Brittany Portugal Navarre Flanders Hainault Aquitaine Luxembourg Holy Roman Empire The Hundred Years War was a conflict between France and England, lasting 116 years from 1337 to 1453. ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events May - Pope Clement VI elected John III Comnenus becomes emperor of Trebizond Louis becomes king of Sicily and duke of Athens Constantine IV becomes king of Armenia Patriarch of Antioch transferred to Damascus under Ignatius II Kitzbühel becomes part of Tyrol Louis I becomes king of Hungary Births... Brest (lol) is a city in Brittany, or the Bretagne région, north-west France, sous-préfecture of the Finistère département. ... Brittany has an expansive coastline Historical province of Brittany Flag of Brittany (Gwenn-ha-du) région of Bretagne, see Bretagne. ... Image File history File links Arms_of_Edward_III_of_England. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Image File history File links CoA_civ_ITA_genova. ... Genoa (Genova in Italian - Zena in Genoese) is a city and a seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. ... William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton (~1310 - 1360) was an English nobleman and military commander. ... The Breton War of Succession was a conflict between the Houses of Blois and Montfort for control of the Duchy of Brittany. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... The Battle of La Roche-Derrien was one of the battles of the Hundred Years War, fought in 1347 during the night between English and French forces. ... The Combat of the Thirty was a famous battle fought on March 27, 1351, during the Breton civil war (part of the Hundred Years War) between Jean de Montfort (supported by the English) and Charles de Blois (supported by the French). ... Combatants Bretons-England Bretons-France Commanders John de Montfort Charles of Blois Strength Unknown Unknown Casualties Unknown Unknown The Battle of Auray took place on September 29, 1364 at the French town of Auray. ... Events May - Pope Clement VI elected John III Comnenus becomes emperor of Trebizond Louis becomes king of Sicily and duke of Athens Constantine IV becomes king of Armenia Patriarch of Antioch transferred to Damascus under Ignatius II Kitzbühel becomes part of Tyrol Louis I becomes king of Hungary Births... A French galley and Dutch men-of-war off a port by Abraham Willaerts, painted 17th century. ... Genoa (Genova in Italian - Zena in Genoese) is a city and a seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. ... Charles of Blois (died September 29, 1364), was duke of Brittany, from 1341 to his death. ... The Breton War of Succession was a conflict between the Houses of Blois and Montfort for control of the Duchy of Brittany. ... This article is in need of attention. ...

Breton situation

Charles of Blois, with his army of French, loyal Bretons and mercenary allies had conducted a frighteningly effective campaign in Brittany during the July of 1342. This movement had begun in his stronghold of Eastern Brittany and rapidly spread into areas nominally controlled by his rival and prisoner, John de Montfort. Montfort was another claimant to the ducal throne of Brittany, and had the support of a minority of Breton nobles and more usefully, the ruler of England, King Edward III. Edward had promised reinforcements and supplies to the Montfortists the following year after the death of the old duke John III and shortly before the capture of John de Montfort at Nantes by Charles, but these men had failed to materialise. This disparity of forces resulted in a collapse in confidence for the Montfortist party in Brittany and many Montfort towns surrendered without a fight. By the end of July the principal towns of Auray, Vannes, Guémenée-sur-Scorff and Hennebont had all fallen, leaving just the fortress port of Brest in Montfortist hands. The garrison there was nominally led by Joanna of Flanders but in reality was commanded by the infamous English general Walter Manny with his 230 professional English soldiers. Edward III King of England Edward III (13 November 1312–21 June 1377) was one of the most successful English Kings of medieval times. ... John III of Dreux (in French Jean III de Dreux) (March 8, 1286 - April 30, 1341), known as the Good, was duke of Brittany, from 1312 to his death. ... Traditional city flag City coat of arms Motto: (Latin: Shall Neptune favour the traveller) Coordinates : , Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) Administration Département Loire-Atlantique (44) Région Pays-de-la-Loire Mayor Jean-Marc Ayrault (PS) (since 1989) Intercommunality Urban Community of Nantes City (commune) Characteristics Land Area 65. ... Auray (An Alre in Breton) is a commune of France, in the Morbihan département. ... In the old city centre Harbour to cathedral Vannes (Breton: Gwened) is a town and commune located in the Morbihan département, in Brittany, in the west of France. ... Hennebont is a commune in western France (in the historic region of Brittany), in the Morbihan département,. It is situated about ten miles from the mouth of the Blavet, which divides it into two parts: the Ville Close, the medieval military town, and the Ville Neuve on the left... Brest (lol) is a city in Brittany, or the Bretagne région, north-west France, sous-préfecture of the Finistère département. ... Joanna of Flanders (1295 - 1374) was consort Duchess of Brittany by her marriage to John IV, Duke of Brittany. ...

There were numerous reasons for the delays in the arrival of the promised English army, including failure for county levies of archers and infantry to be fulfilled, delays in the payments due to soldiers from English-held Gascony and especially a paucity of shipping, a frequent problem in transporting soldiers to the continent from England during the wars. A small force intended for Bordeaux under Hugh Depenser had arrived in early July and seeing the parlous state of the Montfortists decided to stay, but their numbers were too few to turn the tide of Charles' advance and Brest was under siege from mid-July, blockaded by land and by sea, with a fleet of fourteen Genoese galleys, brought to Northern France from Italy by their commander Grimaldi four years before and which had participated in the Channel campaign of 1338 against Portsmouth and Southampton as well as the defeat at the battle of Sluys, being amongst the few escapees from the French fleet at that action. Map of the historical and cultural area of Gascony. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Combatants England Flanders France Genoese mercenaries Castilian mercenaries Commanders Robert Morley, Various others Hugues Quiéret, Nicolas Béhuchet Strength Varied 40-70 ships The English Channel naval campaign of the years 1338 and 1339 saw a protracted series of raids conducted by the nascent French navy and numerous privately... For other places with the same name, see Portsmouth (disambiguation). ... Southampton is a city, unitary authority and major port situated on the south coast of England. ... Combatants England France Commanders Edward III of England Hugues Quiéret, Nicolas Béhuchet Strength 250 ships 190 ships Casualties Unknown 20 000 (Europe A History by Norman Davies) The naval Battle of Sluys was fought on 24 June 1340. ...

The battle

The ships to transport the English army had finally gathered in Portsmouth in early August and the Earl of Northampton left port with just 1,350 men in 260 small coastal transports, some conscripted from as far away as Yarmouth for this duty. A scratch French force sent to intercept them arrived just days later and contented itself with burning down the newly reconstructed Portsmouth and terrorising the Hampshire coast instead. Just three days after leaving Portsmouth, Northampton's force arrived off Brest and saw the state of affairs with their own eyes. Northampton was an astute commander, and recognised that with the Genoese in place he would be unable to disembark his army. He was also aware that the large fast galleys could outmaneuvre and destroy his huge fleet of slow transports piecemeal and so resolved to act immediately. William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton (~1310 - 1360) was an English nobleman and military commander. ... Yarmouth may refer to one of the following places. ... Hampshire, sometimes historically Southamptonshire or Hamptonshire, (abbr. ...

Watched by both factions from shore, the English fleet closed on the Genoese in the entrance to the Penfeld River where they were anchored in a vertical line. The Genoese did not even attempt to move, many ships were missing crews on leave ashore and the commander seems to have failed to communicate the orders to make for the open roadstead where his ships could have beaten off the English and prevent the reinforcement of Brest. Instead the Genoese panicked, three of the fourteen galleys fled from the crowd of diminutive opponents which were struggling to board the larger Genoese ships and reached the safety of the Elorn River estuary from where they could escape into the open sea. The remaining eleven were surrounded and drove ashore battling their opponents, where the crews abandoned them to the boarders and fired them as they left, at a stroke destroying French naval supremacy in Breton waters.

Aftermath

Although the battle and reinforcements were a much needed boost to the morale of the Montfortist faction, the primary effect of this battle was on the morale of the Bloisian forces and their allies. Believing that the ships carried a prodigious English force of trained warriors, Charles broke the siege and made for Northern Brittany with the remaining Genoese whilst a substantial part of his army made up of Castilian and Genoese mercenary infantry retreated to Bourgneuf and took their ships back to Spain. This disruption of Bloisian fortunes was compounded by the arrival of Robert III of Artois a few days later with 800 men and by King Philip VI who ordered the withdrawal of substantial numbers of French troops from Brittany and transferred them to Calais, where an English invasion was expected (the troops reported massing in Southern England by French spies were in fact destined for Brest too but were held up by a lack of ships). A month later, Northampton was able to beat Blois in the battle of Morlaix using his superior firepower and the corresponding shift in morale between the forces to great effect. The Monfortist faction was spared defeat and was able to begin the twenty year campaign to regain the ducal throne. Castilian is a noun and adjective that refers to the region and former kingdom of Spain; in particular, it refers to the language of this region, and is therefore considered by many to be a synonym of Spanish, though with different nuances. ... Alternate uses, see Genoa (disambiguation). ... Robert III of Artois (1287–1342, London) was the son of Philip of Artois and Blanche of Brittany. ... Calais is a town in northern France, located at 50°57N 1°52E. It is in the département of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sous-préfecture. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

References

• Rodger, N.A.M., The Safeguard of the Sea, 1997, ISBN 0-00255-128-4
• Sumption, Jonathan, The Hundred Years War, Vol 1, Trial by Battle, 1990, ISBN 0-57113-895-0