Battle of Champtoceaux
Part of the Breton War of Succession Hundred Years' War
Date 14th-16th October, 1341 Location Champtoceaux, Brittany France Result French victory
Combatants
House of Blois France	House of Montfort
Commanders
Charles of Blois	John de Montfort
Strength
7,000+	Unknown, small
Casualties
Unknown	Unknown, heavy

The battle of Champtoceaux, often called the battle of l'Humeau, was the opening action of the twenty-three year long Breton War of Succession, a dynastic conflict in Brittany which became inevitably embroiled in the Hundred Years War between England and France. The battle should have decided the war at a stroke, as the leader of one faction John de Montfort was made prisoner but English support and the escape of his wife Joanna of Flanders and son young John allowed continued resistance to flourish and eventually turn the tide. 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. ... Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Events The Queens College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is founded. ... Champtoceaux is a town (population: 1748) in the Maine-et-Loire department of France. ... 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 BlasonBRETAGNE.jpg‎ Blason Bretagne Source MG Blasons de France File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Brittany Hundred Years War Battle of St Pol de Leon Battle of Champtoceaux ... Image File history File links Blason_France_moderne. ... Image File history File links BlasonBRETAGNE.jpg‎ Blason Bretagne Source MG Blasons de France File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Brittany Hundred Years War Battle of St Pol de Leon Battle of Champtoceaux ... 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. ... 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... 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. ... The Breton War of Succession was a conflict between the Houses of Blois and Montfort for control of the Duchy of Brittany. ... Brittany has an expansive coastline Historical province of Brittany Flag of Brittany (Gwenn-ha-du) région of Bretagne, see Bretagne. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Joanna of Flanders (1295 - 1374) was consort Duchess of Brittany by her marriage to John IV, Duke of Brittany. ... John V (in French Jean V) (1339 – November 1, 1399), known as the Conqueror, was duke of Brittany and count of Montfort, from 1345 to his death. ...

Dynastic Conflict

The dynastic conflict over the Duchy of Brittany was highly political and revolved around conflicting claims following the death of John III, Duke of Brittany on the 30 April 1341. His inheritance was claimed by both his half brother John de Montfort and his niece Joanna of Dreux whose husband Charles of Blois was the nephew of King Philip VI of France. The French king was bound to support his nephews claim by the politic of family dynastics in medieval Europe. He was not prepared to endure an expanded war on the distant and foreign Breton peninsula where travel was fraught with difficulties and the language alien unless he had to, and encouraged John and Charles to come to terms on the issue. At this stage, Edward III stepped into the conflict offering troops and financial support to John de Montfort in exchange for homage from John for the ownership of Brittany and thus confirming Edward's claim to be the rightful ruler of France. Ironically, in supporting John whose claim to the ducal throne rested on salic law, Edward was jeopardising his own claim to the throne of France which deliberately ignored the same laws. The idea of English troops rampaging through Brittany and from there into Normandy and other parts of Northern France terrified Philip and he resolved to win the war before Edward's troops could arrive. John too was not idle, fleeing Paris days before his arrest for treason with Edward and arriving in Nantes to raise an army from his supporters. 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. ... April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining. ... Events The Queens College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is founded. ... Joanna of Dreux (in French Jeanne de Dreux, la Boiteuse) (1319-1384) was countess of Penthievre and nominal Duchess of Brittany during the Breton War of Succession. ... Charles of Blois (died September 29, 1364), was duke of Brittany, from 1341 to his death. ... The King of the Franks, in the midst of the military chiefs who formed his Treuste -- or armed court, dictates the Salic Law (Code of the Barbaric Laws). ... Flag of Normandy Normandy (in French: Normandie, and in Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region in northern France. ... 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. ...

Charles' advance

By the end of September 1341, Charles of Blois had 5,000 French soldiers, 2,000 Genoese mercenaries and an unknown but large number of Breton soldiers in his army which was camped at Angers in the Loire Valley. Overall command of the force was given to John, Duke of Normandy advised by the veteran Duke of Burgundy, although Blois wielded the real authority within the army. By the time he was ready to move at the start of October, Montfort had captured and garrisoned most of the castles and towns in Eastern Brittany including Rennes, Dinan and numerous others including the strong castle which guarded the Loire Valley at Champtoceaux. This stronghold was the first objective on the march of The French army, which was aimed at Nantes, the regional capital and centre of power. Charles of Blois arrived off the castle on the 10 October and laid a siege whilst he waited for the remainder of the force, which contained almost all the significant French generals of the day (spared from the English war by a truce until summer 1342). This army was moving more slowly but its presence was already causing a number of John's supporter’s alarm, and mindful of the speed with which supporters disappeared in medieval dynastic struggles, John was forced to act, scraping together a band of followers and riding to the relief of Champtoceaux. Angers is a city in France in the département of Maine-et-Loire, 191 miles south-west of Paris. ... Loire Valley (French: Vallée de la Loire) is known as the Garden of France and the Cradle of the French Language. ... John II the Good (French: Jean II le Bon) (April 16, 1319 – April 8, 1364), was King of France 1350–1364, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou and Maine 1332–1350, Count of Poitiers 1344–1350, and Duke of Guienne 1345–1350. ... The Duchy of Burgundy, today Bourgogne, has its origin in the small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Balds kingdom of West Franks. ... Some medieval houses, such as these at Champ-Jacquet, can still be found in the center of Rennes. ... Steep street from Dinan to the river Dinan is a walled Breton town and a commune in the Côtes-dArmor département, France. ... October 10 is the 283rd day of the year (284th in leap years). ...

Battle of Champtoceaux

The effort was a disaster for John. His forces were strung out in a dozen garrisons and thus he cold only scrape a handful of men from Nantes to join his "army". This force was not big enough to challenge Charles' vanguard and was dwarfed by the large French army behind him and English reinforcements could not be expected in Brittany before the New Year. John halted at a small farmstead named l'Humeau, three miles from Champtoceaux, expecting it to be garrisoned by a small body of his supporters who could inform him of Charles' positions. To their mutual shock, he found Charles instead and almost overwhelmed his rival's bodyguard, Charles barricading himself in the farmhouse's tower and defeating all efforts by John's men to break in. For two days the two rivals engaged each other in the surreal circumstances; repeated efforts to gain access by John were driven off by Charles' defensive position whilst the French army crawled ever closer. Supporters of John came to aid him and a series of bloody and confused skirmishes occurred around the head of the French column although they failed to blunt its steady progress towards Nantes.

Siege of Nantes

Eventually John conceded defeat and rode as fast as he could for Nantes, pursued by French cavalry which had finally caught up with the action at l'Humeau. Arriving in the city with many of his supporters and mercenaries lost around Champtoceaux (which fell on the 26 October when John's flight became known), he received a hostile reception from the townsmen who only agreed to support him further if he promised them that he would surrender should no relief arrive for the city within a month. What followed was a series of sallies by the Montfortists and assaults on outlying forts by the French. Captured defenders were executed within sight of the city walls and discontent grew within the city to such a degree that John was having difficulty finding men to accompany his attacks on the French lines. Finally at the end of October a sally ended in disaster when John's mercenaries deserted at the height of battle and left the contingent of townsmen to be annihilated by a superior French force and their heads thrown into the town with a catapult. John was forced to surrender on the 2 November by the irate city council and he was taken to the Louvre and imprisoned. October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... This article is about the museum: for building history, see Palais du Louvre, for higher education, see École du Louvre. ...

Aftermath

In quick succession, John's allies and holdings in Brittany disappeared either through desertion or direct assault by the French army . During the winter, Charles captured all of Eastern and then in the spring most of Western Brittany, leaving only the tiny port of Brest in the hands of Joanna of Flanders and a few English adventurers led by Walter Manny. It was at Brest in the battle there in July 1342 that the promised English reinforcements finally arrived and the tide of war turned yet again and not for the last time. John de Montfort eventually escaped French custody in January 1345, dying a few months later. His infant son, raised in England, was still free and continued the war once he reached adulthood and would eventually defeat Charles at the battle of Auray in 1364, ending the war. Brest (lol) is a city in Brittany, or the Bretagne région, north-west France, sous-préfecture of the Finistère département. ... 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... 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. ... Centuries: 13th century - 14th century - 15th century Decades: 1310s 1320s 1330s 1340s 1350s - 1360s - 1370s 1380s 1390s 1400s 1410s Years: 1359 1360 1361 1362 1363 - 1364 - 1365 1366 1367 1368 1369 See also: 1364 state leaders Events Charles V becomes King of France. ...

References

• Sumption, Jonathan, The Hundred Years War, Vol 1, Trial by Battle, 1990, ISBN 0571138950
• A.H. Burne, The Crécy War, 1955, ISBN 1853670812