The Last Knight Errant: Sir Edward Woodville & the Age of Chivalry (29 page)

They hadn’t sailed six leagues [18 miles] when they saw a French ship, which made over towards them. The English were frightened that the French might not meddle [fight] with them, so all the English went under the hatches. Only the Breton men were visible to cause the Frenchmen to be keener to meddle with them.

The Frenchmen boarded them and all the English came up from under the hatches and captured the French ship. They took the men, ship and all to Brittany. Also on the ship there was an ambassador from the King of Scotland who is now in great trouble, together with his son and other Scots Lords.

To the French this was an act of piracy but the English were delighted with themselves.

The main party, Edward Woodville and his 440 ‘tall and hardy men’, had ‘prosperous wind and weather’ for their trip to Brittany in the four ships the Duke had provided. So the English force that massed in Brittany was at least 640 and the best estimate is ‘700 or 800 strong’.14 Hall continues the story: ‘The rumour of this doing was soon blown into the French Court, which made the Ambassadors of England not smally abashed.’ Vergil remarked, ‘the English ambassadors began to be fearful for their safetey’.

On 25 May the Archbishop of Bordeaux reported a rumour to General de la Trémoille: ‘Mons de Squales’ had arrived at Saint Malo and did not have many men, ‘Dieu mercy’. Four days later Trémoille received word that ‘Scalles’ had passed through Honfleur (100 miles to the east, in France) ‘without many people’. This sounds like an additional party of Englishmen, for on the same day the French commander at Dol, Viscount d’Aunay, ambushed yet more Englishmen outside Dinan.

The Viscount boasted to King Charles, who informed Trémoille on 31 May, that the English had been in the town when they saw 30 French horsemen galloping past; they had rushed out in disorder and chased the horsemen for a mile and a half. Then they ran straight into the ambush laid by d’Aunay and his troop of 120 men who had killed 240
and more
while taking 114 prisoners. This sounds a gloriously exaggerated claim, but there probably was a skirmish where some English were taken prisoner.15

Nevertheless by 5 June Edward and his Englishmen were in Rennes enjoying a lavish reception which, judging from the drink consumed, turned into a serious party. ‘Two barrels of claret were broken open in their honour in the rue Haute, and two barrels of white wine in the Bout de Cohue square. There the English soldiers, who were being triumphantly paraded through the streets, stopped, ate and drank while a band of musicians serenaded them and a young boy entertained them with his acrobatics’ (
tours de souplesse
). ‘Then a great banquet was offered by the town of Rennes to Wydeville and all English officers, in the private apartments of the Ducal Chateaux. At this banquet were eaten, among other things, one and a half calves, two and a half sheep, three kids, two hares, twenty-eight young rabbits, eight goslings, thirty-six chickens, twenty-eight pigeons, and so on...One barrel of white wine, one of claret, and seven
estamaux d’hypocras
16 were drunk.’

Interestingly that was the day King Henry gave instructions for ‘fortifying of certain our ships of war yet being upon the sea’ and 11 days later the Master of the ‘Mare Guldeford’ was commissioned to recruit soldiers and sailors and victuals for ‘an armed force being about to be sent in resistance of the King’s enemies congregating at sea’.17 What the threat was or who the enemy were is unknown. It could have been for surreptitious support for Brittany.

News of the arrival of Edward with his Englishmen and the partying became public in Paris. Tempers flared, the young bloods threatening violence to the English embassy. ‘The French King suspected King Henry was responsible but messengers came from him declaring, by most evident tokens and argument, that Lord Woodville without his knowledge or consent had sailed to Brittany with so small a number of men that it did not become a Prince to send them. And neither would they be of any great help to the Bretons.’ The envoy also brought a letter from King Henry:

Most High, Most Excellent, and Most Powerful Prince, Most Dear and Most Beloved Cousin...no one of our subjects had been in Brittany; and that was the truth, for we had forbidden, under the pain of death, anybody to go there....

However, we have just been informed that the Breton ambassadors...have gone to the Isle of Wight to Sir Edward Woodville...and have by their subtle ways and intrigue so much exhorted and seduced him, that to our very great displeasure he went away with them to Brittany...with...some 300 men, most of whom he extracted from places of asylum where they had been for several years on account of their crimes and misdemeanours; most of these men went without armour....

we did not know of it until after their departure...Sir Edward Woodville has asked us many times for a permission to go and we not only have never given him permission, but we have expressly forbidden him to go there so positively that he knew he would incur our indignation, and we would never have believed he would dare to infringe our order....

There was also a young knight...who made ready to go after the said Sir Edward; but as soon as we knew it, we seized his ships and his company and caused him to be arrested, and because, Most High Most Excellent, Most Powerful Prince, Most Dear and Most Beloved Cousin, we are certain that these things will come to your knowledge, and we know not in which way you would accept or interpret them...we apprise you willing of the truth (etc)…

we shall know by the result that Edward and his people have been badly counselled in making such a foolish attempt....

we send to you our Garter King of Arms, by whom you will be able to know the exact truth, praying you to believe him and to put faith in what he will say to you, and to inform us by him of your good news and if there is something you desire to be done by us, we shall accomplish it most willingly, as the good Son of God helping, Most High, Most Excellent, Most Powerful Prince, Most Dear and Most Beloved Cousin, and may He have you in his Holy Protection and grant you the full accomplishment of your good desires.

Written in our Castle of Windsor the 27th day of May,

Your good cousin

Henry

It was hardly surprising that, in Hall’s opinion, ‘The French King did not believe a word of the denial but he hid his anger and dissembled (according to the French custom) with a flattering smile.’

The English ambassadors had a difficult time in Paris and an easier one when they visited Duke Francis. They then returned to England with their assessment of the situation. They thought both sides were posturing, and thus King Henry reasoned that the French would not move quickly against Brittany, because the Regent’s action against the Duke d’Orléans, the heir presumptive, would be ‘very faint and slow’ and she knew that Maximilian was again at liberty so would be quick to help the Bretons.18 Also there was late news: the French had just agreed to a short truce, which seemed to confirm this analysis.

What he did not know was that the truce was a subterfuge to demonstrate French good intentions and coerce those Frenchmen who were sympathetic to Brittany and the Feudal League. It convinced the Breton army, who were all volunteers, to take immediate advantage of the ‘temporary cessation of hostilities’ and go home. The Duke was horrified and announced a general inspection for 12 June. This had no effect, so Edward and his Englishmen were almost the only organized force capable of defending Rennes against a French raid. If the French had moved then, they might have walked in, but either they observed the truce or were not yet ready.

By the beginning of July the Bretons had gathered their harvest and suddenly ‘realising the danger which threatened their homeland, the gentlemen and irregular troops gathered in Rennes to the number of about 7,000’. They joined Edward’s troops while other foreign contingents were arriving: 1,500 Swiss
lansquenets
(halberdiers) from Emperor Maximilian, 1,000 Spaniards from King Ferdinand and 1,500 Gascons, who had landed near Quimper under the leadership of Alain d’Albret. The Breton army assembled at Rennes in early July totalled around 11,500 men, of whom 4,600 were English, German and Spanish.19

The French army had stayed firmly in Brittany during the truce. The Regent and King Charles had no intention of giving up, even though the English ambassadors returned to Paris to tell them an English army would be sent to Brittany if the French dared attack. Unfortunately for Duke Francis, nothing was done to back up the threat, and negotiations for an Anglo-French peace treaty continued at the same time, which sent a very different message to the French.

Hall reports: ‘King Charles had as little regard for the English threat as the biting of a flea. He knew his army was powerful and strong and that the Bretons had but a few Englishmen with the Lord Woodville, for whom he cared little, and seeing England had not yet sent an army for the Duke’s help, he judged that his army would do great exploit before either the Duke should be provisioned or any aid sent.’

King Charles was proud of his army. Long gone were the feudal levies. They had been replaced by regular infantry organized on the Swiss system with 18ft (5.4-metre) pikes, crossbows and non-commissioned officers. His father had hired Swiss training teams and established a new army, he and his sister had continued the arrangements and now it was time to put the training into practice. Additionally the Regent had just hired a large contingent of prime Swiss mercenaries. Not only that, but France had the best artillery train.20

The King was keen to put them to work, and on 14 June wrote to General de la Trémoille enclosing copies of letters ‘which our cousin the King of England wrote to us by Jarretière, his herald of arms from which you will see the whereabouts of Lord Scales and the small number of English...who did it regardless of the prohibitions...[King Henry] is not pleased...be on your guard as to what you might have to do and notify us of what happens, send news often.’ He wrote again on 1 July: ‘Their [the Bretons’] policy is one of dissimulation, and we see no prospect of achieving good results but by force. They have requested another ten days’ truce, which we have peremptorily refused...make war as vigorously as you can.’ 21

Trémoille did and, according to Hall, ‘sore oppressed the country of Brittany, burning and destroying towns and besieging the town of Fougères so that the Duke of Brittany was encouraged by the Duke d’Orléans and other rebels of the French King to fight and give battle to the French army.’ Fougères was one of the strongest places in Brittany and well garrisoned; however, these new cannon were a worry. Some of the council thought it should be relieved with the full force of Breton arms as a demonstration of strength; others were not convinced.

The wily Marshal de Rieux recommended masterly inactivity. He thought the French would run out of enthusiasm and go home in the autumn but Trémoille was piling on the pressure, which made de Rieux’s approach look weak. The huge fortress of St Aubin was also under siege and, to make matters worse, the French ambassadors working on the Anglo-French peace treaty in England had persuaded King Henry to sign on 14 July. While it was separate to Breton affairs, it gave the French good reason to believe that the English would stick to the bargain and not intervene in Brittany. There was thus no reason to hold back – rather the opposite.

It seems that Ferdinand and Isabella were also worried about the English position and well aware that Edward had fallen out with King Henry. On 15 July they wrote to him: ‘the Count de Scalas had gone to Brittany without permission from King Henry. As he is a faithful servant of Ferdinand and Isabella they beg the king to forgive the count. Sepalvada [the Spanish envoy who carried the letter] will give all necessary explanation by word of mouth.’ 22

Ten days later Duke Francis held a council of war in Rennes where the seven leaders, Edward being one of them, were called to speak. There was a consensus for immediate action and so the army marched to the relief of Fougères and St Aubin. However, by the time they arrived the French siege guns had destroyed the defences and both strongholds had surrendered after just one week. Nevertheless the Bretons decided on battle. Molinet reported:

It came about that on 28 July [1488] an arrow’s flight from La Roche Troolet, the Duke d’Orléans, the Prince d’Orange [a nephew of Duke Francis], the Count of Dunois in charge of the Swiss companies and the Lord Descales with a number of English, all on foot, together with the Lord d’Albrecht and the Lord de Rieux came down from a hillside to engage the French commanding their battles [battalions] and artillery as best they could.

The French, who were holding St Aubin, decided to fight; they prepared their armies and assembled their garrisons to engage the Bretons. Starting from St Aubin a great procession set forth which comprised the Bailly of Dijon, leader of the Swiss, and Claude and Jacques de Salli, captains of archers in the King’s own guard...and other warlords all very highly experienced.23

The Marshal de Rieux positioned his army on a ridge about a mile south of Mézières, facing south across some moorland towards St Aubin, with the Wood of Usel to the forward left and the forest of Haute Sève on the right. He took command of the 2,400 men-at-arms in the cavalry wing of the vanguard, although he seems to have positioned himself with d’Albret and 5,000 infantry in the middleguard. The rearguard was commanded by Châteaubriand and formed the reserve, but was ‘comprising more vivandiers [sellers of provisions and liquor to the soldiers] and servants than combatants’. The cavalry were divided between the two wings, i.e. they were on the outside flanks of the battle line up.

Edward commanded the foot soldiers in the vanguard, over 2,000 men, all wearing the red cross of St George. This is the first time English foot soldiers are recorded wearing the red cross. Hall explained: ‘To make the French believe that they had a great number of English, notwithstanding there were but four hundred with the Lord Woodville, they dressed one thousand seven hundred Bretons in coats with red crosses after the English Fashion’ (the Bretons normally wore the black cross).24