Siege of Orléans
Siege of Orléans
| date | October 7, 1428 to May 8, 1429 |
|---|---|
| place | Orleans |
| output | French victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 5,000 men | 6,400 soldiers and more than 4,000 armed citizens |
| losses | |
|
4,000 men |
about 2,000 men |
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Chevauchées of the 1340s: Saint-Omer - Auberoche
Edward III. Campaign (1346/47): Caen - Blanchetaque - Crécy - Calais
War of the Breton Succession (1341–1364) : Champtoceaux - Brest - Morlaix - Saint-Pol-de-Léon - La Roche-Derrien - Tournament of Thirty - Mauron - Auray
France's allies : Neville's Cross - Les Espagnols sur Mer - Brignais
Chevauchées of the 1350s: Poitiers
Castilian Civil War & War of the Two Peter (1351–1375): Barcelona - Araviana - Nájera - Montiel
French counter-offensive: La Rochelle - Gravesend
Wars between Portugal and Castile (1369– 1385): Lisbon - Saltés - Lisbon - Aljubarrota
Battle for Northern France: Rouen - Baugé - Meaux - Cravant - La Brossinière - Verneuil
Jeanne d'Arc and the turn of the war: Orléans - Battle of the herring - Jargeau - Meung-sur-Loire - Beaugency - Patay - Compiegne - Gerberoy
The siege of Orléans by the English in the Hundred Years War began on October 7, 1428 and ended on May 8, 1429; it is considered the turning point of the war. The victory brought the passage over the Loire back into French hands and opened the way for King Charles VII to his coronation in Reims Cathedral .
history
Since October 7, 1428, the city of Orléans was besieged by English (and initially also Burgundian ) troops. However, they had not succeeded in closing the ring around the city completely. From the northeast and east it was still possible to get to Orléans in some places. However, larger food transports, which would have been necessary to supply the big city, were hardly possible. On February 12, 1429 an attempt to stop an English supply convoy that was supposed to bring mainly salted herrings to the besiegers had failed. Since this " Herring Day" the situation of the city seemed more and more hopeless (see: Battle of the Herring ).
On April 29, 1429, Joan of Arc arrived from Chinon , accompanied by her brothers Jean and Pierre and a few other men in Orléans. At first, Joan of Arc found little recognition among the French commanders stationed in Orléans who refused to listen to a woman. Their efforts to persuade the English to withdraw peacefully from Orléans with embassies were dismissed as ridiculous. When this came about, Joan of Arc earned the mockery of the English, who also captured the heralds , although this was contrary to the then martial law.
Then there were attacks on the English fortresses. The first attack started unplanned, as a small skirmish . The French knight Étienne de Vignolles , who was called La Hire ("the angry") because of his outbursts of anger , and Jeanne d'Arc were involved. Jeanne d'Arc did not fight in the front row because, unlike the knights, she was not a trained fighter and also of a rather graceful figure; but apparently she took part in the fighting (contrary to the claims of some books of saints).
On May 4th, the only English bastion, Saint-Loup, on the east side of the city, was taken by the French; this was the first French success in several months. After a one-day break on Ascension Day , fighting resumed on May 6, with the result that the English withdrew to the fortress of Les Tourelles , abandoning the other fortresses south of the Loire. The next day, May 7th, the French also managed to storm the Tourelles . Jeanne d'Arc was wounded by an arrow. When the English withdrew from the fortress, the burning bridge collapsed under the English commander Glasdale. Unable to get rid of his armor, he drowned in the Loire. The siege was now lifted in the east and south of the city. On May 8th, a Sunday, the two armies stood ready to fight for about an hour; However, neither side started the fight - be it for tactical or religious reasons (on Sunday it was actually not allowed to fight). Finally the English army retreated; the siege of Orléans was over.
See also
literature
- Edward Lucie-Smith: Joan of Arc. A biography. Claassen, Düsseldorf 1977 ISBN 3-546-46209-2
- Herbert Nette: Jeanne d'Arc in self-testimonies and photo documents. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1977, ISBN 3-499-50253-4
- Régine Pernoud, Marie-Véronique Clin: Johanna von Orléans. Man and legend. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1991, ISBN 3-404-61210-8
- Gerd Krumeich: Jeanne d'Arc. The story of the Maid of Orleans. CH Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-53596-8
