Battle of Guinegate (1513)
| date | August 16, 1513 |
|---|---|
| place | Guinegate (today Enguinegatte ) |
| output | French defeat |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
|
Sire de Piennes and Louis I, Duke of Longueville |
| Troop strength | |
| Parts of an army of about 30,000 men | Parts of an army of 7,000 men |
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League of Cambrai (1508–1510)
Agnadello - Padua - Polesella - Mirandola
Holy League (1510 / 11–1516)
Brescia - Ravenna - Navarra - St. Mathieu - Novara - Guinegate - Dijon - Flodden Field - La Motta - Marignano
The battle of Guinegate (1513) , a French village in Picardy , today Enguinegatte in the Pas-de-Calais department , took place on August 16, 1513, some sources also mention August 17. Emperor Maximilian I and King Henry VIII defeated a French force under the command of Ludwig I, Duke of Longueville, with their troops. It went down in history as the second "Spore Battle". The confrontation was a war within the framework of the Italian Wars . The Pope, the Holy Roman Emperor, England and Spain fought King Louis XII.
prehistory
In 1509, Louis XII. the opposite Venice -directed League of Cambrai in. He himself commanded his army and defeated the Venetians at Agnadello . Then, however, Pope Julius II not only separated from him, but also founded a Holy League against France in northern Italy in 1511 , which Spain and the Confederates joined. In the Battle of Ravenna (1512) the French army under Gaston de Foix won against the Spaniards. But now the Roman-German Emperor Maximilian I and Henry VIII of England joined the Holy League. The background to Henry VIII's participation was his marriage to Katharina von Aragón , daughter of the Spanish king Ferdinand . He hoped for success in the pact with his father-in-law in reclaiming Normandy , Guyenne , Anjou and Maine as English fiefdoms .
In 1512 Ferdinand conquered the territory of the Kingdom of Navarre , allied with France , on the south side of the Pyrenees , the northern part of the kingdom remained. In the Battle of Novara in June 1513, the Swiss took Milan from the French and drove them out of Italy. The English and the Germans attacked France in Picardy.
Course of the battle
In June 1513, Henry VIII crossed over to Calais with an army of between 25,000 and 30,000 men and moved from there to Picardy. The army set up camp near the fortified town of Thérouanne , which they besieged. Maximilian I joined his ally with a smaller force. Both rulers met on August 12, 1513. The other side had raised a force of 7,000 French who were assembled at Blangy-sur-Ternoise .
Henry VIII had reached Thérouanne undisturbed with his army, where the French garrison valiantly defended themselves, although they had little provisions. France's ruler Louis XII. ordered the Sire de Piennes , no matter what the cost, to provide Thérouanne with food. The strategy of the French envisaged to involve the besiegers in fighting with a larger mass of their people and thus enable a small team with supplies to break through to the fortress. But the English got wind of this plan.
Jacques II. De Chabannes , Pierre du Terrail , Duke Louis I of Longueville and the Sire de Piennes marched at the head of the deployed French soldiers, equipped with around 1400 lancers . They left for Guinegate on August 16 to carry out a mock attack on the English camp. At the same time, 800 men of the light cavalry were supposed to gallop through the siege ring to the fortress from another direction and throw ammunition or provisions hanging on the neck of the horses into the fortress moat. The riders completed this job successfully.
Meanwhile, a battle broke out near the village of Guinegate. The advancing French soldiers got into a skirmish with the cavalry of Henry VIII and Maximilian I, not realizing that there might be enemies in ambush. The warriors were attacked by the allies under the command of Maximilian I. English archers were posted on the flanks of the battlefield.
After a while, the French began their retreat. In doing so, they became careless and partially lost their order of battle when they became aware of two large masses of infantry and artillery of the English and German who tried to cut off their retreat. The troops got confused and dispersed in all directions, thinking of nothing else than to reach the main force and their camp at Blangy. This sudden wild flight of so many knights coined the name Spore Battle, because spurs served the French better than the sword. Many of their leaders, including the Duke of Longueville, Chabannes and Terrail, were captured by the enemy while trying to rally the refugees. Terrail, a famous general, was dismissed by Emperor Maximilian and King Henry VIII, but without a ransom. Several other prisoners were taken to London.
Emperor Maximilian was of the opinion that one should take advantage of opposing panic and disorder and march straight on to the French camp. But Henry VIII and his lords disagreed with it. They wanted to continue the siege of Thérouanne. In view of the lack of provisions, the place fell into the hands of the British the following week. On August 24, both rulers entered the village. The population had to evacuate their city. The garrison was given free retreat, their soldiers with lance , pike , harness and whatever they could carry. Contrary to the surrender agreement, the city was destroyed and set on fire.
Then the bulk of the English army moved away to the siege of Tournai , which surrendered on September 24th. The defenders were also allowed to withdraw with anything they could carry. An English garrison stayed at the strategically important fortress. King Henry VIII returned to England with the other warriors.
consequences
Scotland's King James IV, true to the agreements of the Auld Alliance, rushed to aid France with his troops by invading northern England. Catherine of Aragon ran state affairs on the island in her husband's absence. She let troops dig , was Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk , the command and told him to meet contract the Scots. In the battle of Flodden Field , James IV lost the battle and his life.
The setting up of armies for use in widely spaced theaters of war ultimately exceeded France's capabilities. Exhaustion forced Louis XII to make peace with the Pope, England and Spain (1514). With the death of Pope Julius II in 1513, motivation on the papal side was also weakened. Henry VIII would have liked to continue the war, but, willy-nilly, he signed a peace agreement due to the lack of other strong allies.
literature
- Hermann Wiesflecker: Guinegat (t) e . In: Lexikon des Mittelalters , Volume 4. 1989, Col. 1785.