Battle of Pontlevoy
The Battle of Pontlevoy was a military clash in medieval France between the Counts of Anjou and Maine against the Count of Blois. The battle took place on July 6, 1016 near Pontlevoy (today's Loir-et-Cher ), halfway between Tours and Blois .
prehistory
Since the takeover of the West Franconian (French) throne by the Capetian dynasty and the accompanying loss of power of the crown, politics in France in the high Middle Ages was determined by the powerful crown vassals, who also fought one another. In the west of old Neustria the Counts of Anjou under Fulko III succeeded. Nerra to achieve a dominant position of power over their neighbors at the beginning of the 11th century.
In competition with the Anjou were the neighboring counts from the House of Blois , who controlled an extensive territorial conglomerate consisting of the counties of Blois , Chartres , Châteaudun , Dreux and Tours . With the assumption of this inheritance by Odo II , the House of Blois was to continue its policy of expansion in this area.
This led to another clash of the two rival houses, mainly because Fulko of Anjou had built several castles such as Amboise , Loches , Montrésor and Montrichard in the Blois county of Tours. Odo von Blois intended to regain full control of the Touraine . When Fulk of Anjou set out on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1011 , Odo began his offensive.
In 1016 Count Fulko von Anjou returned home and immediately took up the fight against Odo von Blois, who was already besieging some of the Fulkos castles in Touraine. Fulko turned it successfully to his northern neighbor, the Count of Maine , Herbert I. Watchdog ( Éveille-Chien ). Herbert's county also bordered the territories of the Count of Blois in the east, he himself was one of the most powerful lords of western France, but a possible victory by Blois in this conflict would have given this house a preponderance in the entire region and, accordingly, a loss of power Earl of Maine run. Herbert accepted the offer of an alliance by Fulkos and each led an army separately into the Touraine.
The fight
Fulko led his army against Montrichard, south of Pontlevoy, which was besieged by Odo. But Odo was informed of the approaching enemy, gathered his army and marched against Fulko. The opponents met in a field north of Pontlevoy. Fulko's army had reached it earlier and was already in combat formation. Even before Odo could form his army, consisting mainly of infantry, Fulko attacked. Contrary to expectations, Odo managed to intercept the surprise attack and embroiled Fulko's army in hand-to-hand combat. There Blois was able to win a decision after Fulko fell from his horse; when his banner fell, his army turned to flee. Fulko himself is said to have fallen into enemy captivity, wounded.
In the evening of the day Herbert reached the battlefield with his army coming from the west. He immediately led his cavalry against the right flank of the Blois army, which was already preparing to march. Odo's army had no chance against this second attack, especially since Herbert had the setting evening sun behind him, which blinded the warriors of Blois. Even Fulko, who was able to free himself from the violence of the enemy, had his remaining army gathered and again, supporting Herbert, intervened in the fight.
The fight ended with the flight of Odo and the remnants of his army. He reportedly lost more than 6,000 warriors, all of whom were killed because Fulko refused to take prisoners. Pontlevoy is therefore considered one of the bloodiest battles of the Middle Ages in French lore.
consequences
In memory of the victory, Fulko had the abbeys of Saint-Nicolas near Angers and Beaulieu (today Azé ) near Loches , where he was buried, and went on a second pilgrimage.
The outcome of the battle did not result in any major changes in the power structure of western France. Both Anjou, Maine and Blois were able to preserve their property. This meant that the rivalry between Anjou and Blois should continue, but there were no further major fights between the opponents of Pontlevoy. Tensions only arose around 1025 when Fulko took the offensive and conquered Saumur Castle, which belongs to Blois . The sons of the two feuding counts were to fight against each other again in 1044 in the Battle of Nouy .
During this time Herbert also gave up the alliance with Anjou after Fulko wanted to expand his power to Maine. Instead, he allied himself with the former opponent Odo. After Herbert's death in 1036, his descendants lost importance, since then the Counts of Anjou and the Dukes of Normandy competed for control of Maine.
Odo II of Blois concentrated his politics in the years after Ponlevoy on the east of France, where he was able to expand his power considerably through the successful takeover of the counties of Meaux and Troyes ( Champagne ). In 1037 he fell in Lorraine fighting against Emperor Konrad II while trying to enforce claims to the Kingdom of Burgundy .
See also: List of battles
literature
- Jim Bradbury: The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare . Routledge 2004, ISBN 0415221269 ( limited online version (Google Books) )
- Jean Dunbabin: France in the Making, 843-1180 . Oxford University Press 2000, ISBN 0198208464 , p. 187 ( restricted online version (Google Books) )