Battle of Roche-aux-Moines

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Battle of Roche-aux-Moines
King John of England in battle with Prince Ludwig of France. Depiction from the Chroniques de Saint-Denis, 14th century.
King John of England in battle with Prince Ludwig of France. Depiction from the Chroniques de Saint-Denis , 14th century.
date July 2, 1214
place near Savennières , France
output Victory of Prince Ludwig
Parties to the conflict

Anjou Plantagenet

Kingdom of France

Commander

Royal Arms of England.svg Johann Ohneland

Blason pays for FranceAncien.svg Louis VIII Henri Clément
Blason fam for Clément (cadet) .svg

Troop strength
unknown 800 knights
losses

Siege device

no

The battle of La Roche-aux-Moines was a military clash in medieval France on July 2, 1214 between the French crown prince Louis VIII and the English king Johann Ohneland in front of the walls of the castle of La Roche-aux-Moines (“Rock of the Monks ”). The battlefield, which is now called Savennières , was not far from Angers , in the historic province of Anjou ( Maine-et-Loire department ).

The special feature of this battle was the lack of a direct battle between the two conflicting parties. It was decided by the early flight of Johann Ohneland in favor of the Prince of France.

background

The battle occurred as part of the military campaign of the English king in association with Emperor Otto IV of Braunschweig against the French King Philip II August in the summer months of the year 1214. The cause was the conflict between the French kingship and the House of Plantagenet , in which King Philip II August smashed the extensive territorial conglomerate of the Plantagenets (" Angevin Empire "). He achieved this in 1202 with a default judgment against his vassal Johann Ohneland and the subsequent military implementation of the judgment. By 1204 the French king managed to occupy all areas of the Plantagenets north of the Loire , mainly Normandy , Maine , Anjou and Touraine , and to incorporate them into the crown domain .

In the following years, Johann Ohneland undertook a policy to regain the lost property and allied himself with his nephew, the Roman-German King and Emperor Otto IV, with whose help he was able to open a two-front strategy against France. Philip II August in turn allied with the Staufer Friedrich II , the competitor of the Guelph Otto von Braunschweig for the empire. After Friedrich II appeared in Germany crossing the Alps in 1212 and thus initiated the decisive battle in the German controversy for the throne, the Anglo-Welf alliance decided to launch an offensive against France.

course

Johann Ohneland landed with his army on February 15, 1214 in La Rochelle on the coast of Saintonge . First of all, in March he brought the Vice Count of Limoges to his side with an advance into the Limousin . With a march to La Reole he consolidated his position in Gascony and brought the barons of Aquitaine to his side through promises and the pressure of his army. Johann's diplomatic activities, however, took up a lot of time. Benefiting from this, Philip II August was able to assemble an army of 800 knights in Châteauroux , with whom he wanted to confront Johann. He received the news of the war preparations of Emperor Otto IV on the Lower Rhine, whereupon he went to the northeast of his kingdom to raise a second army there. He entrusted the responsibility for the defense of the southwest to his son and Crown Prince Louis VIII and Marshal Henri Clément .

In May, Johann finally began his march through the Poitou . He quickly conquered the castles of Mervant and Voucant, where he was able to capture his old opponent Gottfried von Lusignan . In Parthenay he agreed with Hugo IX. von Lusignan the wedding of his daughter Johanna with Hugo's eldest son Hugo X. , whereby he won the support of the powerful Lusignan family, who had long been enemies with him . In addition to Hugo IX. Rudolf von Eu and Gottfried von Lusignan also paid homage to him there . In June he crossed the Loire north and advanced into Brittany , where Duke Peter Mauclerc , who was a cousin of the French king, had taken power the year before . After sacking Ancenis , he managed to conquer Nantes and capture the duke's brother, Robert Gasteblé . Then Johann moved on to Anjou, the home of his family. The rule of the French king was represented there by the Seneschal Guillaume des Roches , who was once a vassal of John, but in 1204, like many other barons on the French mainland, had passed to Philip II August's side. The Seneschal was unable to prevent Angers from being surrendered to Johann on June 17 without a fight , but put the crews of the three castles in the area on standby, of which Johann was able to conquer two in a single blow. Only La Roche-aux-Moines withstood the siege that began on June 19.

In the meantime, Prince Ludwig had moved with his army to Chinon , where he met Guillaume des Roches and Aimery de Craon, who told him about the siege of Roche-aux-Moines. The prince decided to march immediately against Johann, because he feared a general defection of the vassals of Anjou on his side if he should succeed in taking Angers. When the news of the approach of the prince reached the besiegers, this left the allies of Johann in uncertainty, since their domains were unguarded as long as they were bound with their knights before Roche-aux-Moines. Under the leadership of Vice Count Aimery von Thouars, they resisted an open field battle and separated themselves from Johann. When Prince Ludwig reached La Roche-aux-Moines on July 2, preparing his army for battle and sending a formal request to fight to Johann, the latter panicked without the support of his allies and fled quickly to the south with his troops . He left behind only the siege equipment, which was difficult to transport. During the hasty crossing of the Loire, the only casualties of that day were when several of Johann's infantrymen drowned. After just two days, on July 4th, Johann reached the Abbey of Saint-Maixent-l'École on a journey of about 115 km, and on July 9th he was back in La Rochelle.

consequences

The decision at La Roche-aux-Moines had a decisive influence on the further military conflicts in the summer of 1214. Because Emperor Otto IV had not yet started his march to France by this time, it gave Philip II August the necessary time to convene the French army in Péronne . Since Johann had not ventured out of the Poitou since his defeat, there was no unification of his armed forces with his nephew's army, which put their alliance at a strategic disadvantage. In the battle of Bouvines on July 27th, Emperor Otto IV had to face the equally strong army of Philip II August and suffer the decisive defeat in the battles of 1214.

After learning of the defeat of Bouvines, Johann made contact with Philip II. August and on September 18, he swore an armistice in Chinon by having to recognize the losses suffered that year again after the armistice of Thouars in 1204.

See also

literature