Battle of Brémule
The Battle of Brémule in the Grandes Chroniques de France , 14th century.
| date | August 20, 1119 |
|---|---|
| place | near Gaillardbois-Cressenville / France |
| output | Heinrich Beauclerc's victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Commander | |
|
Heinrich I. Beauclerc |
|
| Troop strength | |
| 400 knights | 500 knights |
| losses | |
|
† 2 |
† 1 knight |
The Battle of Brémule was a military clash in medieval France between the French King Louis VI. the Fat and the English King and Duke of Normandy , Heinrich I. Beauclerc . The battle took place on August 20, 1119 in the Norman Vexin on the field of Brémule, near the place Gaillardbois-Cressenville in the Eure department / Normandy region .
prehistory
In 1106 the English King Heinrich I Beauclerc defeated his older brother Duke Robert Kurzhose in the battle of Tinchebray and thus reunited the Anglo-Norman empire created by their father, William the Conqueror , under one rule. Heinrich Beauclerc became one of the most powerful rulers on the French mainland and came into conflict with the French kingship of the Capetians , whose claimed sovereignty over Normandy he did not recognize.
King Ludwig VI. the fat of France opposed the power of Heinrich Beauclerc and protected Wilhelm Clito as a pretender to the Norman duchy. Wilhelm Clito was a son of Duke Robert Kurzhose, who had been ousted by Heinrich Beauclerc. The King of France continued to promote the incipient discontent among the Norman barons, which was ignited by the strict regiment of Heinrich Beauclerc in Normandy. In 1118 the uprising broke out in Normandy, but Louis VI. could not support this at first, which he had to fight against a revolt of his vassals in the Île-de-France. Heinrich Beauclerc was able to land in Normandy in the winter of 1118 and gradually subjugate his vassals again. Only in the summer of 1119 was Ludwig VI. able to turn against Normandy.
The battle
Louis VI. of France marched on August 20, 1119 from the castle of Étampes into the Norman Vexin, with Les Andelys as a goal. As the first king ever, he carried the banner of the Saint-Denis abbey , the Oriflamme, with him on a campaign . At the same time Heinrich Beauclerc was with his army in the area of Noyon-sur-Andelle (today Charleval ) busy with the submission of further rebels. Hardly arrived in Les Andelys, Louis VI marched. Immediately continue in the direction of Noyon-sur-Andelle to conquer this castle, without knowing that his enemy was very close. But he himself was discovered by a Norman scouting party who were posted on a hill called Verclives and immediately informed Heinrich Beauclerc. While the French ravaged the land around Noyon-sur-Andelle, the Normans took up battle in the field of Brémule near Verclives. Heinrich Beauclerc had 400 of his knights dismantled, which he formed into a tightly closed row, he only let 100 knights on their horses under the command of Richard FitzRoy .
After Ludwig VI. When the Normans became aware, he ordered his 400 knights to attack immediately. The disorderly attack not only ricocheted off the Norman phalanx, but was literally wiped out by it. The Normans fighting on foot specifically killed the horses of the French and took the falling knights prisoner. So Ludwig VI lost. 80 of his knights within a very short time. This loss put the remaining French knights and their Norman allies in uncertainty. Then the 100 mounted Normans supported themselves in battle and urged the knights of the French king to flee. King Ludwig VI. himself was thrown from his horse in battle, but was able to save himself from the battlefield on foot. For Heinrich Beauclerc the victory was complete.
consequences
Ordericus Vitalis reported that King Ludwig VI. strayed alone in a forest on his escape to Les Andelys. Incognito, he had to be escorted to Les Andelys by a common man he met. Vitalis also wrote that of the 900 knights involved in the battle, only three died, but that more than 150 knights of the King of France were captured by the Normans. Most of them were soon released, but the Norman rebels who were responsible for Louis VI. had fought severe punishment. Heinrich Beauclerc placed them in the strictest imprisonment, and some died as a result. In the battle Ludwig VI lost. also the oriflamme , which was worth two hundred silver marks to Heinrich Beauclerc, which he paid to the knight who had captured it in battle.
With his victory Heinrich Beauclerc himself was able to defend the unity of Normandy with England ("Anglo-Norman Empire"), which he had restored in 1106. At the same time, his victory meant the final suppression of the uprising in Normandy. Louis VI. for his part, he did not dare to attack Normandy afterwards, his protégé Wilhelm Clito had to give up all ambitions to regain his father's duchy.
Heinrich Beauclerc's victory, however, also took a heavy toll on him. After Normandy was pacified again, he intended to return to England with his family. The “ white ship ” sank in a storm in the English Channel in November 1120 , in which his only legitimate son and heir to the throne, William Ætheling, drowned along with other relatives. The subsequent reorganization of the succession in favor of his daughter Mathilde caused a future struggle for succession.
swell
- Ordericus Vitalis , Historia Ecclesiastica Liber XII, §18, ed. by Marjorie Chibnall : The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis (1978), Vol. 6, pp. 236-243
- Suger von Saint-Denis , Vita Ludovici VI regis Philippi filii qui grossus dictus , in: Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France 12 (1877), p. 45 and Henri Waquet: Vie de Louis VI le Gros (1964), p 196-197
literature
- Christian Delabos: La bataille de Brémule. 20 août 1119: Les Normands écrasent le roi de France . Historic'one, Annecy-le-Vieux 1999, ISBN 2912994020 .
Web links
See also: List of battles