Battle of Compiegne

Battle of Compiegne

Part of: Hundred Years War

The Siege of Compiègne 1430 (Illumination from the Vigiles du roi Charles VII by Martial d'Auvergne, 15th century)

date	June 14th, 1430 to June 24th, 1430
place	Compiègne and the surrounding area
output	Burgundian victory

Parties to the conflict
Kingdom of France	Duchy of Burgundy
Commander
Joan of Arc	Johann of Luxembourg
Troop strength
approx. 200-400 men	unknown
losses
unknown	unknown

The Battle of Compiègne in 1430 was an attempt by the French in the Hundred Years War not to let the city , which belonged to the French crown again after the coronation of Charles VII , fall back into the hands of the House of Burgundy . The battle was also the last of the Joan of Arc . She was captured by the Burgundians and later extradited to the English . While the actual battle should be militarily insignificant for the further course of the war, the loss of the charismatic Joan of Arc attracted a lot of attention.

background

During this phase of the Hundred Years War, the House of Burgundy had allied itself with England under Philip the Good, who was striving for political independence . John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford , installed as regent for France by the English king , had occupied a large part of northern and central France together with the Burgundians in the previous ten years. It was only with the appearance of Joan of Arc in 1429 that the French managed to drive back the English with an army led by her and Jean II. De Alençon and finally to achieve a decisive victory at the Battle of Patay . The way to Reims was opened for the French Dauphin , the traditional coronation site of the French kings, where he officially took over the crown of France as Charles VII. As a result, shortly afterwards some cities - including Compiègne - broke away from Burgundian rule and declared their loyalty to Charles VII.

After Charlemagne's coronation, Philip the Good recognized that it was time to start peace negotiations and had already made appropriate offers to both sides. In order to underline its role as an indispensable, strong partner, also vis-à-vis the French, and to improve its negotiating position in advance, some of the towns that had fallen away from Burgundian rule were to be recaptured. The main focus of Philip was on the area around the Oise , which was also important for securing Paris, which was occupied by the English . Compiègne was one of the cities on which Philip's plans were directed.

The way to battle

Philip the Good had sent Compiègne an ultimate invitation to return under Burgundian rule. When the city refused, on April 4, 1430, Count Johann von Luxemburg marched with an army towards Compiègne to bring the insubordinate city back under Burgundian control. On April 22nd, Philip the Good set out on his own way from Peronne . The French commander of the Compiègne garrison, Guillaume de Flavy , prepared the city for a siege.

Also at the beginning of April, Jeanne d'Arc had gathered an army of around 300–400 volunteers and was also on the way towards the threatened city. According to the city's chronicles, she arrived there on May 14, 1430 with Regnault de Chartres , Archbishop of Reims, and Louis de Bourbon, Count of Vendôme .

Course of the battle

Jeanne d'Arc pursued the plan to attack the advancing Burgundian troops already on the march to Compiégne in order to avoid an actual siege of the city. In the first days of the battle there were only minor military clashes in the surrounding area. An advance at Choisy-au-Bac to support the garrison stationed there was unsuccessful. Under heavy artillery fire from Burgundy, the local commander, Louis de Flavy , evacuated the city on May 16 and retired to his brother in Compiégne. Another surprise attack on the Burgundian troops at Pont-l'Évêque was repulsed by the Burgundian nobleman Jean de Brimeu . Nevertheless, de Brimeu was captured by the French a few days later in an ambush. On May 18, Joan of Arc marched with her troops on Soissons . She hoped to be able to recruit more troops there and then stab the Burgundian army in the rear. This project failed because the commander of Soissons, Guichard Bournel , allowed Jeanne d'Arc to enter the city but forbade the recruitment of fresh troops. After Joan of Arc and her troops had made their way back to Compiégne, Bournel Soissons declared loyal to Burgundy.

With her remaining 300 armed men, Joan of Arc finally launched an attack on a Burgundian outpost near Margny . The attack failed because the alarmed Burgundians were able to quickly summon reinforcements from the area. In view of a steadily growing superiority, the French finally had to retreat to Compiègne to fight. Joan of Arc brought up the rear and covered the retreat. While their fighters gradually retreated over a bridge into the city, more and more Burgundian troops rushed to Compiègne. Whether it was due to panic or treacherous motives is unclear, but in any case the city commandant had the gates locked before Joan of Arc and her last loyal followers could retreat behind the protective walls. She defended herself bravely, but eventually had to be taken prisoner by Johann von Luxemburg.

consequences

Even if the Burgundian armies could not be defeated decisively, they finally gave up the siege of Compiègne. The city was thus successfully defended. Joan of Arc was sold to the English by Philip the Good soon after she was captured for the sum of 10,000 écu . After a year in captivity, she was to be found guilty of heresy and presumption after a witchcraft trial and cremated.

The negotiations aimed at by Philip the Good finally took place in 1435 and led to a rapprochement between Burgundy and France. The changed balance of power finally prepared the basis for the ultimate defeat of the English in the Hundred Years War and the almost complete loss of their possessions in France.

literature

• Christopher Allmand: The Hundred Years War. England and France at War c. 1300 - c. 1450. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1988, ISBN 0-521-31923-4 .
• Kelly DeVries : Joan of Arc. A military leader. Sutton Publishing, Stroud 1999, ISBN 0-7509-1805-5 .
• Joachim Ehlers : The Hundred Years War (= Beck'sche series 2475 CH Beck knowledge ). CH Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-406-56275-4 .
• Margaret Oliphant: Jeanne d'Arc Her Life and Death (= Heroes of the Nations 17, ZDB -ID 1092386-x ). GP Putnam's Sons, New York et al. 1896, online edition .
• Régine Pernoud , Marie-Véronique Clin: Joan of Arc. Her story. St. Martin's Press, New York NY 1999, ISBN 0-312-22730-2 .
• Stephen W. Richey: Joan of Arc. The Warrior Saint. Praeger, Westport CT et al. 2003, ISBN 0-275-98103-7 .

Web links

• Siege of Orléans and the Loire campaign , with detailed descriptions and maps.
• Website about the life and work of Joan of Arc.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ehlers, pp. 88/89.
2. ↑ cf. Pernoud, p. 86
3. ↑ cf. Pernoud, p. 86
4. ↑ cf. Ehlers, p. 89