Sea battle at Damme
The sea battle at Damme was a battle between an English and French fleet during the wars between the English King John Ohneland and the French King Philip II for the possessions of the Angevin Empire in France. It took place on May 30th and 31st, 1213 near Damme in Flanders and ended with a decisive English victory, which is considered to be the first major naval victory of the Royal Navy built under King Johann Ohneland .
prehistory
After King Philip II had conquered Normandy , which had previously belonged to the Angevin Empire, in 1204 , King John built his own royal fleet of galleys to protect the English Channel coast in order to be independent of the support of the ships of the Cinque Ports . After an armistice had been concluded between the two kings in 1206, Johann had planned a campaign to France for 1212, which he had to postpone because of an uprising in Wales and a conspiracy of his barons. In return, the French King Philip II hoped that if he landed in England , he would receive support from the rebellious barons against John, who had been excommunicated since 1209 . In 1213 he therefore prepared an invasion of England. However, his vassal, Count Ferdinand of Flanders, demanded the return of two cities in return for his participation in the invasion, which he had previously had to cede to the king. Therefore, before setting out for England, the French king sailed with his fleet to Flanders in order to enforce his sovereignty over Count Ferdinand. The French knight and mercenary leader Savary de Mauléon was in command of the fleet .
Course of the battle
On May 28, 1213, an English fleet of 500 ships under the command of William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury , left the English ports. On board were the Count of Boulogne, expelled by Philip II in 1211, and the Count of Holland , plus 700 knights and numerous mercenaries. Due to unfavorable offshore winds , the fleet only reached the Flemish coast at the mouth of the Zwin on May 30th . In front of the port of Damme , the English discovered the French fleet, which was anchored or whose ships had partly pulled ashore. According to the royal chaplain, the French fleet consisted of 1,700 ships. Ships sent forward for reconnaissance found, however, that the ships were only manned by the sailors, while the knights and soldiers besieged nearby Bruges or plundered the surrounding area. Longespée then immediately ordered the attack on the anchored fleet.
The English were able to board 300 ships of the defenseless French fleet, 100 more were sunk or burned. In view of this success, Count Ferdinand made an alliance with King John the next day, and the English troops disembarked to attack the French at Damme. In doing so, however, they encountered the far superior French main army under King Philip and were only just able to escape back onto their ships. The English finally succeeded in bringing the captured ships loaded with valuable equipment to England.
consequences
The English fleet had won an overwhelming naval victory, which for the time being thwarted the French king's plans for invasion. Due to the sunken ships, the access to the port of Damme was impassable, so that the part of the French fleet that was still in the port could not leave it. Philip II finally had to burn the ships to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. Ultimately, however, he succeeded in decisively defeating the allied troops of King John, the Count of Flanders and the Count of Boulogne in the Battle of Bouvines in 1214 .
literature
- Susan Rose: Medieval Naval Warfare, 1000-1500 . Taylor & Francis, Abingdon 2001. ISBN 0-415-23976-1 , p. 29
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wilfred L. Warren: King John . University of California Press, Berkeley, 1978, ISBN 0-520-03494-5 , p. 205
Coordinates: 51 ° 20 ′ 0.9 ″ N , 3 ° 22 ′ 54.5 ″ E