Battle of Saint Mathieu (1512)
The French Marie la Cordelière in agony with the English regent
(painting by Pierre-Julien Gilbert, 1838)
| date | August 10, 1512 |
|---|---|
| place | in front of Cape Saint Mathieu near Brest , Brittany (France) |
| output | draw |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| at least 25 ships (according to other information over 50 or 80) | 21 or 22 ships |
| losses | |
|
400 dead, 1 ship sunk, 3 ships damaged |
1,180 dead, 1 ship sunk, 1 ship damaged |
League of Cambrai (1508–1510)
Agnadello - Padua - Polesella - Mirandola
Holy League (1510 / 11–1516)
Brescia - Ravenna - Navarra - St. Mathieu - Novara - Guinegate - Dijon - Flodden Field - La Motta - Marignano
The naval battle of Saint Mathieu took place on the day of Saint Lawrence (August 10th) 1512 between an English and a Franco-Breton fleet off the coast of Brittany near Brest . It was the first naval battle in which cannons were used on special gun decks.
Primauguet
During the Italian wars , Spain, the Papal States , the Republic of Venice , the Swiss Confederation and England, in 1508 and 1511 respectively, opposed France's King Louis XII. merged into the League of Cambrai and the Holy League . Since Louis had to fear an English landing in France while he was fighting in Italy ( Battle of Ravenna , April 1512), he called his Breton vassals to help. Under the leadership of the Breton corsair Hervé de Portzmoguer (Porzhmoger, Primaguet, Primauguet, Primoguet), Breton privateers joined the fleet of Admiral René de Clermont, which had gathered in Brest . The combined fleet numbered 21 or 22 warships and had the task of defending the passage between Cape Saint Mathieu and Toulinquet.
Marie la Cordelière
When Clermont was informed in the passage of the approach of a superior English fleet (the numbers differ between 25 and over 50 warships), he ordered the anchors to be lifted or cut so as not to be destroyed at anchor. The Marie la Cordelière , commanded by Primauguet , the largest warship ever built in France with 200 guns and around 1,000 tons, and the Petite Louise (around 790 tons) were responsible for covering the retreat of the other French ships. With the Cordelière , Primauguet first shot the enemy flagship, the Mary Rose of the English Admiral Edward Howard , incapacitated, then the Sovereign and the Mary-James (400 tons) and finally steered directly at it under strong counterfire (the Louise had turned off damaged) largest English ship too, the Regent (about 600 tons), intending to board it. He managed to get his ship next to the English one, but during the boarding battle the Cordelière's powder room exploded and the fire that spread immediately reached the Regent's powder room , which also exploded. Primauguet tried to save himself by jumping into the water and drowned because of his armor. With him, 1,180 French of the 1,200-strong crew of the Cordelière and around 400 British of the 460-strong crew of the Regent were killed. The remaining French ships managed to escape to Brest.
Legend
There are various records of whether the fire in the Cordelière's powder chamber was caused by the English cannons or started by Primauguet himself. Breton and French traditions and legends also exaggerate the myth of the battle or the heroic deeds of Primauguet. So 25 or 50 English ships became 80, the three damaged English ships three sunk and the retreat of the French ships into a successful counterattack - a mixture with a sea battle that was more favorable for France in the following year.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Wolfgang Schwerdt: Spotlights of History - Years with the 12 - The Battle of Saint-Mathieu
- ↑ a b Colburn’s The United service magazine and Naval and military journal , Volume III. London 1867, p. 195
- ↑ a b c d e Lincoln P. Paine: Warships of the World To 1900 . New York 2000, p. 42
- ↑ a b c d Georges G. Toudouz: Hervé de Portz-Moguer et "Marie la Cordelière", d'après les témoins oculaires de 1512 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Fantômes des Combat
- ^ Anton Strauss (Ed.): Archive for Geography, History, State and War Art . Vienna 1810, p. 47 f.
