Tournament of Thirty

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Tournament of Thirty
Detail view of an illustration of the Tournament of Thirty from the Chronicles of Nantes by Pierre Le Baud (1480).
Detail view of an illustration of the Tournament of Thirty from the Chronicles of Nantes by Pierre Le Baud (1480).
date March 26, 1351
place between Josselin and Ploërmel
output Franco-Breton victory
Parties to the conflict

Blason Blois-Châtillon.svg House Blois

Armoiries Jean de Montfort.svg House Montfort

Commander

Jean de Beaumanoir

Robert Bramborough

Troop strength
30th 30 (31?)
losses

at least 3

9

The Tournament of Thirty ( English Combat of the Thirty / French Combat des Trente ) on March 26, 1351 was a pre-arranged battle in the style of a tournament between the houses of Blois and Montfort during the War of the Breton Succession in the Hundred Years War . Each side sent thirty knights and squires who fought halfway between the Breton castles of Josselin and Ploërmel .

prehistory

After the death of Jean III, Duke of Brittany in 1341, both his half-brother Jean Montfort and Charles Blois , as the husband of his niece Johanna von Dreux , claimed the successor. While Blois from the French King Philip VI. was confirmed, Montfort received from the English King Edward III. the promise to support him in the enforcement of his claims, if this recognizes Edward as feudal lord and rightful king of France. The initially regional dispute over a French fiefdom was soon instrumentalized in the overarching dispute of the Hundred Years War between England and France for the French throne.

After Jean Montfort had first brought large parts of Brittany under his control, he was defeated in November 1341 in the Battle of Champtoceaux to the Franco-Breton army of Charles Blois. This captured Montfort and occupied almost all of Brittany in the following months. From August 1342 the first English troops landed in Brest and were just able to avert the complete defeat of the House of Montfort. In the following years there were always bloody skirmishes on both sides, as well as some major battles ( Morlaix , Saint-Pol-de-Léon , La Roche-Derrien ) with varying fortunes of war.

Course of the battle

Because Robert Bramborough , the English commander of Ploërmel, had not adhered to the armistice between England and France in force at the time, the French commander of the area, Jean de Beaumanoir , challenged him to a hastiludia . It was agreed to meet at the chêne de Mi-Voie (roughly: "oak of the half way") and fight with each other in the form of a pas d'armes . Both sides should bring thirty of their best fighters with them to the armed forces .

Beaumanoir led thirty Bretons into the field, Bramborough brought a mixed troop of twenty Englishmen (including Robert Knolles and Hugh Calveley ), six German mercenaries and four Bretons with them. The battle was fought with swords , daggers , spears and battle axes , on foot and on horseback , and was fought bitterly on both sides. So should Geoffroy du Bois , have said grimly to his wounded leader when he asked for water: "Drink your blood, Beaumanoir, thirst will dwindle" (in French ". Bois ton sang, Beaumanoir, la soif te passera ").

After hours of battle it was finally decided by Guillaume de Montauban , who mounted his horse and knocked seven of the English fighters down. The rest of the Anglo-Breton side then surrendered and surrendered. By then all the men involved in the fight were either seriously injured or dead. Bramborough himself had been slain, along with six other Englishmen. House Blois supporters suffered at least three deaths, perhaps more. The prisoners were treated well and were released a little later on payment of only a small ransom.

Importance of the battle

While the battle itself did not have a significant impact on the outcome of the War of the Breton Succession, it was noted across Europe. It was widely regarded as an example of outstanding chivalry and became the subject of songs of love , poems and paintings . Jean Froissart described the tournament of thirty in his chronicles. The participants on both sides enjoyed great esteem and Froissart reports that a survivor of the battle dined at the table of the future French King Charles V , who was honored beyond measure by those present for his participation. In 1828 a memorial stone was erected at the site of the battle.

The combatants

The combatants of the Tournament of Thirty
House Blois House Montfort
Sir Jean de Beaumanoir , Governor of Josselin Sir Robert Bramborough , in command of Ploërmel †
Sir Olivier Arrel Sir Robert Knolles
Sir Caron de Bosdegas Sir Thomas Billefort
Sir Geoffroy du Bois Sir Thomas Walton
Sir Yves Charruel Sir Hugh Calveley
Sir Guy de Rochefort Sir Hervé Laxaualan
Sir Jean Rouxelot Sir Richard Lalande
Sir Robin Raguenel John Plesington
Sir Huon de Saint-Hugeon Richard Gaillard
Sir Jean de Tinténiac Hughes Gaillard
Geoffroy de Beaucorps Huceton Clemenbean
Hughes Capus-le-Sage Hennequin de Guenchamp
Olivier de Fontenay Renequin Hérouart
Louis de Goyon Hennequin Le Mareschal
Alain de Keranrais Raoulet d'Aspremont
Guillaume de la Lande Gaultier l'Alemant
Guillaume de la Marche Bobinet Melipart
Geoffroy de Mellon † Jean Troussel
Guillaume de Montauban Robin Adès
Olivier de Monteville Perrot Gannelon
Maurice du Parc Guillemin-le-Gaillard
Tristan de Pestivien Jennequin Taillard
Guyon de Pontblanc Rango-le-Couart
Geoffroy Poulard † Raoul Prévot
Simonet Pachard Dardaine †
Geoffroy de la Roche Repefort
Jean de Serent Croquart the German
Alain de Tinténiac Isannay
Maurice de Tréziguify Dagworth (nephew of Sir Thomas Dagworth )
Geslin de Trésiguidy Helichon
Helecoq

The names listed above are taken from the French-language poem Le Poème du combat des Trente , written in the 14th century . Whether the list of fighters recorded there is actually correct cannot be said with certainty, but the proximity of the poem to the events suggests this. Curiously, the Poème gives 31 names for the Montfort house.

On the Anglo-Breton side, nine participants in the fight fell, all survivors were taken into (brief) captivity. The Franco-Breton side lost at least three fighters, with all of those captured during the battle eventually being released. Only those fighters who are said to have been killed are included in the list.

literature

  • Barbara Tuchman , The Distant Mirror. The dramatic 14th century. claasen Verlag GmbH: Düsseldorf 1992. ISBN 3 546 49186 6
  • HR Brush (ed.), La Bataille de trente Anglois et de trente Bretons , in: Modern Philology, 9 (1911-12), pp. 511-544 and 10 (1912-13), pp. 82-136. ISSN  0026-8232
  • Steven Muhlberger, Deeds of Arms: Formal combats in the late fourteenth century . The Chivalry Bookshelf: Highland Village 2005, pp. 76-120. ISBN 978-1891448447
  • Sébastien Nadot, Rompez les lances! Chevaliers et tournois au Moyen âge. Autrement: Paris 2010. ISBN 9782746714441
  • Jonathan Sumption , The Hundred Years War. Volume 2: Trial by Fire . University of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia 1999. ISBN 978-0-8122-1801-5

swell

Individual evidence

  1. Online edition of the Poème du combat des Trente , pp. 16-18.

Web links

Commons : Tournament of Thirty  - Collection of images, videos and audio files