Bertrand du Guesclin | |
|---|---|
 Head detail of Bertrand du Guesclin'sgisant (tomb effigy) in theBasilica of Saint-Denis in northern Paris, sculpted during the last quarter of the 14th century. The effigy was commissioned after du Guesclin's death by KingCharles V of France[1] | |
| Born | c. 1320 |
| Died | 13 July 1380 (agedc. 60) |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  House of Blois.svg) Kingdom of France |
| Rank | Constable of France |
| Conflicts Battles | Hundred Years' War War of the Breton Succession Castilian Civil War Battle of Montmuran(1354) Battle of Cocherel(1364) Battle of Auray(1364) (POW) Battle of Nájera(1367) (POW) Battle of Montiel(1369) Battle of Pontvallain(1370) Battle of Chiset(1373) |
| Spouse | Tiphaine Raguenel (1363 - 1373)[2] |
Bertrand du Guesclin (Breton:Beltram Gwesklin;c. 1320 – 13 July 1380), nicknamed "The Eagle of Brittany" or "The Black Dog ofBrocéliande", was aBreton knight and an important military commander on theFrench side during theHundred Years' War. From 1370 to his death, he wasConstable of France forKing Charles V. Well known for hisFabian strategy of avoiding major battles where possible, he took part in sevenpitched battles and won the five in which he held command.
Bertrand du Guesclin was born atMotte-Broons nearDinan, inBrittany, first-born son of Robert du Guesclin and Jeanne de Malmaines. His date of birth is unknown, but is thought to have been sometime in 1320. His family was of minor Breton nobility, theseigneurs ofBroons.[3]His native language wasGallo, alangue d'oïl.[4]
Bertrand's family may have claimed descent from Aquin, the legendary Muslim king ofBougie in Africa (Viking in effect, the legend conflates Saracens and Arabs with Normans and places Aiquin's origins in the north country) a conceit derived from theRoman d'Aquin, a thirteenth-century Frenchchanson de geste from Brittany.[5]
He initially servedCharles of Blois in theBreton War of Succession (1341–1364). Charles was supported by the French crown, while his rival,Jean de Montfort, was allied with England.
Du Guesclin was knighted in 1354 while servingArnoul d'Audrehem, after countering a raid byHugh Calveley on theCastle of Montmuran. In 1356–57, Du Guesclin successfully defendedRennes against a Breton-English siege byHenry of Grosmont, using guerrilla tactics. During the siege, he killed the English knight William Bamborough who had challenged him to aduel.
The resistance of du Guesclin helped restore Breton-French morale afterPoitiers, and du Guesclin came to the attention of theDauphinCharles.
When he became King in 1364, Charles sent Du Guesclin to deal withCharles II of Navarre, who hoped to claim theDuchy of Burgundy, which Charles hoped to give to his brother,Philip. On 16 May, he met an Anglo-Navarrese army under the command ofJean de Grailly, Captal de Buch atCocherel and proved his ability in pitched battle by routing the enemy. The victory forced Charles II into a new peace with the French king, and secured Burgundy for Philip.
On 29 September 1364, at theBattle of Auray, the army of Charles of Blois was heavily defeated byJohn IV, Duke of Brittany and the English forces under SirJohn Chandos. De Blois was killed in action, ending the pretensions of the Penthievre faction in Brittany. After chivalric resistance, Du Guesclin broke his weapons to signify his surrender. He was captured andransomed back to Charles V for 100,000francs.[6]
In 1366, Bertrand persuaded the leaders of the "free companies", who had been pillaging France after theTreaty of Brétigny, to join him in an expedition to Castile to aid CountHenry of Trastámara againstPedro I of Castile. In 1366, du Guesclin, withGuillaume Boitel, his faithful companion, leader of his vanguard, captured many fortresses (Magallón,Briviesca and finally the capitalBurgos).
After Henry's coronation atBurgos, he proclaimed Bertrand his successor asCount of Trastámara and had him crowned asKing of Granada, although that kingdom was yet to be reconquered from theNasrids. Bertrand's elevation must have taken place at Burgos between 16 March and 5 April 1366.[7]
Henry's army was however defeated in 1367 by Pedro's forces, now commanded byEdward, the Black Prince, atNájera. Du Guesclin was again captured, and again ransomed to Charles V, who considered him invaluable.[8] However, the English army suffered badly in the battle as four English soldiers out of five died during the Castilian Campaign. The Black Prince, affected by dysentery, soon withdrew his support from Pedro.
Du Guesclin and Henry of Trastámara renewed the attack, defeating Pedro at the decisiveBattle of Montiel (1369).
After the battle, Pedro fled to the castle atMontiel, from whence he made contact with du Guesclin, whose army was camped outside. Pedro bribed du Guesclin to obtain escape. Du Guesclin agreed, but also told it to Henry who promised him more money and land if he would only lead Pedro to Henry's tent. Once there, after crossed accusations ofbastardy, the two half-brothers started a fight to the death, using daggers because of the narrow space. At a moment when they fought on the floor, Pedro got the upper hand and was about to finish Henry. But then Du Guesclin, who had stayed inactive for he was compromised to both, made his final choice. He grabbed Pedro's ankle and turned him belly-up, thus allowing Henry to stab Pedro to death and gain the throne ofCastile.[9] While turning Pedro down, du Guesclin is claimed to have said"Ni quito ni pongo rey, pero ayudo a mi señor" (I neither remove nor put a King, but I do help my Sire), which has since that moment become a common phrase in Spanish, to be used by anyone of lesser rank who does what he is ordered or expected to do, avoiding any concern about the justice or injustice of such action, and declining any responsibility.[10]
Bertrand was made Duke of Molina, and the Franco-Castilian alliance was sealed.
War with England was renewed in 1369, and Du Guesclin was recalled from Castile in 1370 byCharles V, who had decided to make himConstable of France, the country's chief military leader. By tradition, this post was always given to a great nobleman, not to someone like the comparatively low-born du Guesclin, but Charles needed someone who was an outstanding professional soldier. In practice, du Guesclin had continual difficulties in getting aristocratic leaders to serve under him, and the core of his armies was always his personal retinue.[11] He was formally invested with the rank of Constable by the King on 2 October 1370.
He immediately defeated the remnant of an English army, which had been led byRobert Knolles until his retreat at Du Guesclin's coming, at theBattle of Pontvallain, and then reconqueredPoitou andSaintonge, forcing the Black Prince to leave France.
In 1372, the Franco-Castilian fleet destroyed the English fleet at theBattle of La Rochelle, where more than 400 English knights and 8000 soldiers were captured. Master of the Channel, du Guesclin organized destructive raids on the English coasts in retaliation for the Englishchevauchées.
Du Guesclin pursued the English into Brittany from 1370 to 1374 and again defeated the English army at theBattle of Chizé in 1373.
He disapproved of the confiscation of Brittany by Charles V in 1378, and his campaign to make the independent duchy submit to a French king was halfhearted.
An able tactician and a loyal and disciplined warrior, Du Guesclin had reconquered much of France from the English when he died of illness atChâteauneuf-de-Randon while on a military expedition inLanguedoc in 1380. He was buried atSaint-Denis in thetomb of the Kings of France, which was later sacked and destroyed during theFrench Revolution. His heart is kept at thebasilica of Saint-Sauveur atDinan.
Because of du Guesclin's allegiance to France, the 20th centuryBreton nationalists considered him to be a 'traitor' to Brittany. During World War II, the pro-NaziBreton Social-National Workers' Movement destroyed a statue of him inRennes. In 1977 theBreton Liberation Front destroyed a statue of him inBroons.[12]
Bertrand du Guesclin appears as a character inArthur Conan Doyle's 1891 historical novelThe White Company, set in 1366. The protagonists first encounter him in Chapter 24, "How a Champion Came Forth From the East to the Lists", and again in Chapter 28, "How the Comrades Came over the Marches of France".
He is also a major character in a trilogy of Dutch historical youth novels, byThea Beckman, the first part,Geef me de ruimte, was published in 1976. The main protagonist, a free-spirited young Flemish woman, ends up in Brittany during the 100 Years' War. She and her husband first meet Bertrand in 1353, and become hisTrouvères in 1354 after theBattle of Montmuran.
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