alternatehistory.com
1333-6: France
1333-6: AULD INTRIGUE
"In later years, when it became necessary to find a villain to fix the blame on France's lackluster initial response to the invasion of Scotland, one came ready made. Philip de Valois, Duke of Anjou himself bemoaned his early handling of the matter, declaring over a decade later that it was success in Scotland that 'hath made the English so overbearing that they will hear only words of submission'. Obviously, this admitted error was taken up by King John, always eager to blacken Anjou's name and insist that unpopular policies had nothing to do with him. When Balliol launched his invasion, the King was only just returning from Navarre, placing the response in the hand of Anjou--who did nothing. As the situation developed Anjou insisted on viewing it as an internal Scottish matter, trusting in Prince Edward's assurances that he was uninvolved. These were blatant lies--and yet Anjou chose to believe them, or at the very least, not to look at them very hard. After John returned, Anjou continued to advise that France avoid involvement in 'this quarrel of Scots', even as the English poured over the border[1].
"Of course this clear case of negligence is not so clear in the end, thanks to one simple fact--John's initial response was to agree with his brother-in-law. The cause of their mutual willingness to abandon the Scots to their fate was simple--the hoped-for Crusade in the Holy Land. Despite France's renewed treaty with Scotland, England remained a more valuable ally for such an undertaking--indeed a necessary one. Anjou had by this point spent years in negotiation with the English to bring this to fruition, a difficult process that had involved endless delegations, and dangling out the restoration of English rights in Gascony--he was loathe to toss out what progress he had made, as were King John and most of his advisors. Indeed, King John had even set a formal date for the crusade to set out, August of 1336, and sent ambassadors to try and recruit his uncle, Charles of Hungary, while Anjou had worked to assemble a massive fleet at Marseilles[2]. Even those few friends Scotland had on the council of France counted the matter lost after Halidon Hill--which had even been witnessed by a small group of French ambassadors[3]. It truly appeared that the Scots were to be abandoned.
"That would be startlingly reversed with the arrival in Paris of John Bruce, King of the Scots in 1335. Transported there by the Earl of Moray, one of the few survivors of the debacle of Halidon, the boy king was promptly given shelter by John of France, who publicly swore to defend Bruce's rights as King of Scots. John's reasons seem to have stemmed more from his own egotism than any strategic concerns--still even Anjou saw the point in avoiding giving French allies the impression that the crown could not be counted on to support them. Indeed, for a brief while, Anjou seems to have believed that it was possible for the French to restore Bruce to his throne and go on the crusade, simply by giving the English concessions in Gascony, but John swiftly disabused him of that notion. He was, he declared, tired of dealing with Prince Edward on this matter--his cousin was 'so swollen with conceit' that making any arrangement with him was impossible. Besides England's losses in Gascony were wholly deserved and necessary for France's well-being--John would not restore what he would likely have to take again. In all likelihood, the King spared Anjou a great deal of pointless negotiation[4]--still, to see his approach rebuked by his sovereign was a sign that the Duke's influence was waning--more than a few suspected that John was simply parroting Robert of Artois. They may have been right.
"As a France that had to worry about conflict with the English was a France that could not conduct a crusade, the project that had dominated French foreign policy was first shelved, then abandoned when it was clear the new Pope was far less in favor of it than his predecessors[5]. And so it was that fleet assembled in Marseilles found itself re-purposed for another war..."
--John I of France, Vol. 1; A King in His Cradle, Antony Oates (1978)
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[1] IOTL, Philip of Valois likewise did his best to stay out of the Second Scottish War of Independence for the first few years.
[2] Yes, there really was a French recruited fleet in Marseilles for an upcoming crusade at the beginning of OTL's Hundred Years War as well.
[3] As you are doubtless suspecting I am going to say--yep, there were actual French ambassadors at the OTL siege of Berwick.
[4] John most certainly has--IOTL, neither France nor England would budge on Gascony matters. And now, if I may digress, we get to what actually started the Hundred Years War--not the oft-repeated succession dispute, but the ongoing war with Scotland that folded neatly into the disputes about Gascony, and a great deal of Anglo-Frankish problems to create a perfect storm. Edward III's claim to the throne was ultimately a means to an end, nothing more.
[5] More on this figure in the next installment.
"In later years, when it became necessary to find a villain to fix the blame on France's lackluster initial response to the invasion of Scotland, one came ready made. Philip de Valois, Duke of Anjou himself bemoaned his early handling of the matter, declaring over a decade later that it was success in Scotland that 'hath made the English so overbearing that they will hear only words of submission'. Obviously, this admitted error was taken up by King John, always eager to blacken Anjou's name and insist that unpopular policies had nothing to do with him. When Balliol launched his invasion, the King was only just returning from Navarre, placing the response in the hand of Anjou--who did nothing. As the situation developed Anjou insisted on viewing it as an internal Scottish matter, trusting in Prince Edward's assurances that he was uninvolved. These were blatant lies--and yet Anjou chose to believe them, or at the very least, not to look at them very hard. After John returned, Anjou continued to advise that France avoid involvement in 'this quarrel of Scots', even as the English poured over the border[1].
"Of course this clear case of negligence is not so clear in the end, thanks to one simple fact--John's initial response was to agree with his brother-in-law. The cause of their mutual willingness to abandon the Scots to their fate was simple--the hoped-for Crusade in the Holy Land. Despite France's renewed treaty with Scotland, England remained a more valuable ally for such an undertaking--indeed a necessary one. Anjou had by this point spent years in negotiation with the English to bring this to fruition, a difficult process that had involved endless delegations, and dangling out the restoration of English rights in Gascony--he was loathe to toss out what progress he had made, as were King John and most of his advisors. Indeed, King John had even set a formal date for the crusade to set out, August of 1336, and sent ambassadors to try and recruit his uncle, Charles of Hungary, while Anjou had worked to assemble a massive fleet at Marseilles[2]. Even those few friends Scotland had on the council of France counted the matter lost after Halidon Hill--which had even been witnessed by a small group of French ambassadors[3]. It truly appeared that the Scots were to be abandoned.
"That would be startlingly reversed with the arrival in Paris of John Bruce, King of the Scots in 1335. Transported there by the Earl of Moray, one of the few survivors of the debacle of Halidon, the boy king was promptly given shelter by John of France, who publicly swore to defend Bruce's rights as King of Scots. John's reasons seem to have stemmed more from his own egotism than any strategic concerns--still even Anjou saw the point in avoiding giving French allies the impression that the crown could not be counted on to support them. Indeed, for a brief while, Anjou seems to have believed that it was possible for the French to restore Bruce to his throne and go on the crusade, simply by giving the English concessions in Gascony, but John swiftly disabused him of that notion. He was, he declared, tired of dealing with Prince Edward on this matter--his cousin was 'so swollen with conceit' that making any arrangement with him was impossible. Besides England's losses in Gascony were wholly deserved and necessary for France's well-being--John would not restore what he would likely have to take again. In all likelihood, the King spared Anjou a great deal of pointless negotiation[4]--still, to see his approach rebuked by his sovereign was a sign that the Duke's influence was waning--more than a few suspected that John was simply parroting Robert of Artois. They may have been right.
"As a France that had to worry about conflict with the English was a France that could not conduct a crusade, the project that had dominated French foreign policy was first shelved, then abandoned when it was clear the new Pope was far less in favor of it than his predecessors[5]. And so it was that fleet assembled in Marseilles found itself re-purposed for another war..."
--John I of France, Vol. 1; A King in His Cradle, Antony Oates (1978)
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[1] IOTL, Philip of Valois likewise did his best to stay out of the Second Scottish War of Independence for the first few years.
[2] Yes, there really was a French recruited fleet in Marseilles for an upcoming crusade at the beginning of OTL's Hundred Years War as well.
[3] As you are doubtless suspecting I am going to say--yep, there were actual French ambassadors at the OTL siege of Berwick.
[4] John most certainly has--IOTL, neither France nor England would budge on Gascony matters. And now, if I may digress, we get to what actually started the Hundred Years War--not the oft-repeated succession dispute, but the ongoing war with Scotland that folded neatly into the disputes about Gascony, and a great deal of Anglo-Frankish problems to create a perfect storm. Edward III's claim to the throne was ultimately a means to an end, nothing more.
[5] More on this figure in the next installment.
- Space Oddity
- Word Count: 890