@material_boy , just finished the chapter! Amazing work as always! You're one of the best for a reason! Can't wait to see more od Ed V awesomeness!
The Gold Rose: An Edward of Angoulême timeline
- Thread starter material_boy
- Start date
You might be in for a treat then. I've put together a roadmap for the rest of Phase 2 that includes four possible visits to the Pyrenees and southern France ...
We are so back! Very interesting reading about Charles II’s quixotic ambitions, but the kingdom will likely do better under Charles III. So glad to see this return!
Very good chapter, events in Navarre certainly entertained. I kinda feel bad for Charles II, all his life was filled with greater men refusing him and denying his status/lands. Hopefully Charles III can restore the wealth and respect of the small kingdom.
Great you're updating once more, keep up the amazing work 👍👍👍👍.
I voted for the Battle of Newcastle, Edward V will succeed where Longshanks couldn't 😎😎😎.
Great you're updating once more, keep up the amazing work 👍👍👍👍.
I low-key love Charles the Bad, but also low-key love the way Charles V just handed his brother-in-law his ass over and over and over again. Charles V was just so much better at kinging than his father and he really was done with Charles the Bad's shit (both in OTL and ATL)
I proofread these things so many times and still miss stuff like this? 😩
"His surviving sisters, Jeanne and Marie ..."
Great update!
A curious detail is that unlike IOTL Charles III was able to return not only Evreux but also Longueville. While Longueville is not a particularly large county on itself, I wonder if this makes Charles less willing to exchange his Normandian lands for Nemours (which he IOTL did in 1404) - not only it is his ancestral land, it also makes more sense to have a more compact demesne.
Another question in relation to Navarrese kingdom is if Charles was able to retain territory captured from Castille after battle of Estella as well as with the help of Despenser’s crusaders (Vitoria, Logroño as well a number of smaller towns such as Alfaro). While it is not stated either way, I do think that this couldn’t have happened before the Treaty of Bayonne (i. e. before late 1384) and immediately after Juan’s death Bernardo probably cannot afford to wage a war on Navarre. And after Charles II dies Bernardo probably cannot afford to attack French ally.
So presumably either Navarre still holds all these places (with or without Castilian recognition). Another possibility that at some point (either while Charles II is still alive or when Charles III finally gets back to Pamplona) peace negotiation happen and probably Castile gets some of the towns back in exchange for recognizing the rest as part of Navarre.
And judging by the fact that Charles of Durazzo is able to wage war in Provence, it probably means that he survived the assassination attempt by Elizabeth of Bosnia which leads to massive repercussions in Hungary, Poland and HRE. Charles living presumably means that he was able not only to avoid being killed, but also able to deal with Sigismund’s invasion (or maybe Sigismund is not able to get Maria’s hand due to butterflies which also changes a great deal)
I do think that Hungary would always be a priority for Charles so if he is in Provence this means that Hungary is securely in his hands (and hence the changes written above).
However even if he for whatever reasons comes to Provence before Hungary, this leads to similar consequences as long as he doesn’t die there. Charles would still come to Hungary and would probably be victorious (IOTL he definitely had much larger support than Maria). Even if Elizabeth lives longer than IOTL (she was killed by Charles’s supporters), different timing means that not only Charles’s assassination can be easily butterflied away due to different timing, Mary would probably marry someone other than Sigismund in the meantime, so major changes happen even if Charles is killed as IOTL.
A curious detail is that unlike IOTL Charles III was able to return not only Evreux but also Longueville. While Longueville is not a particularly large county on itself, I wonder if this makes Charles less willing to exchange his Normandian lands for Nemours (which he IOTL did in 1404) - not only it is his ancestral land, it also makes more sense to have a more compact demesne.
Another question in relation to Navarrese kingdom is if Charles was able to retain territory captured from Castille after battle of Estella as well as with the help of Despenser’s crusaders (Vitoria, Logroño as well a number of smaller towns such as Alfaro). While it is not stated either way, I do think that this couldn’t have happened before the Treaty of Bayonne (i. e. before late 1384) and immediately after Juan’s death Bernardo probably cannot afford to wage a war on Navarre. And after Charles II dies Bernardo probably cannot afford to attack French ally.
So presumably either Navarre still holds all these places (with or without Castilian recognition). Another possibility that at some point (either while Charles II is still alive or when Charles III finally gets back to Pamplona) peace negotiation happen and probably Castile gets some of the towns back in exchange for recognizing the rest as part of Navarre.
Although it seems like the other option has already won I vote for the Provencal Civil War.
And judging by the fact that Charles of Durazzo is able to wage war in Provence, it probably means that he survived the assassination attempt by Elizabeth of Bosnia which leads to massive repercussions in Hungary, Poland and HRE. Charles living presumably means that he was able not only to avoid being killed, but also able to deal with Sigismund’s invasion (or maybe Sigismund is not able to get Maria’s hand due to butterflies which also changes a great deal)
I do think that Hungary would always be a priority for Charles so if he is in Provence this means that Hungary is securely in his hands (and hence the changes written above).
However even if he for whatever reasons comes to Provence before Hungary, this leads to similar consequences as long as he doesn’t die there. Charles would still come to Hungary and would probably be victorious (IOTL he definitely had much larger support than Maria). Even if Elizabeth lives longer than IOTL (she was killed by Charles’s supporters), different timing means that not only Charles’s assassination can be easily butterflied away due to different timing, Mary would probably marry someone other than Sigismund in the meantime, so major changes happen even if Charles is killed as IOTL.
I had written a bit about Longueville, Logroño and Vitoria, etc., but cut it out because I thought it was getting a bit too in the weeds about land transactions that probably no one but me cared about
Évreux will not be exchanged for Nemours in ATL and will remain attached to the Navarrese crown until the extinction of the male line in ATL. Longueville will be earmarked for a younger son of Charles III and Elizabeth.
Castile will bribe the captain of Vitoria back to their side and then grant the town its first charter to ensure it has a reason to stay on-side in the future. Navarre's position in the marches goes a bit wobbly as a result, and so Charles III opens talks with Bernardo to iron out the details of the border. A French delegation sits in to observe the talks, which ultimately end with Castile buying back the lands and the two sides formalizing the border as tensions between Aragon and Castile heat up. (More on that in a later update.)
Yeah, Newcastle has run away with it. I've already gotten it half written, but maybe I can crank out something quick on this for a bonus update.
The Angevin inheritance goes very differently, though we won't get into that until Provençal Civil War at the earliest. There is a tiny (one word!) reference to this in a past update, but I don't think anyone caught it. (Though, with you asking about the border towns and Tyler catching my infantas typo, maybe y'all at paying closer attention that I think!) Part of me has considered going back and taking it out to give myself more flexibility going forward, but I think I'm just going to plow ahead with it since I already put it out there.
Amazing! can't wait! Ned does well on focusing on Britain first!
It is a little bit of a disappointing outcome for Navarre even if definitely plausible. I hoped that given the mess Castile is in, Charles would be able to make at least part of his father’s gains permanent.
Given the support by France and the upcoming Castilian-Aragonese tensions returning Alfaro for Castile recognizing the loss of Logroño or vice versa must have been withing Charles’s reach.
I tried to find it, but unfortunately was unable to(
But from logical standpoint one of the ways the Angevine inheritance could have gone differently is if rivaling claimants were able to unite their claims instead of fighting each other. IOTL Charles’s wife lived till 1412, but if ITTL she dies in 1380s Charles could definitely could marry Mary.
Alternatively, he could betroth Ladislaus to either Mary or Hedwig (who was originally supposed to inherit Hungary and who is a bit closer to Ladislaus in age). While both princesses are a bit older than Ladislaus’s bride ideally should be, it is nothing too outrageous and inheriting Hungary without trouble is definitely worth it.
Last edited:
Part of the reason I cut what I had written and went with a more general "things were resolved" was specifically because I kept going back and forth on Alfaro and Logroño!
I had the same thought you did here, that Charles III could probably get one or the other. But I couldn't choose between them, and then thought "eh, maybe Casilte would just buy them both back?" And after spending too much time agonizing over it, I figured that "OK, you're really getting too in the weeds on this land stuff, just move on."
Maybe I'll go back and add a sentence about it
The word is "Catherine" 🤫
edit: OK, I won't be quite so coy. From the "Schism" section of "Neapolitan Crusades:"
In June 1379, Louis of Hungary endorsed Urban VI. He also broke his eldest daughter, Catherine's, betrothal to Louis of France, the younger son of King Charles V of France, who was obedient to Avignon. At this time, Carlo of Durazzo was at the head of a Hungarian army, skirmishing with the Venetians. Carlo soon became the subject of a plot by Louis of Hungary and Urban VI to unseat Giovanna. As Naples was a papal fief, Urban agreed to depose Giovanna and crown Carlo as the new king. Louis would allow Carlo to lead his Hungarian forces into Italy, and would even provide thousands more, in exchange for Carlo conceding his claim to the crown of Hungary and recognizing Louis's daughters as the rightful heiresses to Louis's territories. Carlo agreed.
In OTL, Catherine died of unknown causes in 1378, before her father declared for Urban. In ATL, she survives and Louis breaks her betrothal from Louis of Orléans. The survival of a third Angevin daughter has major repercussions.
Last edited:
If the question is what would Charles prefer, I think Logroño should be a clear favorite.Part of the reason I cut what I had written and went with a more general "things were resolved" was specifically because I kept going back and forth on Alfaro and Logroño!
I had the same thought you did here, that Charles III could probably get one or the other. But I couldn't choose between them, and then thought "eh, maybe Casilte would just buy them both back?" And after spending too much time agonizing over it, I figured that "OK, you're really getting too in the weeds on this land stuff, just move on."
Maybe I'll go back and add a sentence about it
While Alfaro apparently was a center of Castile-Navarre dispute over waters of river Alhama, Logroño was much more important logistically. Logroño had a roman bridge that was still intact in XIV century, which together with bridge in Tudela would potentially allow Navarre to control a substantial segment of Ebro River which could be extremely important from both military and economic standpoint. Not to mention that Logroño is an important junction on the Camino de Santiago and I believe is bigger and richer than Alfaro.
Catherine surviving does indeed lead to massive consequences.
One of the most important ones is that Hedwig, having two elder sisters, probably doesn’t become the Queen of Poland.
I am not sure who of Catherine and Mary gets Poland and who gets Hungary, but I think the probability of Mary going to Poland should be higher for at least two reasons. Firstly, her betrothal to Sigismund was in infancy and shouldn’t be impacted by Catherine surviving and it makes a lot more sense to unite Brandenburg (elector of which Sigismund is in 1380s) with Poland than with Hungary. Secondly while prestige-wise kingdoms of Hungary and Poland are probably in the same tier, having the elder daughter get the primary title of her father makes more sense.
What does Hedwig get in such a scenario? Either no independent major title of her own (although undoubtably she will receive a generous appanage) or she can become the queen of Galicia-Volhynia. No matter what is the status of Hedwig, Mary being the queen of Poland instead of her can lead to extremely interesting consequences. While this is probably going a bit too far away, I will elaborate a little bit.
If the option of inheriting Poland is not on the table, Jogaila probably marries the Sofia, daughter of Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow, as he originally intended to and thus stays Orthodox (or converts to it, but it is usually accepted that he was christened to Orthodoxy in childhood by his mother). There was a treaty signed in 1384 between Jogaila and Dmitry, by which Jogaila was to marry Sofia, he and his brothers Skrigaila and Kaributas were to recognize Dmitry’s seniority and to baptize Lithuania to the Orthodox rite. IOTL Jogaila backtracked from this treaty as the option to marry Hedwig and thus to become the king of Poland materialized. But if ITTL Mary is the queen of Poland, this option isn’t present (as Mary is betrothed to Sigismund) and thus the alliance with Moscow against the Golden Horde, Vytautas and Teutonic Order is the best offer present: even if Hedwig is queen of Galicia-Volhynia, alliance with it is much less promising than alliance with Grand Duchy of Moscow (as Gediminids controlled basically all Volhynia anyway).
On the other hand, if Hedwig is queen of Galicia-Volhynia (and if she doesn’t marry William, see below), it makes a lot of sense for Vytautas and his brothers to make an alliance with her as their power base is located was located in the western part of GDL. Vytautas was definitely married IOTL in the 1380s and probably is married ITTL as well, but one of his brothers (Sigismund or Tautvilas) can potentially be a good match. All 3 brothers are Catholics by 1383-1384 (although Vytautas did briefly switched into Orthodoxy in 1384-1386), which should be important for pious Hedwig.
Thus by the end of 1380-s when the new iteration of Lithuanian Civil War starts we can see an Orthodox central and eastern GDL under Jogaila supported by Moscow fighting against Сatholic Vytautas and his brothers based in Podlachia, Grodno and Brest principalities and Galicia-Volhynia (if Hedwing doesn’t become queen of Galicia-Volhynia, just Volhynia) ,supported by Teutons and if Hedwig marries one of his brothers possibly to some limited extent by Poland or Hungary (which is an interesting contrast to OTL as IOTL Moscow supported Vytautas and Poland fully supported Jogaila).
Catherine surviving could also lead to interesting consequences for Habsburgs. IOTL Hedwig was betrothed to William of Austria (and presumably ITTL as well as this happened before Catharine died), who was smitten with his bride. However Polish nobles didn’t want to have a king in his early teens and forced Hedwig to marry Jogaila instead. As a result, William’s father Leopold spent a lot of time and resources trying to chase the match with Hedwig.
If ITTL this marriage happens smoothly (either if Hedwig doesn’t have an independent kingdom of her own or if she is a queen of Galicia-Volhynia as even if local nobles would have trouble with William, they have a lot less sway than Polish ones), this would allow Leopold to dedicate his full attention to Switzerland, which could potentially allow Habsburgs to win the battle of Sempach or at least not to make their defeat less disastrous. While obviously this could very well go as per OTL, if Habsburgs manage to avoid the Sempach disaster, they may be able to preserve their ancestral demesne in southern Swabia aka Switzerland and prevent or even reverse the rapid expansion of the Confederacy in the next few decades.
Having said all that, I don’t think that Catherine surviving would impact Charles’s desire or ability to claim Hungary for himself. He still is popular in Hungary and still is viewed by many as a better king than a teenage girl. Thus, if he doesn’t marry Catherine himself (or agree to marry her to his heir Ladislaus) he almost certainly would invade Hungary at some point. But having a different queen of Hungary would lead to different circumstances (at the very least Sigismund would probably be not become involved) which may lead to assassination attempt not happening or Charles surviving it.
P. S. Sorry for my rambling. Catherine surviving does indeed lead to very interesting consequences and I wasn’t able to contain myself from listing some of the possibilities
Last edited:
I think this is great, and you've hit on more than one of my thoughts between this post and your last one. But I won't be getting into things too deeply, tbh. It is still meant to be an Edward of Angoulême timeline, with the Hundred Years War as its focus. The Angevin inheritance is very much at the periphery of this, and its effects on Lithuania (i.e., something even further beyond the Capetian-Angevin lands) might only get a sentence or two. I doubt I'll mention Muscovy at all. Right now, the furthest we've gotten from England and France is Iberia and Italy, and Castile was a major player in the war at the time of our POD, so it was directly relevant. Italy is more closely related to events in the HYW than Hungary or Poland, and it only got one update. All of which is to say that, if and when we do visit eastern Europe, it certainly won't be to the same degree we have other places so far.
Breton crisis of 1387
Breton crisis of 1387
The Breton crisis of 1387 was a diplomatic standoff between King Charles VI of France and Jean IV, duke of Brittany, following Jean's arrest of Olivier V de Clisson, constable of France, in June 1387. The crisis brought France and Brittany to the brink of war, destabilized the regency government that had led France since 1382, and set off a series of events that would eventually bring the long-running Caroline War between England and France to a dramatic end.
Background
Jean of Montfort was the English candidate for the ducal throne in the War of the Breton Succession. His victory at the 1364 Battle of Auray included the death of his rival, Charles of Blois, which finally brought the war to an end after more than 20 years. Jeanne, suo jure countess of Penthièvre, who was Blois's widow, recognized her cousin, Jean, as Duke Jean IV in the First Treaty of Guérande in 1365. Many Blois-Penthièvre supporters would become prominent at the court of King Charles V of France in the years thereafter, which made Jean uneasy. He secretly negotiated a new Anglo-Breton alliance when England and France went to war again, but it was soon discovered and he was forced into exile by his former ally, Olivier V de Clisson, in 1373. A de facto regency government was established, allowing the duchy to continue running autonomously for several years. In 1378, though, Charles V attempted to end this awkward interregnum in ducal government by annexing Brittany to the French crown. This move was immediately and overwhelmingly unpopular. Jeanne of Penthièvre brought her and her cousin's adherents together in a revolt against the French crown in 1379. Breton nobles, united in the defense of local rights and privileges, threw out the French and invited Jean to reclaim the ducal throne. Opposition to the French annexation was so high that Jean had the full support of his nobility when he arranged a new English alliance in early 1380. The death of Charles V later that same year ended the threat of annexation, upending the political situation in Brittany once more.
Charles V was succeeded by his eldest son, King Charles VI, who was just shy of his twelfth birthday at the time of his father's death. A regency government was established under Charles VI's eldest uncle, Louis I, duke of Anjou, who was Jeanne of Penthièvre's son-in-law. Anjou abandoned his brother's annexation project and sought a negotiated peace with Brittany. Jean betrayed his English allies and signed the Second Treaty of Guérande in late 1380. The new treaty was hugely popular in Brittany and Jean managed to hold the nobility together even without the threat of French annexation. The duchy was genuinely united behind a duke for the first time in 40 years.
Anjou resigned as regent in 1382 to launch a crusade for Naples, but the new regency government led by his younger brother, Philippe II, duke of Burgundy, was equally friendly with Jean, who was a first cousin of Burgundy's wife. Jean even led a contingent of Breton men to Flanders to support Burgundy against the rebels of Ghent.
Olivier V de Clisson
In 1383, Bertrand du Guesclin died in Castile. The Breton knight was one of the greatest military minds of his generation and had served as constable of France for more than a decade. Burgundy felt compelled to name Olivier V de Clisson to the constableship. The appointment was controversial. Clisson was a Breton noble whose lands were concentrated on the border of Brittany and Poitou. His marriage to Catherine of Laval brought him lands in eastern Brittany and connections to both warring factions in Brittany's succession war. Clisson fought for Montfort in the 1350s and 60s, but switched sides in the 1370s. He was a brilliant military strategist who shot up the ranks and quickly became a favorite of the French king. Jean had never forgiven Clisson for changing his allegiance and he was far from Clisson's only enemy.
Clisson had shrewdly managed his and his wife's estates, but he was unique among noblemen of the era for the way he invested the profits from his lands in commercial ventures, which were generally seen as ignoble. His investments in shipbuilding and sponsorships of trade missions had allowed him to rapidly grow his wealth, which he then reinvested by aggressively buying up land, bringing him into conflict with several powerful lords. Burgundy hated the upstart Clisson, but needed him. Clisson had a colossal cash fortune, which he had tapped to keep the French crown afloat during a debt crisis in the early 1380s. By 1383, Clisson was one of the government's top lenders. Consequently, Burgundy made him constable with the hope that the appointment would keep the cash flowing.
Burgundy went to extraordinary lengths to ensure that Clisson's appointment did not push Jean back toward the English. Most notably, in 1386, he inserted himself into marriage talks between Brittany and Navarre, and even opened up the French treasury to partially cover the dowry for Jean's new wife, Marie of Navarre. It was a naked political bribe, but it worked. Jean agreed to join French preparations for war against England that summer.
Siege of Saint-Malo
The French were preparing a massive invasion of England in the summer of 1386. It was to be the young king's first campaign abroad and he was to be joined by all three of his ducal uncles. An army of 30,000 was being assembled in Flanders, hoping to wreak such havoc in southern England that the English would have no choice but to sue for peace. Jean had a different role in the summer campaign, though.
The English controlled a number of positions in Brittany in the mid 1380s. In the west, they had held Brest against the French since the early 1370s. In 1378, they captured the great fortress of Saint-Malo on the duchy's northern shore, and in 1379, they exploited the confusion that resulted from the Revolt of the Breton League to expand their position in the west out from Brest to take control of effectively all Léon. Ironically, the English had done all this in the hope of eventually restoring Jean to the ducal throne, only for Jean to betray them in 1380. England had held these positions in opposition to him ever since and Jean's attempts to negotiate their return had been coldly received. By 1386, he was finally ready to complete his break from England and take them by force.
On 20 June 1386, Jean led an army of 3,000 to the walls of Saint-Malo. The force was a mix of Breton and French forces, the latter of which had been brought to Brittany by Clisson to support the duke. The bay was blockaded by a French fleet, which was anchored and chained together to prevent any calls for help from reaching England or any resupply by sea from reaching the town. Construction began on a pair of bastides to aid in what was expected to be a lengthy siege. Canons were brought in to bring down the town's ramparts, the first recorded use of large guns in Brittany. Jean spent a fortnight preparing for the attack. The siege was hardly underway when, on 12 July, an English sortie burned one of the wooden bastides to the ground. French and Breton forces renewed their attack four days later.
The Siege of Saint-Malo came to an anticlimactic end in late August. Charles VI's campaign to England had drawn such a huge army that the French needed to recall the fleet from Saint-Malo to support the invasion effort. The English defenders could now easily be resupplied by sea and, with more sorties further disrupting the duke's plan of attack, the siege was abruptly called off.
Ransom of Jean of Blois
Two years before the Siege of Saint-Malo, on 10 September 1384, Jeanne of Penthièvre died. Her lands and titles passed to her eldest son and heir, Jean of Blois—at least on paper. In reality, the great estate was broken apart and taken over by various figures from the late countess's household, as well as a younger son, Henri of Bois, and even Clisson. The administrative free-for-all was the result of Jean of Blois's absence from Brittany, as he was a prisoner of the English crown.
Jean of Blois had been delivered to the English as a hostage in 1356 as surety for the ransom of his father, Charles of Blois, who had been taken prisoner nearly a decade prior. The elder Blois's debt was still unpaid when he was slain in the 1364 Battle of Auray, so his son remained an English prisoner even after the family's rival, Jean of Montfort, took to the ducal throne as Jean IV. England's on-again, off-again alliance with Jean IV kept Blois from being ransomed, though they seriously flirted with the idea following the duke's 1380 betrayal. The subject was considered again following Jean's 1386 attack on Saint-Malo. The cash-rich Clisson was quick to buy Blois's freedom. Indeed, he had been working to secure Blois's freedom for some time already.
Clisson had begun pushing for Blois's release in late 1384, just months after Jeanne's death. A delegation to England was allowed to meet with Blois, who named Clisson as chief executor of his estates during his absence. At the same time, Blois's older sister, Marie of Blois, dowager duchess of Anjou, mortgaged her young son's estates in Anjou and Maine to Clisson, as she was desperately short of funds in the midst of a war for the county of Provence. Control of Penthièvre, Anjou, and Maine gave Clisson a string of lands that, when combined with his and wife's estates, encircled all the cities and major defensive positions in eastern Brittany. So, when Clisson agreed to pay half of Blois's ransom, putting up 60,000 francs of his own money to procure Blois's release as part of a deal that included Blois's marriage to one of Clisson's daughters, the duke of Brittany grew suspicious. In just a few short years, Clisson had come to control an incredible number of strategically important positions in and around Brittany and had then ransomed the duke's dynastic rival and wed him to Clisson's own daughter. It looked to Jean as if Clisson were set to resurrect Blois's claim to the ducal throne and install Blois as duke, thus making Clisson's daughter a duchess. The paranoid duke began plotting to bring Clisson down.
Arrest of Olivier de Clisson
On 25 June 1387, Jean IV hosted a grand banquet at Château de la Motte in Vannes to celebrate the end of a meeting of the Estates of Brittany. During the festivities, the duke invited Clisson to inspect the new Château de l’Hermine, which was being constructed at the southeastern gate to the city. Stroking the constable's ego, Jean called Clisson the greatest military mind in France and asked for his input on the castle's defenses. Clisson, susceptible to flattery, gladly accepted the offer. He was arrested immediately upon his arrival.
The following day, 26 June, Clisson was charged with treason for conspiring to depose the duke. The accusations rocked the Breton court. Details of the late-night arrest were scarce, but word soon spread that he had been thrown into a bare cell and denied the luxuries typically afforded to noble prisoners. The evidence to back up Jean's charges was entirely speculative, but the duke declared that Clisson was to be executed the following day.
Guy XII, lord of Laval, and Pierre of Navarre stayed up through the night to talk the duke down. Laval, who was Clisson's brother-in-law and one of the most powerful barons in Brittany, offered the duke the sobering prediction that Clisson's execution would reopen the wounds of the succession war, shattering the unity of the Breton nobility, which had stopped the French annexation, returned Jean to power and allowed the duchy to retain its autonomy. Pierre, who was Jean's brother-in-law and a guest at court, made a more emotional plea. Pierre pointed to his pregnant sister, Jean's wife, and asked what effect Jean's actions would have on the unborn child and thus the future of Jean's own dynasty, as a war with France seemed likely if the duke continued down this path.
On 27 June, Marie of Navarre, pregnant with her and Jean's first child, made a tearful appearance before the ducal court and beseeched her husband to show Clisson mercy. It was a carefully choreographed piece of political theater that allowed the duke to back down without losing face. Jean commuted Clisson's sentence. Clisson was allowed to keep his head in exchange for the forfeiture of his Breton lands and a fine of 100,000 francs. Clisson was also forced to sign a written confession, the text of which implicated his new son-in-law, Blois, in his crimes, thus giving Jean the legal pretext to confiscate Blois's lands as well. Clisson was kept in prison as Jean's agents seized the constable's lands and made their moves against Blois.
Diplomatic standoff
Clisson's arrest sent shockwaves through France. It was the most brazen attack on a royal officer since the 1354 assassination of Charles de la Cerda, who was constable of France in his own time. Officials in Paris looked to the young king for leadership. Charles VI was 18 years old and just beginning to make his voice heard in the affairs of state. His response was immediate. He moved court from the capital to royal estates in Normandy to be closer to events in Brittany and sent messengers to the duke demanding the constable's release at once.
The young king was able to take command of events as he did in no small part because his uncle and regent, the duke of Burgundy, was attending to business in Flanders at the time. Burgundy raced to join his nephew in Normandy, but found the royal court filled with Clisson supporters upon his arrival. Among them were Bureau de La Rivière, longtime chamberlain of Charles V, who had been chased from Paris in the opening weeks of the first government of the uncles, and Nicolas du Bosc, bishop of Bayeux, one of the clergy that Charles V had intended to take a leading role in the regency, but who was also brushed aside after the uncles came to power. Clisson's son-in-law, the recently-ransomed Jean of Blois, was there too, as were several members of the late duke of Anjou's household, who represented Marie, dowager duchess of Anjou, who was Blois's sister.
Burgundy, who got on well with Jean IV and who hated Clisson, tried to sweep the matter under the rug when a copy of Clisson's forced confession arrived at the royal court. This, Burgundy said, proved that Clisson was a traitor and that Jean's actions were lawful. The cold reaction he received demonstrated Burgundy's weakened grip on power following the failure of the 1385 and 1386 invasions of England, neither of which ever actually made it across the Channel. The Breton crisis remained the crown's top issue and wild rumors drove the young king to take an even more aggressive position against Jean.
The duke of Brittany's actions in the summer of 1387 were entirely his own, but Jean had been so closely associated with the English for so many years that rumors that he had acted at their behest were almost inevitable. Such rumors were easy to believe too, as Clisson had been preparing to lead an invasion of England later that summer, plans for which were abruptly canceled upon his arrest. Other rumors said that one of the king's uncles, Jean, duke of Berry, had conspired with the duke of Brittany to bring down Clisson, as Berry had repeatedly clashed with Clisson over lands in Poitou. This only further undermined the government of the uncles. The young king lapped up the conspiracy theories that were swirling around the court and encouraged Blois to take up arms against the duke of Brittany.
On 1 October, as Blois and Clisson's allies were massing forces in the Breton marches, Jean released the long-imprisoned Clisson in hopes that the constable's freedom would keep Blois from invading. This was too little, too late. Clisson repudiated the confession that he had been made to sign under the threat of execution and joined the army that his son-in-law was gathering near Pontorson.
On 12 October, Marie of Navarre gave birth. It was not the son for which Jean had long hoped, though. It was a daughter, who was named Jeanne, in honor of the many strong women in both Jean and Marie's families who had carried the name. Jean immediately declared the girl his heir presumptive, in open defiance of the First and Second Treaties of Guérande, both of which settled the ducal throne on the Blois-Penthièvre line in the event that Jean were to die without a son. Already facing the prospect of a war against Blois, though, Jean seemed to have little use for the treaties now. Officials in Paris took the news badly.
Blois and Clisson invaded northern Brittany in early November, quickly retaking a number of castles that were rightfully Blois's as count of Penthièvre, but that Jean had seized during the summer. Their speed gave Jean flashbacks of the quick collapse of his regime in the early 1370s. At the same time, Jean's allies, the dukes of Berry and Burgundy, were pushing their kingly nephew to abandon the hard line he had taken against Brittany. They failed, and Charles dug in even more, taking the view that an attack on Clisson was an attack on the crown itself. He sent a delegation to Brittany to deliver an ultimatum to Jean.
In late November, Bernard de la Tour, bishop of Langres, arrived at the ducal court as an ambassador of the king. The bishop was no friend to the duke of Brittany or the Breton nobility more generally. He was a harsh, moralizing man who detested Jean for his duplicity and perfidiousness, and had supported the late Charles V's attempt to annex the duchy, as he believed that the king was all-powerful in temporal matters. He was uncompromising in discussions with the duke.
Tour declared the arrest of Clisson, as constable of France, an act of treason and further declared that the duke's violation of the 1380 Treaty of Guérande and naming of his newborn daughter heir to Brittany was nothing short of a declaration of war against Charles VI, who was party to the treaty. The bishop did not endorse Blois as the rightful duke of Brittany, but the threat was implicit. Jean railed against the bishop, noting that he did not arrest Clisson for crimes committed as a crown officer, but as his own vassal. The argument did not sway the bishop, nor did the fury with which the duke delivered it. Tour ordered Jean to restore Blois and Clisson's lands and to appear before the king in no more than six months' time, lest he be fined 100,000 francs. Jean agreed to these terms through gritted teeth.
Aftermath
In late December 1387, Jean met with Blois and Clisson as part of a peace ceremony that was carefully stage-managed by the bishop of Langres. The farcical event did nothing to cool tensions in the duchy or between its duke and the king.
Blois had reconquered much of Penthièvre before Jean was made to return the rest of Blois and Clisson's lands to them by the bishop of Langres. His quick campaign was successful in no small part because the injustices that he and Clisson had suffered helped reactivate the old Blois-Penthièvre network, but their loyalties only extended as far as helping reclaim Blois and Clisson's lands. The role that the bishop of Langres had played in events badly split the Blois-Penthièvre faction, who viewed the French king's intervention in Breton affairs as an act tyranny just as bad, or worse, than the arrest of Clisson on trumped-up charges of treason. In short, Blois's supporters would defend him only as the count of Penthièvre and would not begin a civil war for his claim to Brittany in the face of French aggression. Either ignorant of the divisions within the Blois-Penthièvre camp or simply distrusting the loyalties of Blois's allies who swore to defend Brittany against France, Jean turned to England once more.
In early January 1388, Jean made contact with an English squire who had once been in his service as earl of Richmond. The squire became Jean's go-between in secret talks with Thomas of Woodstock, 1st duke of Gloucester, who was the English king's uncle and the leader of English forces in Brittany. The two had been allies during Jean's 1370s exile in England, but Jean had abandoned Woodstock at the Siege of Nantes before returning to the French fold in 1380. This made Woodstock's campaign that year not only a professional humiliation, but a personal betrayal. This experience had not taught Woodstock caution, though, and talks moved quickly. A new Anglo-Breton alliance was sealed before the end of March. Jean would break this new alliance in record time.
Jean was called to appear before the king in April, in accordance with his pledge to the bishop of Langres to make an appearance before the summer. Bolstered by his new alliance with England and fearing that the summons was a trap that would lead to his arrest, Jean simply skipped the event. The French king was not bothered by Jean's impertinence, though. His attention had already turned elsewhere.
In early summer, the bellicose Willem I, duke of Guelders, routed a Burgundian-Brabantian army outside of the town of Ravenstein. He celebrated his victory by penning a mocking letter to Charles VI, deriding him as a false king and declaring Edward V the true king of France. Charles was apoplectic with rage, vowing to avenge himself upon Guelders for the insult. Plans were made for the king to lead a massive army to crush Guelders. Jean's enemies at the French court were unable to dissuade the king, who now simply wanted the Breton problem to go away so that he could march on Guelders without fear of English invasion through Brittany. The duke of Burgundy dispatched his ally and his protégé, King Charles III of Navarre, who was Jean's brother-in-law and a cousin and close friend of Charles VI, to facilitate talks between Brittany and France. An agreement was quickly reached.
On 8 August, Jean appeared at Orléans with more than 1,000 Breton lords, bishops, and knights. It was a demonstration of Brittany's unity against the French. Jean was led into the city by the dukes of Berry and Burgundy, who had guaranteed Jean's safety. Jean came before the king and apologized for his action against Clisson the year prior, which he explained was not meant to offend the crown. The king formally accepted Jean's apology and pardoned him for his actions after Jean agreed to return the money that he had squeezed out of Clisson during the constable's imprisonment. A feast was held in celebration of the new peace, after which Charles moved to Montereau and took command of the army assembled there. The king launched the Guelders campaign in September. Jean returned to Brittany. He never repaid Clisson.
Charles's campaign to Guelders would come to an anticlimactic end in the fall, but it was followed by a dramatic great council meeting in which the young king threw off his uncles and formally dissolved the regency government that they had led since the early 1380s. The king's personal rule saw several of Jean's enemies come into positions of power, including Clisson and the bishop of Langres. Indeed, the constable emerged as Charles's most influential advisor, sinking relations between king and duke to new lows. Jean was summoned before the king's court in 1389 to explain why he had not repaid Clisson, but he feigned illness to avoid appearing. He made the same excuse again in 1390, as he tried to forge yet another English alliance. By this time, though, Jean had completely alienated both the king of England and the king of France, and he was forced to take more drastic action to deal with his enemies.
In 1392, an assassination attempt was made on Clisson. Jean was the most obvious suspect. Charles VI raised an army to bring the duke down once and for all. His campaign would bring the Caroline War between England and France to an explosive end.
The Breton crisis of 1387 was a diplomatic standoff between King Charles VI of France and Jean IV, duke of Brittany, following Jean's arrest of Olivier V de Clisson, constable of France, in June 1387. The crisis brought France and Brittany to the brink of war, destabilized the regency government that had led France since 1382, and set off a series of events that would eventually bring the long-running Caroline War between England and France to a dramatic end.
Background
Jean of Montfort was the English candidate for the ducal throne in the War of the Breton Succession. His victory at the 1364 Battle of Auray included the death of his rival, Charles of Blois, which finally brought the war to an end after more than 20 years. Jeanne, suo jure countess of Penthièvre, who was Blois's widow, recognized her cousin, Jean, as Duke Jean IV in the First Treaty of Guérande in 1365. Many Blois-Penthièvre supporters would become prominent at the court of King Charles V of France in the years thereafter, which made Jean uneasy. He secretly negotiated a new Anglo-Breton alliance when England and France went to war again, but it was soon discovered and he was forced into exile by his former ally, Olivier V de Clisson, in 1373. A de facto regency government was established, allowing the duchy to continue running autonomously for several years. In 1378, though, Charles V attempted to end this awkward interregnum in ducal government by annexing Brittany to the French crown. This move was immediately and overwhelmingly unpopular. Jeanne of Penthièvre brought her and her cousin's adherents together in a revolt against the French crown in 1379. Breton nobles, united in the defense of local rights and privileges, threw out the French and invited Jean to reclaim the ducal throne. Opposition to the French annexation was so high that Jean had the full support of his nobility when he arranged a new English alliance in early 1380. The death of Charles V later that same year ended the threat of annexation, upending the political situation in Brittany once more.
Charles V was succeeded by his eldest son, King Charles VI, who was just shy of his twelfth birthday at the time of his father's death. A regency government was established under Charles VI's eldest uncle, Louis I, duke of Anjou, who was Jeanne of Penthièvre's son-in-law. Anjou abandoned his brother's annexation project and sought a negotiated peace with Brittany. Jean betrayed his English allies and signed the Second Treaty of Guérande in late 1380. The new treaty was hugely popular in Brittany and Jean managed to hold the nobility together even without the threat of French annexation. The duchy was genuinely united behind a duke for the first time in 40 years.
Anjou resigned as regent in 1382 to launch a crusade for Naples, but the new regency government led by his younger brother, Philippe II, duke of Burgundy, was equally friendly with Jean, who was a first cousin of Burgundy's wife. Jean even led a contingent of Breton men to Flanders to support Burgundy against the rebels of Ghent.
Olivier V de Clisson
In 1383, Bertrand du Guesclin died in Castile. The Breton knight was one of the greatest military minds of his generation and had served as constable of France for more than a decade. Burgundy felt compelled to name Olivier V de Clisson to the constableship. The appointment was controversial. Clisson was a Breton noble whose lands were concentrated on the border of Brittany and Poitou. His marriage to Catherine of Laval brought him lands in eastern Brittany and connections to both warring factions in Brittany's succession war. Clisson fought for Montfort in the 1350s and 60s, but switched sides in the 1370s. He was a brilliant military strategist who shot up the ranks and quickly became a favorite of the French king. Jean had never forgiven Clisson for changing his allegiance and he was far from Clisson's only enemy.
Clisson had shrewdly managed his and his wife's estates, but he was unique among noblemen of the era for the way he invested the profits from his lands in commercial ventures, which were generally seen as ignoble. His investments in shipbuilding and sponsorships of trade missions had allowed him to rapidly grow his wealth, which he then reinvested by aggressively buying up land, bringing him into conflict with several powerful lords. Burgundy hated the upstart Clisson, but needed him. Clisson had a colossal cash fortune, which he had tapped to keep the French crown afloat during a debt crisis in the early 1380s. By 1383, Clisson was one of the government's top lenders. Consequently, Burgundy made him constable with the hope that the appointment would keep the cash flowing.
Burgundy went to extraordinary lengths to ensure that Clisson's appointment did not push Jean back toward the English. Most notably, in 1386, he inserted himself into marriage talks between Brittany and Navarre, and even opened up the French treasury to partially cover the dowry for Jean's new wife, Marie of Navarre. It was a naked political bribe, but it worked. Jean agreed to join French preparations for war against England that summer.
Siege of Saint-Malo
The French were preparing a massive invasion of England in the summer of 1386. It was to be the young king's first campaign abroad and he was to be joined by all three of his ducal uncles. An army of 30,000 was being assembled in Flanders, hoping to wreak such havoc in southern England that the English would have no choice but to sue for peace. Jean had a different role in the summer campaign, though.
The English controlled a number of positions in Brittany in the mid 1380s. In the west, they had held Brest against the French since the early 1370s. In 1378, they captured the great fortress of Saint-Malo on the duchy's northern shore, and in 1379, they exploited the confusion that resulted from the Revolt of the Breton League to expand their position in the west out from Brest to take control of effectively all Léon. Ironically, the English had done all this in the hope of eventually restoring Jean to the ducal throne, only for Jean to betray them in 1380. England had held these positions in opposition to him ever since and Jean's attempts to negotiate their return had been coldly received. By 1386, he was finally ready to complete his break from England and take them by force.
On 20 June 1386, Jean led an army of 3,000 to the walls of Saint-Malo. The force was a mix of Breton and French forces, the latter of which had been brought to Brittany by Clisson to support the duke. The bay was blockaded by a French fleet, which was anchored and chained together to prevent any calls for help from reaching England or any resupply by sea from reaching the town. Construction began on a pair of bastides to aid in what was expected to be a lengthy siege. Canons were brought in to bring down the town's ramparts, the first recorded use of large guns in Brittany. Jean spent a fortnight preparing for the attack. The siege was hardly underway when, on 12 July, an English sortie burned one of the wooden bastides to the ground. French and Breton forces renewed their attack four days later.
The Siege of Saint-Malo came to an anticlimactic end in late August. Charles VI's campaign to England had drawn such a huge army that the French needed to recall the fleet from Saint-Malo to support the invasion effort. The English defenders could now easily be resupplied by sea and, with more sorties further disrupting the duke's plan of attack, the siege was abruptly called off.
Ransom of Jean of Blois
Two years before the Siege of Saint-Malo, on 10 September 1384, Jeanne of Penthièvre died. Her lands and titles passed to her eldest son and heir, Jean of Blois—at least on paper. In reality, the great estate was broken apart and taken over by various figures from the late countess's household, as well as a younger son, Henri of Bois, and even Clisson. The administrative free-for-all was the result of Jean of Blois's absence from Brittany, as he was a prisoner of the English crown.
Jean of Blois had been delivered to the English as a hostage in 1356 as surety for the ransom of his father, Charles of Blois, who had been taken prisoner nearly a decade prior. The elder Blois's debt was still unpaid when he was slain in the 1364 Battle of Auray, so his son remained an English prisoner even after the family's rival, Jean of Montfort, took to the ducal throne as Jean IV. England's on-again, off-again alliance with Jean IV kept Blois from being ransomed, though they seriously flirted with the idea following the duke's 1380 betrayal. The subject was considered again following Jean's 1386 attack on Saint-Malo. The cash-rich Clisson was quick to buy Blois's freedom. Indeed, he had been working to secure Blois's freedom for some time already.
Clisson had begun pushing for Blois's release in late 1384, just months after Jeanne's death. A delegation to England was allowed to meet with Blois, who named Clisson as chief executor of his estates during his absence. At the same time, Blois's older sister, Marie of Blois, dowager duchess of Anjou, mortgaged her young son's estates in Anjou and Maine to Clisson, as she was desperately short of funds in the midst of a war for the county of Provence. Control of Penthièvre, Anjou, and Maine gave Clisson a string of lands that, when combined with his and wife's estates, encircled all the cities and major defensive positions in eastern Brittany. So, when Clisson agreed to pay half of Blois's ransom, putting up 60,000 francs of his own money to procure Blois's release as part of a deal that included Blois's marriage to one of Clisson's daughters, the duke of Brittany grew suspicious. In just a few short years, Clisson had come to control an incredible number of strategically important positions in and around Brittany and had then ransomed the duke's dynastic rival and wed him to Clisson's own daughter. It looked to Jean as if Clisson were set to resurrect Blois's claim to the ducal throne and install Blois as duke, thus making Clisson's daughter a duchess. The paranoid duke began plotting to bring Clisson down.
Arrest of Olivier de Clisson
On 25 June 1387, Jean IV hosted a grand banquet at Château de la Motte in Vannes to celebrate the end of a meeting of the Estates of Brittany. During the festivities, the duke invited Clisson to inspect the new Château de l’Hermine, which was being constructed at the southeastern gate to the city. Stroking the constable's ego, Jean called Clisson the greatest military mind in France and asked for his input on the castle's defenses. Clisson, susceptible to flattery, gladly accepted the offer. He was arrested immediately upon his arrival.
The following day, 26 June, Clisson was charged with treason for conspiring to depose the duke. The accusations rocked the Breton court. Details of the late-night arrest were scarce, but word soon spread that he had been thrown into a bare cell and denied the luxuries typically afforded to noble prisoners. The evidence to back up Jean's charges was entirely speculative, but the duke declared that Clisson was to be executed the following day.
Guy XII, lord of Laval, and Pierre of Navarre stayed up through the night to talk the duke down. Laval, who was Clisson's brother-in-law and one of the most powerful barons in Brittany, offered the duke the sobering prediction that Clisson's execution would reopen the wounds of the succession war, shattering the unity of the Breton nobility, which had stopped the French annexation, returned Jean to power and allowed the duchy to retain its autonomy. Pierre, who was Jean's brother-in-law and a guest at court, made a more emotional plea. Pierre pointed to his pregnant sister, Jean's wife, and asked what effect Jean's actions would have on the unborn child and thus the future of Jean's own dynasty, as a war with France seemed likely if the duke continued down this path.
On 27 June, Marie of Navarre, pregnant with her and Jean's first child, made a tearful appearance before the ducal court and beseeched her husband to show Clisson mercy. It was a carefully choreographed piece of political theater that allowed the duke to back down without losing face. Jean commuted Clisson's sentence. Clisson was allowed to keep his head in exchange for the forfeiture of his Breton lands and a fine of 100,000 francs. Clisson was also forced to sign a written confession, the text of which implicated his new son-in-law, Blois, in his crimes, thus giving Jean the legal pretext to confiscate Blois's lands as well. Clisson was kept in prison as Jean's agents seized the constable's lands and made their moves against Blois.
Diplomatic standoff
Clisson's arrest sent shockwaves through France. It was the most brazen attack on a royal officer since the 1354 assassination of Charles de la Cerda, who was constable of France in his own time. Officials in Paris looked to the young king for leadership. Charles VI was 18 years old and just beginning to make his voice heard in the affairs of state. His response was immediate. He moved court from the capital to royal estates in Normandy to be closer to events in Brittany and sent messengers to the duke demanding the constable's release at once.
The young king was able to take command of events as he did in no small part because his uncle and regent, the duke of Burgundy, was attending to business in Flanders at the time. Burgundy raced to join his nephew in Normandy, but found the royal court filled with Clisson supporters upon his arrival. Among them were Bureau de La Rivière, longtime chamberlain of Charles V, who had been chased from Paris in the opening weeks of the first government of the uncles, and Nicolas du Bosc, bishop of Bayeux, one of the clergy that Charles V had intended to take a leading role in the regency, but who was also brushed aside after the uncles came to power. Clisson's son-in-law, the recently-ransomed Jean of Blois, was there too, as were several members of the late duke of Anjou's household, who represented Marie, dowager duchess of Anjou, who was Blois's sister.
Burgundy, who got on well with Jean IV and who hated Clisson, tried to sweep the matter under the rug when a copy of Clisson's forced confession arrived at the royal court. This, Burgundy said, proved that Clisson was a traitor and that Jean's actions were lawful. The cold reaction he received demonstrated Burgundy's weakened grip on power following the failure of the 1385 and 1386 invasions of England, neither of which ever actually made it across the Channel. The Breton crisis remained the crown's top issue and wild rumors drove the young king to take an even more aggressive position against Jean.
The duke of Brittany's actions in the summer of 1387 were entirely his own, but Jean had been so closely associated with the English for so many years that rumors that he had acted at their behest were almost inevitable. Such rumors were easy to believe too, as Clisson had been preparing to lead an invasion of England later that summer, plans for which were abruptly canceled upon his arrest. Other rumors said that one of the king's uncles, Jean, duke of Berry, had conspired with the duke of Brittany to bring down Clisson, as Berry had repeatedly clashed with Clisson over lands in Poitou. This only further undermined the government of the uncles. The young king lapped up the conspiracy theories that were swirling around the court and encouraged Blois to take up arms against the duke of Brittany.
On 1 October, as Blois and Clisson's allies were massing forces in the Breton marches, Jean released the long-imprisoned Clisson in hopes that the constable's freedom would keep Blois from invading. This was too little, too late. Clisson repudiated the confession that he had been made to sign under the threat of execution and joined the army that his son-in-law was gathering near Pontorson.
On 12 October, Marie of Navarre gave birth. It was not the son for which Jean had long hoped, though. It was a daughter, who was named Jeanne, in honor of the many strong women in both Jean and Marie's families who had carried the name. Jean immediately declared the girl his heir presumptive, in open defiance of the First and Second Treaties of Guérande, both of which settled the ducal throne on the Blois-Penthièvre line in the event that Jean were to die without a son. Already facing the prospect of a war against Blois, though, Jean seemed to have little use for the treaties now. Officials in Paris took the news badly.
Blois and Clisson invaded northern Brittany in early November, quickly retaking a number of castles that were rightfully Blois's as count of Penthièvre, but that Jean had seized during the summer. Their speed gave Jean flashbacks of the quick collapse of his regime in the early 1370s. At the same time, Jean's allies, the dukes of Berry and Burgundy, were pushing their kingly nephew to abandon the hard line he had taken against Brittany. They failed, and Charles dug in even more, taking the view that an attack on Clisson was an attack on the crown itself. He sent a delegation to Brittany to deliver an ultimatum to Jean.
In late November, Bernard de la Tour, bishop of Langres, arrived at the ducal court as an ambassador of the king. The bishop was no friend to the duke of Brittany or the Breton nobility more generally. He was a harsh, moralizing man who detested Jean for his duplicity and perfidiousness, and had supported the late Charles V's attempt to annex the duchy, as he believed that the king was all-powerful in temporal matters. He was uncompromising in discussions with the duke.
Tour declared the arrest of Clisson, as constable of France, an act of treason and further declared that the duke's violation of the 1380 Treaty of Guérande and naming of his newborn daughter heir to Brittany was nothing short of a declaration of war against Charles VI, who was party to the treaty. The bishop did not endorse Blois as the rightful duke of Brittany, but the threat was implicit. Jean railed against the bishop, noting that he did not arrest Clisson for crimes committed as a crown officer, but as his own vassal. The argument did not sway the bishop, nor did the fury with which the duke delivered it. Tour ordered Jean to restore Blois and Clisson's lands and to appear before the king in no more than six months' time, lest he be fined 100,000 francs. Jean agreed to these terms through gritted teeth.
Aftermath
In late December 1387, Jean met with Blois and Clisson as part of a peace ceremony that was carefully stage-managed by the bishop of Langres. The farcical event did nothing to cool tensions in the duchy or between its duke and the king.
Blois had reconquered much of Penthièvre before Jean was made to return the rest of Blois and Clisson's lands to them by the bishop of Langres. His quick campaign was successful in no small part because the injustices that he and Clisson had suffered helped reactivate the old Blois-Penthièvre network, but their loyalties only extended as far as helping reclaim Blois and Clisson's lands. The role that the bishop of Langres had played in events badly split the Blois-Penthièvre faction, who viewed the French king's intervention in Breton affairs as an act tyranny just as bad, or worse, than the arrest of Clisson on trumped-up charges of treason. In short, Blois's supporters would defend him only as the count of Penthièvre and would not begin a civil war for his claim to Brittany in the face of French aggression. Either ignorant of the divisions within the Blois-Penthièvre camp or simply distrusting the loyalties of Blois's allies who swore to defend Brittany against France, Jean turned to England once more.
In early January 1388, Jean made contact with an English squire who had once been in his service as earl of Richmond. The squire became Jean's go-between in secret talks with Thomas of Woodstock, 1st duke of Gloucester, who was the English king's uncle and the leader of English forces in Brittany. The two had been allies during Jean's 1370s exile in England, but Jean had abandoned Woodstock at the Siege of Nantes before returning to the French fold in 1380. This made Woodstock's campaign that year not only a professional humiliation, but a personal betrayal. This experience had not taught Woodstock caution, though, and talks moved quickly. A new Anglo-Breton alliance was sealed before the end of March. Jean would break this new alliance in record time.
Jean was called to appear before the king in April, in accordance with his pledge to the bishop of Langres to make an appearance before the summer. Bolstered by his new alliance with England and fearing that the summons was a trap that would lead to his arrest, Jean simply skipped the event. The French king was not bothered by Jean's impertinence, though. His attention had already turned elsewhere.
In early summer, the bellicose Willem I, duke of Guelders, routed a Burgundian-Brabantian army outside of the town of Ravenstein. He celebrated his victory by penning a mocking letter to Charles VI, deriding him as a false king and declaring Edward V the true king of France. Charles was apoplectic with rage, vowing to avenge himself upon Guelders for the insult. Plans were made for the king to lead a massive army to crush Guelders. Jean's enemies at the French court were unable to dissuade the king, who now simply wanted the Breton problem to go away so that he could march on Guelders without fear of English invasion through Brittany. The duke of Burgundy dispatched his ally and his protégé, King Charles III of Navarre, who was Jean's brother-in-law and a cousin and close friend of Charles VI, to facilitate talks between Brittany and France. An agreement was quickly reached.
On 8 August, Jean appeared at Orléans with more than 1,000 Breton lords, bishops, and knights. It was a demonstration of Brittany's unity against the French. Jean was led into the city by the dukes of Berry and Burgundy, who had guaranteed Jean's safety. Jean came before the king and apologized for his action against Clisson the year prior, which he explained was not meant to offend the crown. The king formally accepted Jean's apology and pardoned him for his actions after Jean agreed to return the money that he had squeezed out of Clisson during the constable's imprisonment. A feast was held in celebration of the new peace, after which Charles moved to Montereau and took command of the army assembled there. The king launched the Guelders campaign in September. Jean returned to Brittany. He never repaid Clisson.
Charles's campaign to Guelders would come to an anticlimactic end in the fall, but it was followed by a dramatic great council meeting in which the young king threw off his uncles and formally dissolved the regency government that they had led since the early 1380s. The king's personal rule saw several of Jean's enemies come into positions of power, including Clisson and the bishop of Langres. Indeed, the constable emerged as Charles's most influential advisor, sinking relations between king and duke to new lows. Jean was summoned before the king's court in 1389 to explain why he had not repaid Clisson, but he feigned illness to avoid appearing. He made the same excuse again in 1390, as he tried to forge yet another English alliance. By this time, though, Jean had completely alienated both the king of England and the king of France, and he was forced to take more drastic action to deal with his enemies.
In 1392, an assassination attempt was made on Clisson. Jean was the most obvious suspect. Charles VI raised an army to bring the duke down once and for all. His campaign would bring the Caroline War between England and France to an explosive end.
Last edited:
As promised, here is the second update from the last round of voting. "Guelders War" will come on February 11.
"Battle of Newcastle" has run away with the last poll and will hopefully come on February 21.
"Battle of Newcastle" has run away with the last poll and will hopefully come on February 21.