Association de Sauvegarde du

CHATEAU DE GAVRAY

The War against the Navarrese 1356 - 1380


The incarceration of Charles the Bad increased his popularity, and his supporters demanded his freedom. Normandy roared, many barons renounced the homage paid to the king and turned to the king of England, Edward III. They considered that John the Good had exceeded his rights by arresting a prince with whom he had, however, signed peace. The people of Navarre perceive this gesture as coming from a king who doubts his legitimacy and seeks to eliminate a competitor whose only fault is to defend his rights.
1356 – On May 28, Philip of Navarre, brother of Charles, sends his challenge to John the Good. The Navarrese, especially the Norman lords, went over en bloc to the side of Edward III.
In June, Philip and Geoffrey d'Harcourt, sons of John, received English reinforcements, Henry de Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster, landed in the Cotentin and joined forces with Robert Knowles from Brittany. Lancaster set up camp at Montebourg near Valognes, then bypassed Evreux (taken by the French) and plundered Vernon and the suburbs of Rouen.
On 8 July, John the Good caught up with him at  the Eagle with a larger but tired army, and the battle was postponed until the next day. During the night the English fled, Jean then laid  siege to Breteuil, which he took after a long siege.
On 18 July, Geoffrey d'Harcourt, in order to avenge his nephew, Jean V d'Harcourt, again allied himself with Edward III, whom he made by a charter, the universal legatee of his fortress of Saint-Sauveur (Cotentin).
On 19 September, at Nouaillé-Maupertuis near Poitiers, the French troops,  under the command of John the Good, were defeated by the English troops commanded by the Prince of Wales, nicknamed the Black Prince, son of Edward III. During this battle, the 14-year-old Prince Philip uttered the famous "Father, keep to the right! Father, keep to the left" as he tries to protect his father. John refuses to leave the battlefield where he fought heroically and where he was eventually taken prisoner. The tactical superiority conferred by the longbow, used by the English, forced the French cavalry, whose mounts were not protected, to charge on foot and risked being swept away by the English cavalry.
In November, surrounded by French troops at the ford  of Saint-Clément, in  the Bay of Veys, Geoffroy d'Harcourt sold his skin dearly by fighting to the death.
  Portrait of Henry de Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster
 

 

The kingdom entered a period of turbulence. The dauphin, Charles, Duke of Normandy, tried to regain control. He had to come to terms with the Reform Party led by Etienne Marcel and Robert Le Coq, which intended to establish a controlled monarchy. The Duke of Normandy, appointed lieutenant of the kingdom, turns out to be tougher than expected. Etienne Marcel organized the escape of Charles of Navarre, who made a triumphant return to Paris.Etienne Marcel, using the emotion provoked by the announcement of the conditions of his release, conditions negotiated by John the Good, which resulted in the loss of a third of the kingdom and a ransom of 4,000,000 crowns, sparked an insurrection, invaded the Palais de la Cité,  had the marshals of Normandy and  Champagne executed under the eyes of the Duke of Normandy, who left Paris and rallied the nobility, outraged by these two assassinations. They again surrounded Paris, but jacqueries broke out and allied themselves with Etienne Marcel.This civil war forced the restoration of the castles and ramparts built in the time of the Dukes of Normandy. The peasants abandoned their land in the face of the exactions of the soldiers who lived on the land, fleeing into the woods or into the fortified towns. The Anglo-Navarrese seized several castles and strongholds on the banks of the Seine and thus controlled the river. Around Caen, they set up a blockade of the city by creating villages. Rouen and Caen had to organize an urban militia to besiege the fortresses and control the communication routes.
engrving execution of Etienne Marcel  

 

 

The situation improved under the reign of Charles V (1364-1380), the new king of France brought back a provisional peace thanks to the action of his constable Bertrand Du Guesclin, count of Longueville, Breton nobleman born at the castle of La Motte-Broons near Dinan, nicknamed "the Black Dogue of Brocéliande"
1364 – On May 16, the Navarrese are the orders of the Captal de Buch, Jean de Grailly, are defeated at the battle  of Cocherel (Eure) by the army of the King of France commanded by Bertrand Du Guesclin.
1367 – Charles V orders extensions to the Louvre Palace.
1377 – Edward III and his son the Black Prince die, Richard II, the Black Prince's 10-year-old son succeeds them.
1378 –  Charles the Bad, owner of the Cotentin, with the support of the Norman barons, signs an agreement with the English and makes the port of Cherbourg available to them.
At the same time, one of his chamberlains, Jacques de Rue, on his way to Paris, was arrested with a secret agreement between Charles the Bad and the English and a plot to poison Charles V. The treachery and the attempt at regicide were established, Charles V ordered Bertrand Du Guesclin to jointly attack the Navarrese squares. Conches, Carentan, Mortain, Avranches and Gavray surrendered, as did Bernay,  which was defended by Charles the Bad's secretary, Pierre du Tertre.
In June, Jacques de Rue and Pierre du Tertre were sentenced to death for high treason, their heads exposed on the gallows  of Monfaucon and their limbs thrown into eight points of Paris.
1379 – Charles the Bad, totally dispossessed of his Norman possessions, retreats to Navarre.
1380 – The north of the Cotentin, including Cherbourg, remains alone in English hands.
On 16 September, Charles VI, son of Charles V and Jeanne de Bourbon, succeeded his father at the age of 12.
 
  Statue of Bertrand Du Guesclin in Dinan

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