Rough stuff

In August 1273 the armies of the Queen of England and the Viscountess of Limoges faced each other on an open plain between Aixes and the town of Limoges in southwest-central France. The ensuing battle, ignored by English histories then and now, is described by the Chronica Majora of Limoges:

“In the same year, on the day following the feast of Saint Sixtus, the king of England's seneschal, who had come to the aid of the citizens of Limoges against the viscountess of Limoges, had a great victory over her army, between Aixe and the town of Limoges. He wounded and captured many of them, killing a nobleman and many others, without loss to him or his allies, at which the townsfolk rejoiced greatly. Moreover, they captured the banner of Girbert de Tamines. On the feast of Saint Laurence following [two days later] one of the viscountess's men was found dead and many horses on both sides too, but the viscountess lost many more.”

It would be nice to report that Edward I's consort, Eleanor of Castile, led her troops in person: hot damn, Els Bels the Amazon! There's a bit of agency for you. But it seems not. Instead the royal army was led by the seneschal of Gascony, Luke de Tany. The result was a victory, followed up by another a few days later.

The battle occurred because the citizens of Limoges had previously written to Edward, asking him to come and be their overlord instead of the king of France, Philip III. This was because the citizens were at war with the viscountess, and Philip chose to support her over them.

Given Edward's reputation, one might expect he steamed in with all guns blazing. Not so: this was France, not the British Isles, and he had to step carefully. It was a long time since the Plantagenets called the shots on the continent: now, after the Treaty of Paris in 1259, they were merely Dukes of Aquitaine, just another of the magnates of the French crown.

At the same time Edward wished to exploit an opportunity, as he did elsewhere in his career. If he led the army in person against the viscountess of Limoges, he would be in clear breach of his fealty to Philip, and declared a rebel against the French crown. The solution was to send proxies: Eleanor was dispatched to sweet-talk the citizens, while de Tany was sent to do the rough stuff.