The rescue of Guyenne (1)

In 1412 Henry IV publicly declared his intention to sail to Gascony – called Guyenne in this period – to recover his duchy from the French:

“To cross the sea, God willing, to the parts of Guyenne, there to recover and retain our heritage of our duchy of Guyenne from the hands of our enemies, adversaries and rebels who for a long time have held it against us.”

To his English subjects, this must have been a very familiar tune. The Plantagenet kings had been singing it ever since 1259, when Guyenne was converted into a fiefdom, held of the French crown. When the French took advantage of Henry's domestic problems to invade the duchy in 1403, it was merely the latest in a string of invasions. Every time, by one means or another, the French had been thrown back. This was due to the stubborn courage and loyalty of the Gascons, and the willingness of the Plantagenets to pump massive resources from England into the defence of Guyenne.

Between 1403-1412, it must have looked as though the game was up. Distracted by civil war in England, a serious revolt in Wales, as well as conflicts with Scotland, Flanders and Brittany, Henry could send no aid to Guyenne. The Gascons were left isolated, and had to repel the might of France all by themselves. The resistance of the chief city of Bordeaux in particular can only be described as heroic, although few remember it. Certainly not in France, where the awkward history of English Guyenne is firmly stuffed under the carpet:

“This proud episode in Bordeaux's history has often been disregarded, especially by earlier more chauvinistic French historians, who could not comprehend the strong particularism of the Gascons and could not believe that the fifteenth-century men of Guyenne regarded the French as even more foreign than the English.” - Margaret Labarge

Outside of Bordeaux, the outnumbered Gascons and a few English auxiliaries were obliged to fight guerilla warfare against the overwhelming armies of France. Castles and towns changed hands with bewildering frequency; it didn't help that Bayonne, in the south, was briefly taken over by an anti-Lancastrian faction.

By 1411, despite his own appalling health and a chronic lack of money, Henry had somehow managed to climb out of a very deep hole. On 11 June he announced a five-year truce with Flanders, and on 1 January 1412 a ten-year truce with Brittany. A six-year truce with Scotland was also agreed. These agreements, plus the improved situation in England and Wales, released him to concentrate on Guyenne.

The situation in the duchy was desperate. Bordeaux was surrounded, and the Archbishop reduced to sending pitiful letters to the king. One of his letters, dated June 1406, is typical:

“I have written to you so many times and so lengthily concerning the state of your land, and I have cried so much that my voice has become hoarse.”

Bordeaux was granted a reprieve when a French assault on Bourg, to the north, failed due to bad weather and a tremendous battle fought between the contending fleets in the Gironde river. Under heavy fog, the Anglo-Gascons launched fire ships against the French fleet, which was largely destroyed; afterwards one of the flaming vessels was sent upstream to taunt the French commander, the Duke of Orléans. The Saint Albans chronicler remarked that the ship 'burnt in the eyes of the proud duke'.

In 1411-12 all of England's available resources were directed to the relief of Guyenne. Henry's health had improved somewhat, but he was not strong enough to lead the expedition. Nor would he entrust it to his eldest son, the later Henry V, because father and son disagreed over strategy. Put simply, Henry senior favoured an alliance with the Armagnac faction in France, while Henry junior favoured their bitter rivals, the Burgundians.

Instead the king gave command to his second son Thomas, duke of Clarence. Henry promised the men of Guyenne that he would send a force of 1000 men-at-arms and 3000 archers. He was as good as his word. Half were recruited by Clarence, and the other half by his fellow commanders, the duke of York and Thomas Beaufort, former and future lieutenants of Guyenne. By 9 July at least £16,00 had been raised for the expedition, a remarkable sum after a decade of ceaseless warfare. It had to scraped together: Archbishop Arundel donated a loan of 1000 marks, while the king threw in 200 marks from his own personal fund or 'chamber money'.