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The Flower of Chivalry: Bertrand du Guesclin and the Hundred Years War
The rise of Bertrand du Guesclin ranks as one of the most spectacular adventures in a fourteenth century rich in heroic tales. A poor Breton squire, ungainly and unlettered, he came of age at the onset of the Hundred Years War. He spent two decades engaged in irregular warfare in his native province before he became a knight, and was recognised by Charles V as the captain France needed. Du Guesclin fought on campaign from Normandy to Andalusia, tasted victory, was taken captive - and was finally victorious again, over such famed adversaries as Sir John Chandos and the Black Prince. He won a dukedom in Spain, but it was as Constable of France that he spearheaded the reconquest of French provinces lost after the defeat at Poitiers.His body was laid to rest among kings in the royal basilica of Saint-Denis, enshrined as the Tenth Worthy, hero of the last Old French epic, but Du Guesclin's spirit lives on in literature and folk memory, as flower of chivalry, soldier's soldier, patriot, and liberator of his country. RICHARD VERNIER is Professor Emeritus, Romance Languages and Literatures, Wayne State University.
246 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 13, 2026
I grew up on Dutch young adult author Thea Beckman's historical novels, prominently a trilogy set during the Hundred Years War. Du Guesclin appears as a patriotic freedom fighter, misunderstood & ignored by a nobility obsessed with glorious cavalry charges. He's the diamond in the rough who reluctantly accepts the brutal reality of war... with Cuvelier as a braniac sidekick.
Reality is more complex but does not disappoint. One fact is that a rags to riches story needs RICHES. Bertrand was no stranger to the "sinews of war". He knew the value of a healthy paycheck both for himself and his troops. The love story of Thipaine was more a classic dynastic wedding, with a sequel after her death.
Vernier, raised in France and schooled in the US, has a firm grasp on sources combined with Yankee wit. He does not render judgement of Du Guesclin as a military commander, but he lists others' opinions to a strong impression of a captain who believed in every form of speed and movement. A raid. A short siege of the small fortresses to weaken the big fortress. Let the enemy even make the first move in a set battle .. but he was more often than not subordinate on the field.
Vernier's real passion & and strength lies in his critical reading of the chansons, with Cuvelier in the lead as a contemporary to bring his subject to life. Sometimes, the man steps into the background to look at the times; luckily, this Hundred Years War 101 is stellar.
It improves your understanding of French hydrography in a conflict where English reinforcements could only come cross-Channel and trade was preferably waterborne. The forging by the sword of the French kingdom under Charles V, who took the oaths of his vassals very seriously, was a process of acquisition, Duchy by County. In each territory, the nobility was embroiled in conflicting loyalties between two kings and their candidates, which often triggered smaller civil wars while the "main war" could be structured around truces.
it's in this context that we find the mercenary Companies such as Du Guesclin recruited for Castille, always scourging from the Central Massif ... or potentially across the logistic hinterland of the French royal armies operating against the English-held harbours of the West.
That's where we watch the captain die.
Reality is more complex but does not disappoint. One fact is that a rags to riches story needs RICHES. Bertrand was no stranger to the "sinews of war". He knew the value of a healthy paycheck both for himself and his troops. The love story of Thipaine was more a classic dynastic wedding, with a sequel after her death.
Vernier, raised in France and schooled in the US, has a firm grasp on sources combined with Yankee wit. He does not render judgement of Du Guesclin as a military commander, but he lists others' opinions to a strong impression of a captain who believed in every form of speed and movement. A raid. A short siege of the small fortresses to weaken the big fortress. Let the enemy even make the first move in a set battle .. but he was more often than not subordinate on the field.
Vernier's real passion & and strength lies in his critical reading of the chansons, with Cuvelier in the lead as a contemporary to bring his subject to life. Sometimes, the man steps into the background to look at the times; luckily, this Hundred Years War 101 is stellar.
It improves your understanding of French hydrography in a conflict where English reinforcements could only come cross-Channel and trade was preferably waterborne. The forging by the sword of the French kingdom under Charles V, who took the oaths of his vassals very seriously, was a process of acquisition, Duchy by County. In each territory, the nobility was embroiled in conflicting loyalties between two kings and their candidates, which often triggered smaller civil wars while the "main war" could be structured around truces.
it's in this context that we find the mercenary Companies such as Du Guesclin recruited for Castille, always scourging from the Central Massif ... or potentially across the logistic hinterland of the French royal armies operating against the English-held harbours of the West.
That's where we watch the captain die.
December 3, 2018
A fine portrayal of the Constable of France who helped France recover from the Treaty of Brétigny, but perhaps a little too rooted in the songs and legends about him (the author is a literature guy rather than a historian), although such a portrayal is not necessarily out of keeping with the chivalric age of Bertrand du Guesclin.
June 11, 2015
One of the few available works on Bertrand's great life (that are in English). Du Guesclin's deeds are often ignored, especially by English centered authors. It is nice to see a work solely dedicated to du Guesclin and the often overshadowed period of French triumph in which he fought.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews