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d iii s breton campaign 1345 1347 gascony bergerac auberoche aiguillon crécy campaign caen blanchetaque crécy calais 1346 1347 lancaster s chevauchée 1346 1349 1352 lunalonge calais 1350 winchelsea saint jean d angély saintes ardres guînes 1355 1356 black prince s chevauchée 1355 edward iii s chevauchée 1355 normandy chevauchée 1356 breteuil loire campaign 1356 black prince s chevauchée 1356 poitiers 1358 1360 jacquerie reims campaign chartres treaties and truces espléchin malestroit calais guînes first london second london brétigny the siege of aiguillon an episode in the hundred years war began on 1 april 1346 when a french army commanded by john duke of normandy laid siege to the gascon town of aiguillon the town was defended by an anglo gascon army under ralph earl of stafford in 1345 henry earl of lancaster was sent to gascony in south west france with 2 000 men and large financial resources in 1346 the french focused their effort on the south west and early in the campaigning season an army of 15 000 20 000 men marched down the valley of the garonne aiguillon commands both the rivers garonne and lot and it was not possible to sustain an offensive further into gascony unless the town was taken duke john the son and heir apparent of philip vi laid siege to the town the garrison some 900 men sortied repeatedly to interrupt the french operations while lancaster concentrated the main anglo gascon force at la réole some 30 miles 48 km away as a threat duke john was never able to fully blockade the town and found that his own supply lines were seriously harassed on one occasion lancaster used his main force to escort a large supply train into the town in july the main english army landed in northern france and moved towards paris philip vi repeatedly ordered his son duke john to break off the siege and bring his army north duke john considering it a matter of honour refused by august the french supply system had broken down there was a dysentery epidemic in their camp desertion was rife and philip vi s orders were becoming imperious on 20 august the french abandoned the siege and their camp and marched away six days later the main french army was decisively beaten in the battle of crécy with very heavy losses two weeks after this defeat duke john s army joined the french survivors background edit france in 1330 under french royal control in 1214 gained from english control by 1330 england and english controlled guyenne gascony in 1330 since the norman conquest of 1066 english monarchs had held titles and lands within france the possession of which made them vassals of the kings of france 1 over the centuries english holdings in france had varied in size but by 1337 only gascony in south western france and ponthieu in northern france were left 2 the independent minded gascons had their own customs and claimed to have a separate language they preferred their relationship with a distant english king who left them alone to one with a french king who would interfere in their affairs 3 following a series of disagreements between philip vi of france and edward iii of england on 24 may 1337 philip s great council in paris agreed that the duchy of aquitaine effectively gascony should be taken back into philip s hands on the grounds that edward was in breach of his obligations as a vassal this marked the start of the hundred years war which was to last one hundred and sixteen years 4 gascony edit before the war commenced at least 1 000 ships a year departed gascony among their cargoes were over 80 000 tuns of locally produced wine 5 note 1 the duty collected by the english crown on wine from bordeaux exceeded all other customs duties combined and was by far the largest source of state income bordeaux the capital of gascony had a population of over 50 000 greater than london s 7 and bordeaux was possibly richer however by this time english gascony had become so truncated by french encroachments that it relied on imports of food largely from england any interruptions to regular shipping were liable to starve gascony and financially cripple england the french were well aware of this 8 although gascony was the cause of the war edward was able to spare few resources for it and whenever an english army campaigned on the continent it had operated in northern france in most campaigning seasons the gascons had had to rely on their own resources and had been hard pressed by the french 9 10 in 1339 the french besieged bordeaux the capital of gascony even breaking into the city with a large force before they were repulsed 11 typically the gascons could field 3 000 6 000 men the large majority infantry although up to two thirds of them would be tied down in garrisons 12 bayonne bordeaux agen la réole aiguillon location of aiguillon in modern nouvelle aquitaine and other places named in the text nouvelle aquitaine within modern france the border between english and french territory in gascony was extremely unclear to the extent that the idea of a border is anachronistic many landholders owned a patchwork of widely separated estates perhaps owing fealty to a different overlord for each each small estate was likely to have a fortified tower or keep and larger estates had castles fortifications were also constructed at transport choke points to collect tolls and to restrict military passage fortified towns grew up alongside all bridges and most fords over the many rivers in the region military forces could support themselves by foraging so long as they moved on at frequent intervals if they wished to remain in one place for any length of time as was necessary to besiege a castle then access to water transport was essential for supplies of food and fodder and desirable for such items as siege equipment 13 warfare was usually a struggle for possession of castles and other fortified points and for the mutable loyalty of the local nobility the region had been in a state of flux for centuries and many local lords served whichever country was stronger regardless of national ties 14 15 by 1345 after eight years of war english controlled territory mostly consisted of a coastal strip from bordeaux to bayonne with isolated strongholds further inland during 1345 henry duke of lancaster note 2 had led a whirlwind campaign at the head of an anglo gascon army 16 he had smashed two large french armies at the battles of bergerac and auberoche captured french towns and fortifications in much of périgord and most of agenais and given the english possessions in gascony strategic depth during the winter following this successful campaign lancaster s second in command ralph earl of stafford had marched on the vitally important town of aiguillon which commanded the junction of the rivers garonne and lot 17 the town s inhabitants had attacked the garrison and opened the gates to the english 18 prelude edit john duke of normandy the son and heir apparent of philip vi was placed in charge of all french forces in south west france as he had been the previous autumn he assembled at orléans the largest army the french had yet fielded in the south west 19 it was supported by every military officer of the royal household as always money was short in spite of borrowing over 330 000 florins 60 000 000 in 2025 terms note 3 from the pope duke john had to issue orders to local officials to amass all of the money you can for the support of our wars take it from each and every person you can 20 it was a clear indication of the desperate state of the french finances a second army was formed at toulouse based on contingents from the languedoc it included a siege train and five cannon 19 20 duke john planned to march on and besiege the large strongly fortified town of la réole on the north bank of the garonne river only 35 miles 56 km from bordeaux which lancaster had captured the previous year aiguillon commanded both the lot and the garonne and its possession was essential to supply any army around la réole 17 21 lancaster understood that no french offensive could have a permanent effect so long as aiguillon described by the modern historian kenneth fowler as the key to the gascon plain 22 was held so he garrisoned it very strongly 300 men at arms and 600 archers commanded by stafford 17 the town was well stocked with supplies and materiel 23 although the physical defences were in a poor state the main wall 2 700 feet 820 m long was modern but incomplete gaps were filled with improvised defences 24 a bridge over the river lot was fortified and had a barbican gate but it was centuries old and poorly maintained there were two small forts within the town both overlooking the garonne the northern wall of the town was protected by the lot and the western by the garonne while the southern and eastern walls were more easily approached 25 lancaster based himself in la réole on the garonne 30 miles 48 km downstream throughout the siege 22 siege edit investment edit ralph de stafford 1st earl of stafford the french armies assembled and marched unusually early in the campaigning season by march they were both in the province of quercy the size of the french forces at this point is not recorded but it has been estimated that later in the campaign they numbered between 15 000 and 20 000 17 modern historians have described the french army as a huge force 19 and as enormously superior to any force the anglo gascons could field 26 the army marched down the valley of the garonne from agen 27 reaching aiguillon on 1 april 17 on 2 april the arrière ban the formal call to arms for all able bodied males was announced for the south of france 17 28 isolating the town presented a problem for the french the junction of the two rivers created three different areas each of which would need to be interdicted but separating their army into three divisions was inviting defeat in detail they needed to be able to rapidly combine their forces if one part was threatened a bridge over the lot 5 miles 8 km from aiguillon was easily taken but it was necessary to construct a new bridge over the garonne duke john employed over 300 carpenters in its construction escorted by 1 400 crossbowmen and an unknown but significant number of men at arms the garrison sortied repeatedly against this work sometimes several times a day they twice broke it up but it was completed by the end of may the three parts of the french army each dug impressive earthworks to protect themselves both from sorties by the garrison and from lancaster s main army 17 24 29 operations edit a derelict section of aiguillon s walls pictured in 1855 as was normal within a matter of days the large french army had swept the surrounding area clear of supplies and so was entirely dependent on the rivers for its logistics the anglo gascon army based in la réole harassed the french foragers intercepted their supplies and kept them in a constant state of alarm dysentery soon broke out in the french camps 24 in mid june the french attempted to pass two large supply barges down the lot to their contingent west of the garonne they needed to pass under the fortified bridge held by the garrison the garrison sortied from the bridge s barbican through the french lines and captured the barges bringing them into the town fierce fighting broke out as the sortie party attempted to retreat to the barbican which after several hours was lost to the french the garrison closed the gates and secured the town at the cost of trapping most of this party outside the survivors were taken prisoner 30 the french were unable to effectively isolate the town 31 throughout the siege the anglo gascons were able to run the blockade at will with small quantities of supplies and reinforcements 32 in july a larger force fought its way through with a greater quantity of supplies 17 from the start of the siege the french had concentrated their efforts against the southern side of the defences at least twelve large siege engines probably trebuchets carried out a round the clock area bombardment 24 the results were considered unsatisfactory 33 in july an attack was attempted from the north across the lot using three siege towers mounted on large barges as they were being manoeuvred across the river one was hit by a missile from an english trebuchet capsizing it with heavy loss the attack was abandoned 24 the siege became an end in itself for duke john having laid siege to aiguillon it was a matter of knightly honour not to retreat before it fell at one point he solemnly vowed not to abandon the siege until he had occupied the town 28 by july the french were drawing supplies from over 200 miles 320 km away a distance barely sustainable with 14th century overland transportation in early 1346 the english captured the castle of bajamont 7 miles 11 km from agen the capital of agenais on the garonne this was one of several strongholds from which the english carried out raids on the french lines of communication 24 in late july a french force of 2 000 men marched against it the small english garrison under galhart de durfort attacked the french defeated them and captured their commander robert de houdetot the seneschal of the agenais 17 the french army began to starve horses died for lack of fodder the dysentery epidemic worsened cases of desertion increasingly to the english mounted 34 french withdrawal edit a contemporary image of john duke of normandy later king of france in 1345 edward iii had sent expeditionary forces to gascony and brittany and had assembled his main army for action in northern france or flanders 35 it had sailed but never landed after the fleet was scattered in a storm 36 knowledge of edward iii s intent had kept french focus on the north until late in the campaigning season 37 in 1346 edward iii again gathered a large army and the french once again became aware of this the french assumed that edward would sail for gascony where lancaster was heavily outnumbered 38 to guard against any possibility of an english landing in northern france philip vi relied on his powerful navy 39 this reliance was misplaced given the naval technology of the time 39 40 and on 12 july an english army of 7 000 10 000 landed near saint vaast la hougue in north west normandy 41 this force pillaged its way across the richest parts of france capturing and sacking every town in its path the english fleet paralleled its march devastating everything up to five miles inland and destroying most of the french navy in its ports 42 philip vi recalled his main army under duke john from gascony after a furious argument with his advisers and according to some accounts his father s messenger duke john refused to move until his honour was satisfied on 29 july philip vi called an arrière ban for northern france at rouen on 7 august the english reached the seine 43 philip vi sent orders to duke john insisting that he abandon the siege of aiguillon and march his army north edward iii marched south east and on 12 august...
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