|
The history of the Area around the Chateau de
Ranton Foreword
and contents The Chateau de Ranton is a small fortified
castle in the village of Ranton, just west of Loudun, and south of the Loire. It
was one of the front-line of fortresses which were built to defend the Royal
city of Loundun on the border of Aquitaine at the beginning of the 'Hundred Years' War' in 1340-1345.Â
It played this military role until 1372. It then became a feudal manor
and one of the estates of aristocratic families associated with the Courts of
the French Kings and the Dukes of Anjou. The Chateau was built in a natural strong point
in the landscape, and the recorded history of the area goes back much further
than that of the Chateau itself. The site of the Chateau de Ranton, dominating the passage
through the Dive Valley, was already a stronghold during the Merovingian
period. Little stone was yet used for
building, and any fortifications would have been of wood. There were many such forts in the area; one
at Loudun itself and another is known to have existed at Pouant; the high point
between Loudun and Richelieu. At
Ranton, the beginnings of the moat may already have been excavated. In fact, the earliest of the extensive
network of rooms and passages excavated in the limestone around the moat date
from the Merovingian period and traces of the characteristic architecture still
exist:Â the sloping stone roofs at weak
points in the rock are typical of this period. This collection
of notes about the area – about the people, places and events that have marked
the area – therefore begins in the Roman period and extends through the early
Middle Ages, as well as during the period of the Chateau's recorded history. The buildings of the Chateau de Ranton inside
the main rampart wall were re-built in the 16th century in the Renaissance
style, as the home of a series of protestant families in the French Wars of Religion. It escaped destruction both by Cardinal
Richelieu in the early 17th Century and again in the French
Revolution, but was little more than a ruin by the 1940s. It
has been restored in three phases since 1950, and now is one of the most
complete fortresses of the 14th century left in France. These
notes are arranged in approximate chronological order, in the main histrorical
periods, but with the historical notes about events in the region interspersed
with thos on the key people who animated the region and the key places around
Ranton and Loudun. Contents From
the Romans to the early Middle Ages: 54BC to 1300 ·
Roman
remains ·
The
introduction of Christianity ·
St
Martin of Tours ·
The
unification of France ·
Moorish
invasions : Charles Martel and Charlemagne ·
Fulk
the Black and the Plantagenets ·
Eleanor
of Aquitaine, Fontevraud and Chinon ·
Loudun
becomes a royal city 2. The Hundred-year war ·
Crecy ·
The
battle of Poitiers/Nouailles ·
The
defence of Loudun ·
Bertrand
du Guesclin ·
Fighting
for Naples and Constantinople ·
The
Battles of Roccasessa and Agincourt ·
Joan
of Arc The Renaissance ·
Italian influences ·
The Renaissance in the Loire valley ·
The Chateau de Oiron ·
Francois Rabelais ·
Gabriel,
comte de Montgomery and Catherine de Medici 4.Â
The wars of religion ·
The
reformation around Ranton ·
Loudun
as a safe haven and the Edict of Nantes ·
Links
to the Chateux du Puy du Fou and Riveau ·
The
Peace of Loudun ·
The
destruction of Loudun ·
Urban
Grandier ·
Cardinal
Richelieu and his new town ·
The
Plague in Loudun ·
Demonic
possessions in Loudun ·
Hugenot
emigrations Modern times: From the French revolution
to today ·
The
revolution ·
Abbe
Aubineau ·
The
20th century From the romans through the middle ages: 54BC to 1300
Roman
remains
It's
almost impossible to dig around in Western Europe and not find Roman remains.
The Romans were present in the area of Loudun from the conquest of Gaul in 54
BC until the fourth century. Loudun was
already an important Celtic settlement; it probably took its name from the
Celtic god Lud, but became a Roman settlement.Â
The straight line of the road through Loudun from Poitiers to the old
ford of the Loire north of Fontevraud is evidence of its importance. The valley of the Dive was also
important. It was good farmland and
controlled the access to the west. The
village of Curcay has Roman roots; all village names ending in "-ay"
or "-ais" have roman origins, and Curcay seems to have been quite a
significant town. In 1953, excavations
identified the remains of a roman villa between the church of St Pierre and the
Dive. The remains of a forum, a
processional way and of villas were excavated in 1964 in the same area. The
settlements were important because they lay on the route west from Loudun
across the river Dive. This passage
through the marshy valley was always hazardous, and an altar to the Roman god
Jupiter has left its trace in the name of the neighbouring village; the Latin
Pas-sus-Jovis being corrupted to Pas-de-Jeu. The
introduction of Christianity[1]
Roman
and classical influence came under challenge already in the fourth century. At this time, Gaelic school of Christian
writers began to flourish, initially in western France and later in England,
Ireland and Scotland. One of the first
was Hilary of Poitiers. He was the son
of high-ranking, but pagan parents, and his education included the study of
Greek philosophy as well as of Latin classics.Â
He was born about 315 and was converted to Christianity about 350. By 353 he was the first Bishop of Poitiers -
one of the first centres of Christianity in France. The first church, the Baptistère Saint-Jean, is the oldest church
in France; a
sturdy brick structure near the Cathedral of St Peter in Piotiers. Hilary
soon became embroiled in the disputes about the Arian Heresy. This belief in the separate divinity of God
the Father and of Christ struck at the heart of the Christian belief in the
unity of God, but it had considerable popular support in recently pagan
areas. Its originator, Arius of
Alexandria, was a talented composer of hymns.Â
They served as good propaganda for his ideas - perhaps the devil always
has the best tunes. Hilary retaliated
with his own compositions and the region witnessed one of the first hymn-book
battles of Western Europe. If they were
as inspiring as his writings now seem today, it is not surprising that none of
Hilary's compositions have survived. The
church of Saint Hilary le Grand[2],
in Poitiers, was built in the 11th century, over the chapel housing his tomb. Alongside
the intellectual re-birth of Christianity in the fourth century, and as a
reaction against the growth of materialism and urban sophistication of church
leaders, a new fashion developed for the simple life. It first became popular in Egypt and the middle-east. The spiritual attractions of a solitary life
in the desert were publicised through accounts of the life of Saint
Anthony. While the spiritual benefits
could be universal, it was more difficult to reproduce all the attractions in
the chilly forests of Gaul. New ideas
were necessary. Martin
of Tours
provided them. Martin of Tours
St
Martin was born about 316, in Pannonia, a region of south Germany. His parents were solidly middle class, and
were clearly annoyed by the rebellious and fanatical religion of their
son. At the age of 12 he tried to join
one of the loosely organised orders of Hermits, but was dragged home. As soon as he was old enough for military
service, at 15, his father enrolled him in the Roman army. No doubt he felt a little army discipline
would settle his son's predilection for holiness. If so, he was to be disappointed. One chilly winter day, on campaign near Amiens, he gave half of
his army cloak to a beggar. That night,
in a vision, he recognised the beggar as Christ. The next day, when the Emperor Julian assembled his troops for
battle, Martin refused to fight and volunteered to stand unarmed between the
armies. He wasn't put to the test, but
was discharged from the army. He
came to Poitiers, drawn by the reputation of Hilary. There he was appointed as exorcist; the second lowest office in
the clerical hierarchy of the time, but one that suited Martin's missionary
zeal and fondness for the recently Pagan peasantry. Martin was at ease with the illiterate farmers and his
combination of "rough and ready miracles" and common sense was immediately
popular. He cut down sacred trees,
banished hail, cast out demons from cows, dogs and pigs and re-dedicated pagan
shrines. It was at this time that the
altar to Jupiter at Pas-de-Jeu was re-dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and it is
likely that St Martin himself was responsible.Â
The shrine of La Bonne Dame de Ranton existed as a focal point for
pilgrims until the French Revolution and its location is still marked by the
Pilgrimage church[3]. With
the support of Hillary, Martin founded the first monastery in 360, at Ligugé[4],
just to the south-east of Poitiers. It
was a first attempt to organise hermits and seekers of a simple life dedicated
to prayer into a sustainable organisation.Â
There is no record now of any rules, but the monastery church was the
centre of the life of the monks. There
are still the churches of the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries and the abbey,
reconstructed in the 16th century, is now home to Benedictine monks from
Solesmes. In
372, Martin was elected, by popular acclaim, as Bishop of Tours. This was not without some misgivings in the
Church hierarchy. Some of his more
urbane colleagues distrusted Martin's resolute informality. He was always scruffily dressed; his torn
cloak an early sign of his disregard for appearances. Even in Tours, he pursued his monastic ideals. He founded the monastery of Marmoutier. There, the Loire flows close to a wooded
hillside. The site he chose for the
monastery could only be reached by a scramble up the rocks. The life there was truly simple. The monks lived in huts of branches or in
shallow caves in the rocks. They lived
alone, in silence, and dressed in camel-hair tunics in imitation of St John the
Baptist. One can understand the concern
of less hardened Bishops that Martin was setting an example they were not keen
to follow! Martin
had a particular dislike for the worship of relics. It was already popular in the fourth century - perhaps because
they were more tangible objects of worship in a society still used to pagan
spirits and gods. Bodies and bits of
dead saints were already the focus of popular religion, and Martin was a
determined exposer of fakery. He would
have been horrified if he could have known how his own remains would be fought
over in Candes St Martin and revered.Â
His body was hardy cold before the people of Poitiers and Tours were
fighting for it. The night he died,
while the representatives of Poitiers guarded the door of the room where he
lay, those of Tours slid his body through the window. Within a century he was the most revered Saint in France. He is still the Patron Saint of France, as
Saint George is for England. The
unification of France
Clovis I, the founder of the Merovingian dynasty of "long-haired" Kings in
France, united most of present-day France.Â
He had been converted to Christianity in 485 and was a seasoned
campaigner, having already subdued the German tribes in northwest France and in
Burgundy. By 507, he was ready to confront the
Visigoths. From their base in Northern
Spain, the Visigoths controlled much of southern and southwestern France, as
far north as the Loire. They were
Christian, but subscribed to the Arian Heresy.Â
At the time, this aroused strong feelings. Clovis could therefore claim both a political and moral duty to
break their influence north of the Pyrennees.Â
He could also call on the help of St Hilary and of St Martin, both
renowned opponents of the Arians. As soon as the Frankish army entered the
Touraine, Clovis forbade the usual pillage so as to not "offend St
Martin". He sent his favourite
horse as a gift to the Saint (he bought it back again after his victory!) and
he adopted the cloak of St Martin as his battle standard. It was to remain the battle flag of the
Merovingian Kings and of Charlemagne.Â
St Hilary's support was shown by a column of fire over his sanctuary in
Poitiers. The armies met at Voire, to
the west of Poitiers, where he fought and won the Battle of Vouillé.Â
Fortified by this supernatural support, Clovis was more than a match for
the 23 year-old leader of the visigoths.Â
He is reputed to have killed him with his own hands. After the battle, Clovis rested his army
in Bordeau, and the next spring captured Toulouse. This was the capital of the Visigoths north of the
Pyrennees. In the ruins of the town,
Clovis found the treasure Alaric I had looted in Rome a hundred years
before. His victory established the
Catholic religion throughout Frankish Gaul, even through the Salic law remained
as the basis for the civil administration during the Merovingian dynasty. Â It also established Clovis as one of the
recognised successors of the Roman emperors; on his return north, Clovis was
consecrated as a Patrician and Consul of the Roman Empire in the new Basilica
dedicated to St Martin in Tours. Saint
Martin remained the Merovingian's guardian Saint, and the remnants of his cloak
their holiest relic. Clovis established a new authority in
Frankish Gaul. For the first time, he
allied the civil power to that of the Bishops and codified the "lex
salica", the Salic Law[5]. This was the traditional law of the Salli tribe from the northern
Netherlands. This law, by its
disqualification of inheritance through the female line, would later return to
haunt Aquitaine as one of the causes of the hundred year's war between the
French and English Kings. We are now so
used to law based on Roman and Christian precepts that the Salic law appears
barbaric. It was essentially a penal
code, defining a criminal's liability to his victim and to the Community. It set down a graduated series of
punishments and fines for all imaginable crimes. The sizes of the fines were proportional to the grossness of the
crime, the sex, age, status and usefulness of the victim. At the top of the scale was murder of one of
the King's councillors; worth 2400 solidi (one solidi was similar in value to a
cow). A Frankish freeman was worth 200
solidi, a priest 600, a bishop 900, a serf 100 and a slave 30. To insult a freeman, for example by calling
him a fox, was worth 3 solidi, and to call a woman a harlot was worth 9, unless
she was one. A woman's virtue was
respected; rape was worth 62.5 solidi and adultery 200. Trial was often by oath or ordeal. In both cases with the expectation that divine
intervention - to strike down the guilty or to save the innocent - would
determine the outcome. Clovis left a newly united kingdom to his four sons, but
it was soon fragmented and weakened by their incessant quarrels. Moorish
invasions and Charlemagne
The 8th century saw the rise of Islam and
the invasions of Spain and France by the Saracens. In 713, Moorish invaders crossed the Pyrenees for the first
time. That expedition marked the
beginning of a series of invasions, each pushing a little further north. In 721, Toulouse was besieged, but was saved
by the army of Aquitaine reinforced by troops of Charles Martel, the King of the Franks. Ten years later, the Saracen army, stronger
than ever, crossed the pass of Roncevaux again. This time, Bayonne, Oloron, Aires, Auch and many other cities
were pillaged and burnt. In the spring
of the next year, it was the turn of Bordeaux, Blaye, Bourg, Montagne and
Royan. The threat to all of France was
now so great that Charles Martell himself marched south with his army. He confronted the Saracen army at the "Battle
of Tours"
at Moussias, between Chatellerault and Poitiers, about 45 kilometres south-east
of Ranton. Caught between the Franks in
the north and the army of Aquitaine in the south, the Saracen army was
destroyed. The battle was the turning
point in the fortunes of the Islamic and Christian forces in Western
Europe. It marked the most northerly
point of the Arabic invasions. Forty five years later, Charlemagne pushed the Saracens back
across the Pyrenees, although he then experienced the worst defeat of his
life, at Roncesvalles (778).Â
Charlemagne himself donated lands at Curcay (probably including Ranton)
to the Abbey of St Martin in Tours in 775.Â
This is the first written record of Curcay. The site of the Chateau de Ranton,
dominating the passage through the Dive Valley, was already a stronghold during
the Merovingian period. Little stone
was yet used for building, and any fortifications would have been of wood. There were many such forts in the area; one
at Loudun itself and another is known to have existed at Pouant; the high point
between Loudun and Richelieu. At
Ranton, the beginnings of the moat may already have been excavated. In fact, the earliest of the extensive
network of rooms and passages excavated in the limestone around the moat date
from the Merovingian period and traces of the characteristic architecture still
exist:Â the sloping stone roofs at weak
points in the rock are typical of this period. Fulk the Black
 and the Plantagenets
In the 10th century, the estates on Curcay and Ranton
belonged to the Delancay family. Stone
built fortresses were beginning to appear:Â
One existed at Mirebeau, since replaced, and they were all characterised
by a strongly build square tower, of austere appearance, and accomodating only
public spaces:Â Halls and defensive
features- They notably had no fireplaces, so must have been bitterly cold in
the winter. Loudun dominates the main
routes from north to south and east to west.Â
The original "keeps" in Langeais and Loches were built in 990, the
tower at Moncontour and the "Square tower" of
Loudun was built in 1040 by Foulques Nerra (Fulk
the Black )[6],
Count of Anjou. Foulques (or Fulk) was the founder of Angevin power. He
was only fifteen years of age when he succeeded his father. He had a violent
and pious temperament, partial to acts of extreme cruetly and penitence. In
probably his most notorious act, he had his first wife (and cousin) Elisabeth
of Vendôme burned to death at the stake in her wedding dress, after discovering
her with a goatherd in December 999. He was the founder of what
later became the "Plantagenet" dynasty. This name, which became such a part of English history, has its
origins in the area:Â The name
"Plantagenet" originated with Geoffrey
of Anjou, great gransdon of Fulk the Black and father of King Henry II of England; it is usually claimed that
he wore a sprig of it in his bonnet, though perhaps he planted broom to improve
his hunting, or used it to scourge himself, or according to local legends, while hunting
in the forest north of Loudun, Foulques Nerra surprised a unicorn in a clearing
full of yellow gorse; "genêts" in French. He caught the unicorn, which in his arms turned into a beautiful
princess. He immediately fell in love
with her and proposed marriage in the nearby chapel. However, when the shadow of the cross on the altar fell on the
princess, she fled. Foulques Nerra
mobilised his serfs, soldiers and vassals to find his lost love, but in
vain. In desperation he had all the
gorse gathered from the clearings and paths of the forest to tempt the unicorn
back. Whatever the reason, broom became
the family emblem. Eleanor of Aquitaine, Fontevraud and the
royal city of Chinon
The link between the region and England
was reinforced in the 12th century, largely through the lives of two remarkable
people; Eleanor of Aquitaine[7]
and Henri Plantagenêt. Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest
and most powerful women in Europe. She
was Queen consort of both France and England and the mother of both King Richard I
and King John. She is well known for her involvement in the Second
Crusade. She did more to unite England and France,
and to sow the seeds of war between the two countries than any other woman
until Mary, Queen of Scots. Eleanor was
born in 1122, in Poitiers, and at the age of 15 married Louis, Prince of
Aquitaine. Within six months she was
Queen of France and her new husband Louis VII of France. It was not a happy marriage; Eleanor was
ambitious for power and her relations with Louis steadily deteriorated. At the instigation of Louis, the marriage
was annulled in 1152. On Whit
Sunday, May 18, 1152, six weeks after her annulment, Eleanor married Henry Plantagenêt at Poitiers 'without the pomp
and ceremony that befitted their rank'. He was Count of
Maine, Anjou and Normandy, a great grandson of William the Conquerer, and the
adopted heir of King Stephen of England; (known as Etienne de Blois in
France). A year after her marriage to
Henri, King Stephen died. Eleanor and
Henri rushed to London despite terrible weather in the Channel and Henri was crowned
Henry II of England and Eleanor his Queen. Eleanor established Poitiers as a major
centre of political influence. The
Cathedral of Notre Dame la Grande is a magnificent example of Romanesque
architecture of the early 12th century, and that of Saint Peter, built by
Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II of England is an imposing reminder of the
splendour of their reigns in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Palais de Justice contains the old
palace of the Dukes of Aquitaine, including the Great Hall with a magnificent
16th century roof. 20 kilometers north of Loudun, the abbey
of Fontevraud was founded in 1099 by Robert d'Arbissel. It rivalled Cluny for dominance for 700
years. He preached for the first crusade
and assembled his followers at Fontevraud. Â The abbey was protected and enriched by the Plantagenets; Eleanor died
in 1204 and was entombed in Fontevraud
Abbey next to her husband Henry and near son Richard. Her tomb effigy shows
her reading a Bible and is decorated with magnificent jewelry. Throughout her reign, Eleanor played a
major part in establishing alliances between the European monarchies. She was frequently involved in disputes and
skirmishes and even when she had retired to the Abbey at Fontevraud she was
drawn into the action. In 1202, she was
forced to flee from Fontevraud before an army of the Duke of Brittany,
supported by the French King, Philippe Auguste. She took refuge in the walled town of Mirebeau, which was
immediately besieged. Fortunately her
son, King John, was with his army at Le Mans.Â
In a forced march, he reached Mirebeau within a day and captured the
besieging forces. King John was no
better liked by his Barons in France than by those in England and his barbaric
treatment of his captives did nothing to improve his reputation. Eleanor died in 1204 at Fontevraud. Chinon was a primary residence of Henry II and capital of his vast Angevin empire.
He built the massive chateau, and died in Chinon castle after being defeated by
his sons Richard the Lionheart and John in a rebellion
aided by Phillip Augustus of France. Henry, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Richard are all buried at Fontevraud, together
with Isabelle, the wife of King John,
who many suspect of having poisened him. In 1162, in a
new innovation in military architecture, Poitiers was the first European city
since Roman times to be completely surrounded by defensive walls. They were over 6.5 Kms long and incorporated
semi-circular towers able to cover the adjacent walls with arrow fire. Other fortresses were modernised in the same
style:Â Mirebeau, Montreuil Bonnin and
Haut Clairvaux (by Richard Lionheart).Â
This is the sytle used at Ranton Loudun
becomes a Royal city
In 1206, Loudun and its surrounding area were
re-attached to the French crown by Philip Augustus.Â
He made Loudun into one of the strongest fortresses in France, dominated
by an enormous round tower, thirty metres high. It was 17 metres in diameter at its base, with walls nearly six
metres thick. This unfortunately only
left a small inner space, 4 metres 60 wide so it was not exactly a palace. The walls were of squared blocks on the
outside and inside, with a filling of pink flint - a formidable
construction. It was eventually
demolished by Richelieu in 1633. The town was protected by a wall over ten
miles long, inside a water-filled moat.Â
He also made Loudun the seat of a Royal "bailliage"; a Royal
charter which made Loudun the property of the King, rather than that of a
Feudal lord, and ruled by an official of his court. This status brought Loudun great prosperity: a Royal court of
justice, civil servants, accountants and lawyers. The rope-makers (cordelliers) of Loudun gained the monopoly of
supply to the Royal court; prospered enormously and gained a national
reputation. They even built their own
church. On the death of Louis VIII of France, Louis IX was only 12. His mother, Blanche of Castile, acted as the Regent, but was faced with
the opposition of a group of powerful barons, led by the Duke of Thouars. In 1227, Blanche of Castille opened
negotiations from the base of a camp at Loudun, and in 1228 she and Louis held
a parliament for about 20 days at Curçay-sur-Dive. She was no stranger to the area, being the grand-daugther of Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the third daughter of Alfonso VIII, king of Castile, and of Eleanor of England.Â
The boundary between the area loyal to Louis IX and that loyal to the
rebel dukes was the Dive. As in 1215 at
Runnymede in England, the relative
powers of the King and the Barons were in dispute. After long and difficult negociations, an agreement was reached
that allowed the rebel Barons to accept Louis IX as their legitimate King. He held court, and exercised his Feudal
rights of justice for the first time at the bridge over the Dive which still
stands.   Further privileges were
granted to Loudun by Louis IX. In 1228,
Loudun became a self governing Commune, exempt from the billeting of soldiers,
exempt from being garrisoned, and with its own security forces. The Dive was
still a major political and physical boundary and its defence was of strategic
importance. In 1228, the Maulevier
family obtained the King's permission to fortify the bridge-head over the Dive
at Curcay. The tower that kept the
family name was build. The fortress at Curçay-sur-Dive
was of major military importance and was much more extensive than the remains
now suggest. The main walls encompassed
most of what is now the village. 2. 'Hundred
Years' War'
Preparations
The around
Loudun was again the focus of attention in the Hundred Years war. In January 1340, Edward III of England
formally claimed the title of ‘King of France’. In June, the English fleet decimated the French fleet at the
mouth of the Zwyn in what is now Holland.Â
The war had begun. It was
initially fought in the north of France and the Netherlands, but it was
Aquitaine that was at stake. After four
generations of peace in the area, the castles and town walls were in a poor
state of repair. In
1340 the Châteaux at Ranton and Curçay-sur-Dive were re-built; that of Ranton
by Guilaume de Bois Gourmont and that at Curcay by Huet Odart, both under
instruction from King Jean II; They were part of an elaborate network
of fortresses that ensured that the area remained under French control,
although the English were allied to the Duke of Thouars and controlled the
valley of the Dive for many years. The
Chateau at Ranton was only one of those rebuilt by Guillaume de Bois Gourmont:Â the largest was that at Bois Gourmont, near
Veniers, just north of Loudun. Only the
Keep now remains and it is ruined. The
style is the same as that at Ranton and it was probably built be the same
Architect/masons. Machiolations, the
overhanging part around the top of the towers was a recent innovation in
military architecture of the time. They
made it even more difficult to scale the walls. The change from square to round towers also gave better
resistance to cannon balls. Many of the
excavated rooms off the dry moat also date from this time. They served as a refuge for the village. At Curcay, the 11th century castle was
extended and strengthened; The Keep was linked to three other new circular
towers, one of which still stands, and to the old Maulevrier tower. The Arms of Huet Odart, the nephew of Huet
de Curcay, are still visible, although partly defaced:Â They represent a cross with five shells, all
symbols of the pilgims to St Jacque de Compostella in northern Spain. The battle of Crecy (1346) 1346 saw the devastating defeat of the
French army at Crecy. The French forces met in the first direct confrontation
with a small English army of between 8,000 and 12,000 men, commanded by Edward III of England.Â
Philip VI of France's force of between 30,000
and 40,000 forced
the English forces to battle after catching them just north of the Somme. Such was the enthusiasm of the French
cavalry that they cut their way through their own lines of Genoese crossbowmen
to attack. The superiority of the Welsh
longbow quickly became apparent; its rapidity of fire (up to six arrows a
minute) and lethal range of up to 200 metres soon devastated the French
cavalry, already hampered by the mud.  Edward, the Black Prince, was in the thick of the
fighting. Although only 16 at the time,
his father refused to send him reinforcements with the remark "let the boy
win his spurs". The extraordinary
spirit of the armies was demonstrated by John
I, the blind King of
Bohemia. Allied to the French Forces
and commander of the advance guard, he insisted on joining the cavalry
charge. He was led into battle by two
of his knights, their horses bridled together.Â
All three died, their mounts still bridled, but in recognition of his
courage, the Prince of Wales adopted his badge of feathers and his motto
"Ich dien" still the badge of the Prince of Wales over 600 years later. The battle began late in the day, and
time after time the French cavalry charged the English lines, every time to be
driven back by a hail of arrows and by the steel-clad infantry. Between six in the evening and midnight, the
French made over twelve concerted attacks on the English lines, and the English
archers replied with over half a million arrows. By 1350 the English forces were occupying
the area to the south and west of Loudun.Â
This area was part of the territory Edward III inherited from Eleanor of
Aquitaine. In 1352, the truce between
the English and French collapsed. The
castle at Curcay was re-built by Huet de Curcay, and Edward of Woodstock
established his base at Bordeaux, secure within the region of Aquitaine loyal
to the English crown In Aquitaine, the ties of feudal loyalty
depended on the ability of the feudal Lord to provide protection. The English tactics were therefore to raid
French territory with a small, mobile force.Â
Mounted soldiers could move quickly, pillage, burn crops and undermine
the authority of the French King. The
English did not seek battle, and the French only succeeded in forcing a direct
confrontation on a few occasions, each time with disastrous consequences. In 1345 Jean de la Jaille married Jeanne
Gourmont, daughter of Guillaume de Bois Gourmont. He was already an experienced and valued knight: He first saw
action at the head of a troop of twenty soldiers at the siege of Saint-Omer on
24th June 1340: a large battle was fought around the town
between an Anglo-Flemish army commanded by Robert III of Artois and a French one under Eudes IV, Duke of Burgundy. He had also almost certainly
been involved in the battle of Crecy, with his father-in law,
Guillaume de Bois Gourmont. Despite the
French defeat, Guillaume de Bois Gourmont was honoured for his valor at Crecy
by being made "Knight of the King's Order" by Charles V.Â
The Chateau and estates of Ranton
were part of
Jeanne's dowry and on their marriage Jean de la Jaille became the Lord of Ranton. In 1355, Jean was in the entourage of Jean de Clermont, Marechal of France and
Lieutenant General to the King in Touraine and Poitou, one of the most powerful
and brilliant Barons in the Court of Jean le Bon.  He was fortunate to escape with his life at the battle of Battle of Poitiers (1356). He was in the group of knights that was captured and ransomed and
was subsequently rewarded for his valour by being made Master of the King's
Household; a high honour from which he disdained to profit, preferring to
continue his army life. In 1370, at the castle of Chinon, in
front of the assembled barons, lords and their ladies, Jean de la Jaille, then
56 years old, challenged an English knight to single combat. Both were famous for their skill with arms
and no doubt were egged on by their followers.Â
The clash took place in the dry moat at the base of the castle
walls. Jean, in furious charges, had
the better of the exchanges and finally impaled the English knight on his
lance. In 1384, Jean de la Jaille, at the age of 60, was still active. He led his company of knights to serve in
the cavalry of Charles VI at the siege of Bourbourg in Flanders[8].
He died in 1405, at the age of 81. By
then, he was "deaf, senile and infirm" and was ruined financially. The Battle of Poitiers at Nouailles In October 1355, the Black Prince set out
on a raid of Provence. At the head of a
thousand knights, he sacked Villenave d'Oron, Langai, Castets en Dorthe and
Bazas. The towns and villages were
pillaged and burnt and their populations massacred. For three months he maintained this reign of terror, returning to
Bordeau for Christmas with an enormous quantity of bounty. Such was the success of the raid that
plans were laid for a three pronged attack into the heart of France for the
following summer. The Duke of Lancaster
would lead a raid from Caen, and Edward, the Black Prince would push north from
Aquitaine. The French could not afford
to let such raids go unmolested. A huge
force of knights assembled under the King's banner at Chartres and forced the
Duke of Lancaster to retreat. By
September, the French forces could devote their attentions to the Black
Prince. He was already at Montlouis on
the Loire, but withdrew to Chavigny near Poitiers when the French forces
crossed the Loire. The retreat of the English forces,
probably no more than 10,000 men, was slowed by the booty train. The exhausted Anglo-Gascon troops faced the
30,000-strong French army at Nouailles, to the south-east of Poitiers. The Black Prince fought at Crecy when only
sixteen and had learnt there the effectiveness of the longbow. Although vastly outnumbered, he enticed the
French cavalry into a suicidal charge between his Welsh archers. The Black Prince was forced to face the
French army for the first time since Crecy, but made good use of the Sunday
before the battle when it would have been sacrilegious to fight. He positioned his Welsh archers in the
protection of the woods alongside the open ground and covered his movements
with clouds of smoke from brush fires.Â
On 19th September, the day of the battle, the French cavalry were
impatient for action. Jean de Clermont
led his knights forward to taunt John Chandos into an open fight.Â
His move separated his knights from the main body of the army. Jean de Clermont was killed and most of his
knights were captured, including Jean de la Jaille, to be subsequently
ransomed. The French King himself was
captured and passed long years in prison in England. The
defence of Loudun
|