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Truce of Calais
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Truce of Calais
The Truce of Calais (French: Trêve de Calais) was a truce agreed by King Edward III of England and King Philip VI of France on 28 September 1347, which was mediated by emissaries of Pope Clement VI. The Hundred Years' War had broken out in 1337 and in 1346 Edward had landed with an army in northern France. After inflicting a heavy defeat on Philip and a French army at the Battle of Crécy the English besieged Calais, which fell after 11 months. Both countries were financially and militarily exhausted and two cardinals acting for Pope Clement were able to broker a truce in a series of negotiations outside Calais. This was signed on 28 September to run until 7 July 1348.
Edward suggested extending the truce in May 1348, but Philip was keen to campaign. However, the effects of the Black Death, which spread to both kingdoms in 1348, caused the truce to be renewed in 1348, 1349 and 1350. While the truce was in effect neither country campaigned with a full field army, but it did not stop repeated naval clashes nor fighting in Gascony and Brittany. Philip died on 22 August 1350 and it was unclear whether the truce then lapsed, as it had been signed on his personal authority. His son and successor, John II, took to the field with a large army in south-west France. Once this campaign was successfully completed John authorised the renewal of the truce for one year to 10 September 1352. English adventurers seized the strategically located town of Guînes in January 1352, causing full-scale fighting to break out again, which went badly for the French.
Intermittent peace negotiations continued but were fruitless until 6 April 1354 when a new truce and an outline permanent peace treaty were agreed as the Treaty of Guînes. But John subsequently turned against it, deciding another round of warfare might leave him in a better negotiating position. The French planned an ambitious series of offensives for the 1355 campaigning season and repudiated the Treaty of Guînes early in the year. Yet another extension to the Truce of Calais was agreed, until 24 June, when it finally expired. The war resumed in force in October 1355. In September 1356 the French royal army was defeated by a smaller Anglo-Gascon force at the Battle of Poitiers and John was captured. In 1360 the fighting was brought to a temporary halt by the Treaty of Brétigny under which large areas of France were ceded to England. In 1369 large-scale fighting broke out again and the Hundred Years' War did not end until 1453, by which time England had lost all its territory in France other than Calais.
Since 1153 the English Crown had controlled the Duchy of Aquitaine, which extended across a large part of south-west France. By the 1330s these holdings had been reduced to Gascony. A series of disagreements between France and England regarding the status of these lands culminated on 24 May 1337 in the council of the French king, Philip VI, declaring them forfeit. This marked the start of the Hundred Years' War, which was to last 116 years. In 1340 the English king, Edward III, as the closest male relative of Philip's predecessor Charles IV, laid formal claim to the Kingdom of France. This permitted his allies who were also vassals of the French crown to lawfully wage war on it, although Edward was not fully committed to this claim. In 1340 Edward campaigned against an army led by Philip in northern France. This ended with the agreement of the Truce of Esplechin in September by which the two kings agreed to cease hostilities for five years. The truce broke down within a year, although for several years subsequent fighting was largely limited to Brittany and Gascony.
In 1346 Edward raised an army in England and the largest fleet ever assembled by the English to that date, 747 ships. The fleet landed on 12 July at St. Vaast la Hoguein northern Normandy, 20 miles (32 km) from Cherbourg. The English army is estimated by modern historians to have been some 10,000 strong; it achieved complete strategic surprise and marched south. Edward's soldiers razed every town in their path and looted whatever they could from the populace. Caen, the cultural, political, religious and financial centre of north-west Normandy, was stormed and sacked. On 7 August, the English reached the Seine, 12 miles (19 km) south of Rouen, and raided up to its suburbs. Philip, under pressure from representatives of Pope Clement VI, sent envoys offering peace backed by a marriage alliance; Edward replied that he was not prepared to lose marching time to futile discussion and dismissed them. The English then left a swath of destruction, rapine and slaughter along the left bank of the Seine to Poissy, 20 miles (32 km) from Paris.
The English turned north and became trapped in territory which the French had denuded of food. They escaped by fighting their way across the Somme against a French blocking force. Two days later, on 26 August 1346, fighting on ground of their own choosing, the English inflicted a heavy defeat on the French at the Battle of Crécy. The English continued to devastate the land and set several towns on fire, including Wissant, the normal port of disembarkation for English shipping to north-west France. Outside the burning town Edward held a council, which decided to capture Calais; an ideal entrepôt into France from an English point of view, possessing a secure harbour and established port facilities and being in the part of France closest to the ports of south-east England. It was also close to the border of Flanders and Edward's Flemish allies. The English arrived outside the town on 4 September and besieged it.
Calais was strongly fortified. It was also surrounded by extensive marshes, some of them tidal, which made it difficult to find stable platforms for trebuchets and other artillery capable of breaching its walls. Calais was adequately garrisoned and provisioned, and could be reinforced and supplied by sea. Two cardinals representing Pope Clement travelled between the armies, but neither king would speak to them. Philip vacillated: on the day the siege of Calais began he disbanded most of his army to save money, convinced Edward had finished his raid and would proceed to Flanders and ship his army home. On 9 September Philip announced that the army would reassemble at Compiègne on 1 October, an impossibly short interval, and then march to the relief of Calais. Even though only 3,000 men-at-arms had assembled at Compiègne by 1 October the French treasurer was unable to pay them. Philip cancelled all offensive arrangements on 27 October and dispersed his army. Recriminations were rife: officials at all levels of the Chambre des Comptes (the French treasury) were dismissed and all financial affairs were put into the hands of a committee of three senior abbots. The King's council bent their efforts to blaming each other for the kingdom's misfortunes. Philip's heir, Duke John, fell out with his father and refused to attend court for several months. Joan II, Queen of Navarre, daughter of a king of France (Louis X), and previously a partisan of Philip, declared neutrality and signed a private truce with the English.
Between mid-November and late February Edward made several attempts to breach the walls of Calais with trebuchets or cannon and to take the town by assault; all were unsuccessful. During March and April, more than 1,000 long tons (1,000 t) of supplies were run into Calais without opposition. Philip attempted to take the field in late April, but the French ability to assemble their army in a timely fashion had not improved since the autumn and by July it had still not fully mustered. Taxes proved ever more difficult to collect. Several French nobles sounded out the idea of switching their allegiance to Edward. Inconclusive fighting occurred in April and May: the French tried and failed to cut the English supply route to Flanders, and the English tried and failed to capture Saint-Omer and Lille. In June the French attempted to secure their flank by launching a major offensive against the Flemings; this was defeated at the Battle of Cassel.
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Truce of Calais
The Truce of Calais (French: Trêve de Calais) was a truce agreed by King Edward III of England and King Philip VI of France on 28 September 1347, which was mediated by emissaries of Pope Clement VI. The Hundred Years' War had broken out in 1337 and in 1346 Edward had landed with an army in northern France. After inflicting a heavy defeat on Philip and a French army at the Battle of Crécy the English besieged Calais, which fell after 11 months. Both countries were financially and militarily exhausted and two cardinals acting for Pope Clement were able to broker a truce in a series of negotiations outside Calais. This was signed on 28 September to run until 7 July 1348.
Edward suggested extending the truce in May 1348, but Philip was keen to campaign. However, the effects of the Black Death, which spread to both kingdoms in 1348, caused the truce to be renewed in 1348, 1349 and 1350. While the truce was in effect neither country campaigned with a full field army, but it did not stop repeated naval clashes nor fighting in Gascony and Brittany. Philip died on 22 August 1350 and it was unclear whether the truce then lapsed, as it had been signed on his personal authority. His son and successor, John II, took to the field with a large army in south-west France. Once this campaign was successfully completed John authorised the renewal of the truce for one year to 10 September 1352. English adventurers seized the strategically located town of Guînes in January 1352, causing full-scale fighting to break out again, which went badly for the French.
Intermittent peace negotiations continued but were fruitless until 6 April 1354 when a new truce and an outline permanent peace treaty were agreed as the Treaty of Guînes. But John subsequently turned against it, deciding another round of warfare might leave him in a better negotiating position. The French planned an ambitious series of offensives for the 1355 campaigning season and repudiated the Treaty of Guînes early in the year. Yet another extension to the Truce of Calais was agreed, until 24 June, when it finally expired. The war resumed in force in October 1355. In September 1356 the French royal army was defeated by a smaller Anglo-Gascon force at the Battle of Poitiers and John was captured. In 1360 the fighting was brought to a temporary halt by the Treaty of Brétigny under which large areas of France were ceded to England. In 1369 large-scale fighting broke out again and the Hundred Years' War did not end until 1453, by which time England had lost all its territory in France other than Calais.
Since 1153 the English Crown had controlled the Duchy of Aquitaine, which extended across a large part of south-west France. By the 1330s these holdings had been reduced to Gascony. A series of disagreements between France and England regarding the status of these lands culminated on 24 May 1337 in the council of the French king, Philip VI, declaring them forfeit. This marked the start of the Hundred Years' War, which was to last 116 years. In 1340 the English king, Edward III, as the closest male relative of Philip's predecessor Charles IV, laid formal claim to the Kingdom of France. This permitted his allies who were also vassals of the French crown to lawfully wage war on it, although Edward was not fully committed to this claim. In 1340 Edward campaigned against an army led by Philip in northern France. This ended with the agreement of the Truce of Esplechin in September by which the two kings agreed to cease hostilities for five years. The truce broke down within a year, although for several years subsequent fighting was largely limited to Brittany and Gascony.
In 1346 Edward raised an army in England and the largest fleet ever assembled by the English to that date, 747 ships. The fleet landed on 12 July at St. Vaast la Hoguein northern Normandy, 20 miles (32 km) from Cherbourg. The English army is estimated by modern historians to have been some 10,000 strong; it achieved complete strategic surprise and marched south. Edward's soldiers razed every town in their path and looted whatever they could from the populace. Caen, the cultural, political, religious and financial centre of north-west Normandy, was stormed and sacked. On 7 August, the English reached the Seine, 12 miles (19 km) south of Rouen, and raided up to its suburbs. Philip, under pressure from representatives of Pope Clement VI, sent envoys offering peace backed by a marriage alliance; Edward replied that he was not prepared to lose marching time to futile discussion and dismissed them. The English then left a swath of destruction, rapine and slaughter along the left bank of the Seine to Poissy, 20 miles (32 km) from Paris.
The English turned north and became trapped in territory which the French had denuded of food. They escaped by fighting their way across the Somme against a French blocking force. Two days later, on 26 August 1346, fighting on ground of their own choosing, the English inflicted a heavy defeat on the French at the Battle of Crécy. The English continued to devastate the land and set several towns on fire, including Wissant, the normal port of disembarkation for English shipping to north-west France. Outside the burning town Edward held a council, which decided to capture Calais; an ideal entrepôt into France from an English point of view, possessing a secure harbour and established port facilities and being in the part of France closest to the ports of south-east England. It was also close to the border of Flanders and Edward's Flemish allies. The English arrived outside the town on 4 September and besieged it.
Calais was strongly fortified. It was also surrounded by extensive marshes, some of them tidal, which made it difficult to find stable platforms for trebuchets and other artillery capable of breaching its walls. Calais was adequately garrisoned and provisioned, and could be reinforced and supplied by sea. Two cardinals representing Pope Clement travelled between the armies, but neither king would speak to them. Philip vacillated: on the day the siege of Calais began he disbanded most of his army to save money, convinced Edward had finished his raid and would proceed to Flanders and ship his army home. On 9 September Philip announced that the army would reassemble at Compiègne on 1 October, an impossibly short interval, and then march to the relief of Calais. Even though only 3,000 men-at-arms had assembled at Compiègne by 1 October the French treasurer was unable to pay them. Philip cancelled all offensive arrangements on 27 October and dispersed his army. Recriminations were rife: officials at all levels of the Chambre des Comptes (the French treasury) were dismissed and all financial affairs were put into the hands of a committee of three senior abbots. The King's council bent their efforts to blaming each other for the kingdom's misfortunes. Philip's heir, Duke John, fell out with his father and refused to attend court for several months. Joan II, Queen of Navarre, daughter of a king of France (Louis X), and previously a partisan of Philip, declared neutrality and signed a private truce with the English.
Between mid-November and late February Edward made several attempts to breach the walls of Calais with trebuchets or cannon and to take the town by assault; all were unsuccessful. During March and April, more than 1,000 long tons (1,000 t) of supplies were run into Calais without opposition. Philip attempted to take the field in late April, but the French ability to assemble their army in a timely fashion had not improved since the autumn and by July it had still not fully mustered. Taxes proved ever more difficult to collect. Several French nobles sounded out the idea of switching their allegiance to Edward. Inconclusive fighting occurred in April and May: the French tried and failed to cut the English supply route to Flanders, and the English tried and failed to capture Saint-Omer and Lille. In June the French attempted to secure their flank by launching a major offensive against the Flemings; this was defeated at the Battle of Cassel.