Lancaster’s chevauchée of 1346
Lancaster’s chevauchée of 1346 was a series of offensives directed by Henry, Earl of Lancaster, in southwestern France during autumn 1346. The year had started with a huge French army under John, Duke of Normandy, son and heir of King Philip VI, besieging the strategically important town of Aiguillon in Gascony. After a five-month siege the French were ordered north to confront the main English army, which on 12 July had landed in Normandy under Edward III of England. This left the French defences in the southwest both weak and disorganised. Lancaster took advantage by launching offensive into Quercy and the Bazadais and himself leading a third force on a large-scale mounted
About Lancaster’s chevauchée of 1346 in brief
Lancaster’s chevauchée of 1346 was a series of offensives directed by Henry, Earl of Lancaster, in southwestern France during autumn 1346. The year had started with a huge French army under John, Duke of Normandy, son and heir of King Philip VI, besieging the strategically important town of Aiguillon in Gascony. After a five-month siege the French were ordered north to confront the main English army, which on 12 July had landed in Normandy under Edward III of England and commenced the Crécy campaign. This left the French defences in the southwest both weak and disorganised. Lancaster took advantage by launching offensive into Quercy and the Bazadais and himself leading a third force on a large-scale mounted raid between 12 September and 31 October 1346, meeting no effective resistance from the French. All three offensIVES were successful, with Lancaster’s force penetrating 160 miles north and storming the rich city of Poitiers. His force then burnt and looted large areas of Saintonge, Aunis and Poitou, capturing numerous towns, castles and smaller fortified places as they went. This marked the start of the Hundred Years’ War, which was to last 116 years. Before the war commenced, well over 1000 ships a year departed from Gas Cony. Among their cargoes were over 200,000,000 imperial pints of locally produced wine. The duty levied by the English Crown on wine from Bordeaux was more than all other customs duties combined and by far the largest source of state income.
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 knew of this. The border between English and French territory was extremely unclear. 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, with larger estates having 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. By 1345, after eight years of war, English-controlled territory consisted of mostly a coastal strip of land. It had assembled his main army for action in northern France in 1345 and had assembled its main army in northern Flanders. It was up to two-thirds of them to be tied down in garrisons, although up to one-third of them would be tied to two of them. Typically Gascons could field 3,000–6,000 men, the majority of them infantry, although they were repulsed with a large force before breaking into large force. In 1339, the French besieged the French city of Bordeux, the capital of Gasconys.
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