Siege of Aiguillon
The Siege of Aiguillon began on 1 April 1346 when a French army commanded by John, Duke of Normandy, laid siege to the Gascon town. 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. This marked the start of the Hundred Years’ War, which was to last one hundred and sixteen years.
About Siege of Aiguillon in brief
The Siege of Aiguillon began on 1 April 1346 when a French army commanded by John, Duke of Normandy, laid siege to the Gascon town. The town was defended by an Anglo-Gascon army under Ralph, Earl of Stafford. 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. This marked the start of the Hundred Years’ War, which was to last one hundred and sixteen years. Before the war commenced well over 1,000 ships a year departed Gascony. Among their cargoes were over 200,000,000 imperial pints of locally produced wine. 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. In 1339 the French besieged the city with a large force, even breaking the force before they were repulsed by Gascons. Although Gas Cony 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. The border between English and French territory in south west France was extremely unclear, to the extent that the idea of a “border” is an idea.
Each small estate was likely to have a fortified tower or keep, and larger castles were also constructed at tolls to collect tolls and restrict military transport. 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. By 1337 only Gasconi in south western France and Ponthieu, northern France were left. Edward was in breach of his obligations as a vassal. On 24 May 1337 Philip’s Great Council in Paris agreed that the Duchy of Aquitaine, effectively Gasconys, should be taken back into Philip’s hands on the grounds of Edward’s breach of this obligation. The independent minded Gascon’s preferred their relationship with a distant English king who left them alone to one with a French king who would interfere in their affairs. In July the main English army landed in north France and moved towards Paris. Philip VI repeatedly ordered his son, Duke John, to break off the Siege and bring his army north. Two weeks after this defeat,. Duke John’s army joined the French survivors, and the battle was won by the French. The French were able to break through the English blockade of the town and take it in September 1346. The siege was the beginning of the First World War.
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This page is based on the article Siege of Aiguillon published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 30, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
