Bertrand du Guesclin (c. 1320 – 13 July 1380), known as the Eagle of Brittany or the Black Dog of Brocéliande, was a Breton knight and French military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was Constable of France from 1370 to his death. Well known for his Fabian strategy, he took part in six pitched battles and won the four in which he held command. Bertrand du Guesclin was born at the Chateau de la Motte de Broen in Broons, near Dinan, in Brittany. His family was of minor Breton nobility, the seigneurs of Broons...He initially served Charles of Blois in the Breton War of Succession (1341-1364). Charles was supported by the French crown, while his rival, Jean de Montfort, was allied with England. Du Guesclin was knighted in 1354 while serving Arnoul d'Audrehem, after countering a raid by Hugh Calveley on the Castle of Montmuran...On September 29, 1364, at the Battle of Auray, Charles of Blois were heavily defeated by John V, Duke of Brittany and the English forces under Sir John Chandos. Charles was killed in action, ending the Blois pretensions in Brittany. Despite an heroic resistance, Du Guesclin was captured and ransomed by Charles V for 100,000 francs...War with England was renewed in 1369, and Du Guesclin was recalled from Castile in 1370 by Charles V, who had decided to make him Constable of France, the country's chief military leader. By tradition this post was always given to a great nobleman, not to someone like the comparatively low-born Du Guesclin, but Charles needed someone who was an outstanding professional soldier. In practice du Guesclin had continual difficulties in getting aristocratic leaders to serve under him, and the core of his armies were always his personal retinue...Du Guesclin pursued the English into Brittany from 1370 to 1374, and defeated again the English army at the Battle of Chizé in 1373...He disapproved of the confiscation of Brittany by Charles V in 1378, and his campaign to make the duchy submit to the king was halfhearted...An able tactician and a loyal and disciplined warrior, Du Guesclin had reconquered much of France from the English when he died of illness at Chateauneuf-de-Randon while on a military expedition in Languedoc in 1380. He was buried at Saint-Denis in the tomb of the Kings of France. His heart is kept at the basilica of Saint-Sauveur at Dinan. -
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Link: Bertrand du Guesclin - The Eagle of Brittany - by Zio Prudenzio
12-17-2011, 12:04 AM
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