Siege of Guines (1352)

Since the Norman Conquest of 1066 English monarchs had held titles and lands within France, the possession of which made them vassals of the kings of France.[1] Following a series of disagreements between Philip VI of France (r. 1328–1350) and Edward III of England (r. 1327–1377), on 24 May 1337 Philip's Great Council in Paris agreed that the lands held by Edward in France should be taken back into Philip's hands on the grounds that Edward was in breach of his obligations as a vassal. This marked the start of the Hundred Years' War, which was to last 116 years.[2][3][4]

After nine years of inconclusive but expensive warfare, Edward landed with an army in northern Normandy in July 1346.[5] He then undertook a large-scale raid through Normandy, including the capture and sack of Caen, to the gates of Paris.[6][7] After retreating in the face of Philip's large and increasing army, the English turned to fight at the Battle of Crécy, where the French were defeated with heavy loss.[8] Edward needed a port where his army could regroup and be resupplied from the sea. The Channel port of Calais suited this purpose; it was also highly defensible and would provide a secure entrepôt into France for English armies. Calais could be easily resupplied by sea and defended by land.[9][10]

Edward's army laid siege to the port in September 1346. With French finances and morale at a low ebb after Crécy, Philip failed to relieve the town, and the starving defenders surrendered on 3 August 1347.[11][12] Following further inconclusive military manoeuvres by each side for four weeks, and given that both sides were financially exhausted, emissaries despatched by Pope Clement VI found willing listeners. By 28 September the Truce of Calais, intended to bring a temporary halt to the fighting, had been agreed.[13] This strongly favoured the English, confirming them in possession of all of their territorial conquests.[13] It was to run for nine months to 7 July 1348, but was extended repeatedly over the years until it was formally set aside in 1355.[14] The truce did not stop ongoing naval clashes between the two countries, nor small-scale fighting in Gascony and Brittany.[15][16]

Despite a truce being in effect the French commander Geoffrey de Charny hatched a plan to retake Calais by subterfuge, and bribed Amerigo of Pavia, an Italian officer of the city garrison, to open a gate for a force led by him.[17][18][19] The English king became aware of the plot and personally led his household knights and the Calais garrison in a surprise counter-attack.[20][21] The French were routed by this smaller force, with significant losses and all their leaders captured or killed.[22] Later that day, Edward dined with the highest-ranking captives, treating them with royal courtesy except for Charny, whom he taunted for having abandoned his chivalric principles, both by fighting during a truce and by attempting to purchase his way into Calais rather than fight.[23] As Charny was considered a paragon of knightly behaviour[24] – he was to write several authoritative books on chivalry[25] – the accusations struck deep, and were frequently repeated in subsequent English propaganda.[26]

In late 1350 Raoul, Count of Eu, the Grand Constable of France, returned after more than four years in English captivity. He was on parole from Edward personally, pending the handover of his ransom. This had been set at an exorbitant 80,000 écus, too high for Raoul to afford. It had been agreed that he would instead hand over the town of Guînes, 6 miles (9.7 km) from Calais, which was in his possession. This was a common method of settling ransoms. Guînes had an extremely strong keep, and was the leading fortification in the French defensive ring around Calais. English possession would go a long way to securing Calais against more surprise assaults. Guînes was of little financial value to Raoul, and it was clear that Edward was prepared to accept it only in lieu of a full ransom payment because of its strategic position.[27][28] Angered by the attempt to weaken the blockade of Calais, the new French king, John II, promptly had Raoul executed for treason. This perceived interference of the crown in a nobleman's personal affairs, especially one of such high status, caused an uproar in France.[29]

The keep at Guînes in 2007

In early January 1352 a band of freelancing English soldiers, led by John of Doncaster, seized the French-held town of Guînes by a midnight escalade. The fortifications at Guînes were often used as quarters for English prisoners and it seems that Doncaster had had the opportunity to examine the town's defences when employed as forced labour after being taken captive earlier in the war. After gaining his freedom he had remained in France, as a member of the garrison of Calais, as he had been exiled from England violent crimes. The French garrison of Guînes was not expecting an attack and Doncaster's party crossed the moat, scaled the walls, killed the sentries, stormed the keep, released the English prisoners there, and took over the whole castle.[30]

The French were furious: the acting-commander, Hugues de Belconroy, was drawn and quartered for dereliction of duty at the behest of Charny, who was back in France after being ransomed from English captivity. French envoys rushed to London to deliver a strong protest to Edward on 15 January.[31][32] Edward was thereby put in a difficult position. The English had been strengthening the defences of Calais with the construction of fortified towers or bastions at bottlenecks on the roads through the marshes to the town.[33] These could not compete with the strength of the defences at Guînes, which would greatly improve the security of the English enclave around Calais. However, retaining it would be a flagrant breach of the truce then in force. Edward would suffer a loss of honour and possibly a resumption of open warfare, for which he was unprepared. He ordered the English occupants to hand Guînes back.[30]

By coincidence, the English parliament was scheduled to meet, with its opening session on 17 January. Several members of the King's Council made fiery, warmongering speeches and the parliament was persuaded to approve three years of war taxes. Reassured that he had adequate financial backing, Edward changed his mind. By the end of January the Captain of Calais had fresh orders: to take over the garrisoning of Guînes in the King's name. Doncaster was pardoned and rewarded. Determined to strike back, the French took desperate measures to raise money, and set about raising an army. And so the war resumed.[32]

The motte and keep of Guînes castle in 2012

The resumption of hostilities caused fighting to flare up in Brittainy and the Saintonge area of south-west France, but the main French effort was against Guînes. Geoffrey de Charny was again put in charge of all French forces in the north east. He assembled an army of 4,500 men, including 1,500 men-at-arms and a large number of Italian crossbowmen. By May the 115 men of the English garrison, commanded by Thomas Hogshaw, were under siege. The French reoccupied the town, but found it difficult to approach the castle. The marshy ground and many small waterways made it difficult to approach from most directions, while facilitating waterborne supply and reinforcement for the garrison. Charny decided that the only practicable approach was via the main entrance facing the town, which was defended by a strong barbican. He had a convent a short distance away converted into a fortress, surrounded by a stout palisade, and positioned catapults and cannon there.[34]

By the end of May the English authorities, concerned by these preparations, raised a force of more than 6,000 which was gradually shipped to Calais. From there they harassed the French in what the modern historian Jonathan Sumption described as "savage and continual fighting" throughout June and early July. In mid-July a large contingent of troops arrived from England, and, reinforced by much of the Calais garrison they were successful in approaching Guînes undetected and launching a night attack on the French camp. Many Frenchmen were killed and a large part of the palisade around the convent was destroyed. Shortly after, Charny abandoned the siege, leaving a garrison to hold the convent.[35]

The French captured and slighted a newly built English tower at Fretun, 3 miles (4.8 km) south west of Calais, then retreated to Saint-Omer, where their army disbanded.[35] During the rest of the year the English expanded their enclave around Calais, building and strengthening fortifications on all of the access routes through the marshes around Calais, forming what became the Pale of Calais. The potential offensive threat posed by Calais caused the French to garrison 60 fortified positions in an arc around the town, at ruinous expense.[36]

The war also went badly for the French on other fronts and, encouraged by the new pope, Innocent VI, a peace treaty was negotiated at Guînes beginning in early 1353. On 6 April 1354 a draft treaty was agreed. This Treaty of Guînes would have ended the war, very much in the favour of England. French and English ambassadors travelled to Avignon that winter to ratify the treaty in the presence of the Pope. This did not occur, as John was persuaded that another round of warfare may leave him in a better negotiating position and withdrew his representatives.[37]

Charny was killed in 1356 at the Battle of Poitiers, when the French royal army was defeated by a smaller Anglo-Gascon force commanded by the Black Prince, and John was captured.[38] In 1360, the Treaty of Brétigny ended the war, with vast areas of France being ceded to England; including Guînes and its county which became part of the Pale of Calais.[39] The castle was besieged by the French in 1436 and 1514, but was relieved each time.[40] Guînes remained in English hands until recaptured by the French in 1558.[11]