Saintonge War

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Saintonge War

St. Louis IX at the Battle of Taillebourg, by Eugène Delacroix.

Date	July 1242
Location	Saintonge, France
Result	French victory

Combatants

Commanders

Strength

around 50,000

around 30,000

The Saintonge War was a feudal dynastic encounter that occurred in 1242 between forces of Louis IX of France and those of Henry III of England. Saintonge is the region around Saintes in the west of France. The conflict was fought because some vassals of Louis were displeased with the land that Louis had given to his brother, Alphonso, comte de Toulouse. The French decisively defeated the English at the Battle of Taillebourg and concluded the struggle at the Siege of Saintes, but because of dynastic sensibilities and the desire to go on a crusade, Louis did not annex Guyenne.

1 Prelude
2 Battle of Taillebourg
3 Siege of Saintes
4 Aftermath
5 Sources

[edit] Prelude

In June 1241, King Louis held a plenary court at Saumur in Anjou and announced that his younger brother, Alphonso, would receive fiefs formerly owned by their father, Louis VIII. Many nobles from Aquitaine attended the court, among them Isabella of Angoulême and her husband, the Count of La Marche, Hugh de Lusignan. After the meeting at Saumur, Louis went to Poitiers and installed his brother as the Count of Poitiers. The Lusignans were not receptive to Capetian authority in the region, and Isabella was particularly frustrated that her son, the Earl of Cornwall and brother to King Henry III, had not got the title. Shortly after his arrival to Poitiers, Louis learned that Hugh had assembled an army of men-at-arms at the nearby town of Lusignan. Talks between Louis and Alphonso and Hugh and Isabella produced no results, meaning war would now have to settle their disputes.

In April 1242, Louis assembled a force at Chinon that some contemporaries estimated at around 50,000. On May 20, 1242, Henry arrived at Royen and joined the rebelling French nobles, forming an army that may have numbered about 30,000. The two kings exchanged letters, but these resolved nothing.

[edit] Battle of Taillebourg

Main article: Battle of Taillebourg

Henry advanced to Tonnay-Charente by mid-July and Louis moved to Sainte-Jean-d'Angely, just north of Taillebourg, the armies intending to reach the bridge across the Charente River, located in the commune of Taillebourg. Henry and Hugh positioned their army near the village of Saint-James to the west bank of the river and camped in the neighboring field while Louis was welcomed to the fortified chateau of Geoffroy de Rancon, the Count of Taillebourg. Henry decided to send an advance guard to protect the left bank of the Taillebourg bridge, a move that led to a sharp encounter with some French troops on either July 21 or 22. Louis decided to follow up on this engagement and launched a full offensive with the entire French army. The aggressive French assaults carried the day and the English king fled south to the town of Saintes along with the revolting barons.

[edit] Siege of Saintes

On July 22 or 23, the French army arrayed itself before the city of Saintes. Henry realized that Hugh did not have as much support as he may have earlier claimed and withdrew to Bordeaux. It is uncertain if there were was any armed conflict associated with the siege. Recognizing that he was in a hopeless position, Hugh surrendered to Louis on July 24. The Saintonge War was over.

[edit] Aftermath

Casualties are unknown, but were probably not heavy. Hugh's revolt and Henry's assistance were primarily aimed at exploiting French involvement in the Albigensian Crusades. Raymond VII of Toulouse led a revolt in May 1242, but his allies revoked their support after the English were defeated; Raymond submitted to the king's authority at Montargis in January 1243. Louis did not take advantage of his victory and annex the Plantagenet fief of Guyenne, probably because he was mostly concerned with going on a crusade. He simply allowed Henry to do homage without inflicting further punishment.