 |
| Margaret of Anjou |
Tumult In England
As a result
of the Anglo-French agreement the English, now on the losing side of the war,
were looking to ally themselves closer to Charles VII, in the hope that this
might at the very least slow the rate of attrition. The death of the Duke of Somerset in May 1444 and Cardinal Beaufort’s
retirement to his see of Winchester, meant that The Earl of Suffolk was able to step in to fill the power
vacuum. His mishandling of the Truce of Tours;
‘Set the seal on the
recovery of the Valois [Charles VII] and confirmed his conquests.’[i]
As part of
the truce Suffolk promised to return the County of Maine to the French, but kept his promise secret for fear of a
popular uprising.
 |
| Duke of York |
Suffolk proposed a marriage between the twenty-three year old Henry
VI and Margaret of Anjou, daughter of René of Anjou. Margaret’s marriage to
Henry in April 1445 and her dominance of her biddable husband meant that an
inveterate enemy of Philip’s was now, in alliance with Suffolk, in the driving
seat in England.
In 1447
Suffolk’s power increased with the deaths of Cardinal Beaufort and Duke
Humphrey of Gloucester[ii], six weeks apart. Henry VI’s
other uncle the Duke of York was sent to Ireland as Lieutenant
there[iii]. Suffolk made himself a
duke and made his ally the new Duke of Somerset Lieutenant of France in York’s place.
Somerset was
not a natural soldier and found himself facing a reinvigorated Charles VII who
returned to the fight when Suffolk failed to make good on his promise to return
Maine. Optimistically Suffolk had been reducing his forces while Charles
increased his military capabilities.
France Resurgent
 |
| Duke of Somerset in Rouen |
Early in
July 1449 Charles asked Philip whether he should wage war against the English;
he did not wait for a reply before placing his four armies on the borders of
lower Normandy. The invasion converged on the duchy
from north, east and west. The eastern army found itself outside Rouen in October.
Holed up in
Rouen, Somerset was helpless to fend off the French onslaught and was only
saved by the arrival of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. Talbot’s presence was not sufficient to assuage the
fears of the English living in the town and Somerset weakly asked the Archbishop of Rouen to negotiate a surrender. Charles
VII rode into the city on 10th November 1449;
‘The king of France rode
into his said city….to meet the king there came on horseback into the fields
the archbishop of the said city, accompanied by many bishops, abbots and other
churchmen.’[iv]
This aroused
the fury of the folks back home when the news arrived in England. The war was
still popular with the populace who felt little effect from its terrors.
 |
| Fortress at Caen |
It took
seven months for Charles VII to take Caen where the Duke of Somerset was hiding out after fleeing Rouen[v]. This last English
stronghold in Normandy held out as Suffolk lost favour with the English for his
role in the loss of English holdings in France. Isabella returned to Brussels
in the spring of 1450 to the news that Suffolk, enemy to all her hopes of an
English alliance, had been arrested for treason.
Henry VI
exiled Suffolk but he was picked up crossing the channel by one of the king’s
ships and Suffolk was decapitated by the sailors[vi]. Queen Margaret was
viewed as supporting French interests over the English who viewed her as partly
responsible for the English defeats. On the other side of the channel, to bolster
his own legitimacy as king[vii] Charles VII decided to resuscitate
the reputation of Joan of Arc. The legality of her trial was questioned by
Guillaume Bouille, one of Charles’ councillors
and head of the College of Beauvais.
 |
| Besancon |
Trouble was rife
throughout Philip’s realm. Apart from the troubles in Ghent, Bruges was also a
trouble spot as was Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Leiden. In 1451 revolt flared up
in Besançon; taxes were not paid and citizens
plotted to seize control of the city government.
Philip sent
the Marshall of Burgundy Thibauld de Neuchâtel to negotiate with the town. When
the negotiations failed Neuchâtel was attacked as he made a clandestine
departure from the town. Philip authorised the use of force and Neuchâtel
returned in October with 1,600 men. He found the town in the grip of the plague
and the ringleaders of the plot were given up for execution.
During early
1450 Philip was embroiled in another financial dispute with the burghers of
Ghent who had refused his demand for an increase in taxes[viii]. During this period
many medieval towns were discontented with their rulers[ix] and Ghent was no
exception. Burgundian hegemony had been won at the expense of thousands of
Ghent dead in the previous century[x] and it was to remain a
thorn in the side of all of the Burgundian dukes. Ghent was;
‘The most powerful town in
the duke’s territories, extremely wealthy in all respects, incredibly large,
and with an exceptionally numerous population[xi].’[xii]
Ghent was
part of France and held from Charles and the city appealed to Charles for help
staving off any revenge Philip took against the town for refusal of his
demands. Charles was eager to involve himself in the Ghent debacle to undermine
Philip and weaken his authority. .
Philip
attempted to interfere with the annual elections in Ghent to place his own men
on the town council. In this he failed. In January 1450, at a meeting of the
three Estates of Flanders, attempting to negotiate Philip complained;
‘About the aggressions which
the Ghenters have committed and are still committing against the duke and his
government.’[xiii]
Ghent agreed
to hold new elections. In August Philip moved from negotiation, legislating a
change in the status of non-resident burgesses[xiv] making them subject to
the rule of law.
A Turn of the Screw
 |
| Termonde |
The
following year an attempt was made to seize power in the city on Philip’s behalf,
organised by two of his secretaries, Pieter Baudins and Jooris de Bul. The coup
failed and when Philip ordered the town to give up the three leaders of the
rebellion his demand was refused on the grounds that it infringed Ghent’s civil
liberties. The three finally appeared before Philip at Termonde on the promise of a pardon.
In the
winter of 1451-2 the common people of the town rose up, revolting against the
burgesses, Philip and his officials and anyone else who courted their disfavour
by not agreeing to their demands. In October two of Philip’s supporters in
Ghent were executed for their parts in the attempted coup of the previous
summer.
A general
strike was proclaimed when Philip withdrew his bailiff and other officials in
protest against the executions. On 16th November the town chose a rechter ende justiciar to fill in for
the bailiff until such time as Philip agreed to allow his return. The Justiciar
‘Will swear to look after
your rights, prerogatives and privileges, to receive your fines and dues and
keep account of them in good time, just as your bailiff has been doing.’[xv]
|
| Ghent |
This did not
suit the townspeople who chose their own representatives and overturned the
civic constitution and elected government of Ghent, replacing it with rule by
three hoofdmannen or captains.
Several of
Philip’s partisans were executed in the market place. The new representatives
of Ghent wrote to Charles VII, Bruges, Liège and Brussels for aid and support
in their rebellion. The executions of opponents of the new rulers of Ghent
continued as a lengthy dossier of misdeeds and peculations of the old rulers
was drawn up.
The
discovery that Philip had prohibited the supply of corn to Ghent and set up a
blockade around the town, did not go down well with the townspeople. The appeals
to other towns were extended to Termonde, Courtrai, Oudenaarde, Aalst and Ninove. Bruges refused assistance and only
Tournai[xvi] offered support. Most of
Flanders supported their duke.
Bibliography
The Hundred
Years War – Alfred Burne, Folio Society 2005
The Reign of
Henry VI – RA Griffiths, Sutton Publishing Ltd 1998
Europe:
Hierarchy and Revolt 1320-1450 – George Holmes, Fontana 1984
The Fifteenth
Century – EF Jacob, Oxford University Press 1997
Margaret of
Anjou – Helen E Maurer, Boydell Press 2003
Isabel of
Burgundy – Aline S Taylor, Madison Books 2001
Philip the
Good – Richard Vaughan, Boydell Press 2014
www.wikipedia.en
[i]
The Hundred Years War - Burne
[ii]
After an arrest of trumped up charges laid by Suffolk – he was possibly
murdered with a slow poison
[iii]
Formerly Lieutenant of France
[iv]
Henry VI - Griffiths
[v]
His handing over of Rouen to the French was a blow to the prestige of the Duke
of York who was captain of Rouen and responsible for its safety; York and
Somerset were never to see eye to eye again
[viii]
Philip promised to abolish all other taxes in return for 24 Flemish groats on
all sacks of salt sold in Flanders
[ix]
There was a burgeoning middle-class of artisans and Guild members who opposed
Philip’s desire to wipe out the gains proffered the townspeople of Ghent
following the Battle
of the Golden Spurs
[xi]
Circa 200,000
[xii]
Philip the Good - Vaughan
[xiii]
Ibid
[xiv]
Who were almost immune from justice, as were resident burgesses as part of
liberties granted in 1297
[xv]
Philip the Good - Vaughan
[xvi]
A French town
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