| Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier | |||||||
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| Part of the Mad War | |||||||
The Battle of Saint-Aubin-Du-Cormier as imagined by Jeanne Malivel in 1922. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Kingdom of France | Duchy of Brittany and supporters during the Guerre folle. | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Louis II de la Trémoille | Maréchal de Rieux, Duke of Orléans, John IV of Chalon-Arlay, Prince of Orange Alain d'Albret |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 15,000. | 11,500 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1500 | Around 5,000 - 6,000 | ||||||
The Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier took place on July 28, 1488, between the forces of king Charles VIII of France, and those of Francis II, Duke of Brittany and his allies. The defeat of the latter signalled the end to the "guerre folle" ('Mad war'), a feudal conflict in which French aristocrats revolted against royal power during the regency of Anne de Beaujeu. It also effectively ended the independence of Brittany from France.
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Under the leadership of Louis II de la Trémoille, the French royal army had struck against Vannes and Fougères, controlling access to Brittany.
Alain d'Albret, a rebel lord, believing he would marry Anne, had reinforced the Breton army with 5000 troops supplied by the king of Spain. Maximilian I of Austria also sent 1500 men, and Edward Wydeville, Lord Scales, brought over a force of archers from Britain.[1] Despite this concentration of forces the Breton alliance was still outnumbered. It was further weakened because Maximilian I was diverted by a rebellion in Flanders, which was being supported by Marshal de Esquerdes.
The Breton forces thus comprised a mix of local troops with Gascons, Germans, English longbowmen and non-Breton aristocrats who were challenging royal power. The French army included Swiss and Italian mercenaries, and also some pro-royal Breton noblemen. It had the most powerful artillery of the era.
French forces arrived at the field in disparate groups. The battle began with an artillery barrage from both sides. The Bretons attacked the French right wing in force, making considerable headway. However, the Breton front soon showed signs of confusion and disorder which was exploited by the French artillery. An attack by the Italian infantry broke the Breton line, leading to a rout of their forces.
The defeat of Francis II forced him to accept a treaty which deprived him of power by requiring him to expel foreign princes and troops from Brittany. It also restricted his ability to marry his children to suitors of his choosing and required that he cede territory in Saint-Malo, Ferns, Dinan and Saint-Aubin to the king as a guarantee that in the absence of a male successor the king would determine the succession. Francis died a few months later leaving only a daughter, Anne of Brittany, so the treaty was used to force her, as his successor, to marry King Charles VIII, and then Louis XII.
The battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier also destroyed the power-base of the warring princes. Edward Wydeville was killed. Louis of Orleans (the future Louis XII), and Jean, Prince of Orange were captured. Alain d'Albret and the Maréchal de Rieux succeeded in escaping, and played an important part in continuing the conflict. Despite the French victory, the guerre folle dragged on for three more years until December 1491, when Charles married Anne.
Since the emergence of modern Breton nationalism in the 19th century, the battle has been portrayed as the moment when Brittany lost its independence, despite the three years of struggle which followed it and the continued nominal independence of the Duchy into the 16th century. It is thus regarded by nationalists as a tragic episode in the history of Brittany. In the words of Leon Meur, "the battle of Saint-Aubin rang the death-knell of Breton independence". The Breton nationalist Célestin Lainé, who sided with Nazi Germany in World War II, stated that his SS-affiliated Bezen Perrot militia was the first Breton force to have fought against France since the battle. At his death he requested that his ashes be scattered on the spot.
A plan in 2000 to bury domestic waste on the site of the battle caused such protests from the Breton movement that the project was abandoned.[2] The Breton nationalist organization Koun Breizh commemorates the battle at the site on the last Sunday of every July, and the far-right nationalist group Adsav also commemorates it in September.