Osprey - General Military - Knight - The Warrior and ... - Brego-weard

hilst men like William Marshal might
come to the attention of princes on the
tournament field, war offered the man-
at-arms an even greater opportunity for advancement
and gain. The struggle between England and France
known to us as the Hundred Years War offered
prospects greater than most for those lucky or able
enough to grasp them. Bertrand du Guesclin, a
squire from an obscure Breton family who was to rise
to become France's foremost soldier, was both.
Born around 1320 to a lesser branch of a minor
noble family in the remote north-west of Brittany,
Bertrand's military career began in the civil war over
the succession to the Duchy of Brittany between the
English-backed Jean de Montfort and the pro-French
Charles of Blois. He made a name for himself as a
master of unconventional warfare, his small band of
60 or so guerrillas waging a campaign from deep
within the forests of the region. Lacking the funds
necessary to attain the rank of a knight he seems to
have been little better than bandit. In 1343 he
captured the castle of Fougeray whilst most of its
garrison was riding to the assistance of the men of
Auray. By disguising his men as wood cutters
bringing firewood, he was able to get them close
enough to seize the gate from the few who remained.
The sale of the castle back to the English a few
months later, a common feature in a period where
garrisons and retinues had to look to themselves for
supplies and profit, enabled him to equip his retinue
properly and attach them to Pierre de Villiers, one of
the French king's captains. Knighted by Arnoul
d'Audrehem in the 1350s, Bertrand continued to
make use of guerrilla tactics against the English
forces in Brittany, his hit-and-run raids on the English
siege camp surrounding Rennes ensuring that his
name rose in prominence.
In 1364 Bertrand was part of the forces sent
against Charles of Navarre, who with the backing
of the English was making a play for the Duchy of
Burgundy. Before the battle of Cocherel he was
elected commander. By dismounting his entire force
and then staging a feigned retreat he was able to
draw the Anglo-Navarrese from their defensive
position on a ridge, avoiding a repeat of the French
defeats of the Hundred Years War at Crecy in 1346
and Poitiers in 1356, and causing the rout of the
entire enemy force.
Betrand was captured at the battle of Auray in
October 1363, and by the time his ransom was paid
in May 1365, peace had been declared. Fortunately,
however, another theatre of war opened up in
Castile, and Bertrand was contracted to lead the
French mercenary routiers in support of Henry of
Trastamara against their Anglo-Gascon counterparts,
who supported Pedro 'the Cruel' under the English
captain Sir Hugh Calverley. At the battle of Najera,
which saw Henry's army defeated, Bertrand was
again captured and held by Edward Ill's son, the
Black Prince himself. It was here that Bertrand
famously goaded Prince Edward, saying that it
was common knowledge that the prince feared
Guesclin's reputation so much he would not dare
ransom him. Feeling his honour questioned, the
Black Prince retorted that for 100,000 livres he
would be free, a statement he instantly regretted.
Bertrand quickly agreed to the amount, which was
paid by Charles of France and Henry, his employer.
Henry was ultimately victorious in his campaign
and Bertrand was rewarded for his part with
substantial lands in the Spanish kingdom. But his
career reached its apogee when war between England
and France resumed in 1370 and he was made
Constable of France; the first time that the honour had