| Siege of Mercq | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Hundred Years' War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Kingdom of France |  Kingdom of England | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Richard Aston Robert de Berengeville † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
~800
| ~500 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Heavy [1] | Light | ||||||
On 6 May of 1405, [2] a French army under the command of Waleran III, Count of Ligny and Saint-Pol besieged the English castle at Mercq in Pas-de-Calais. [3]
The French siege proved futile as English reinforcements under Lieutenant of Calais Sir Richard Aston arrived with the Calais garrison to counterattack and lift the siege. [2] Although surprised by the English attack the French troops manned the trenches, but the Genoese crossbowmen had no bolts and St. Pol's army suffered losses from English archers. [2] The first to flee were the Flemings, quickly followed by the French and Genoese. [2] Waleran III escaped with remnants of his army, but most were either killed or captured. The English captured all the French artillery, four standards, 60-80 prisoners including Jean de Hangest. [2]
Year 1346 (MCCCXLVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. It was a year in the 14th century, in the midst of a period known in European history as the Late Middle Ages. In Asia that year, the Black Death came to the troops of the Golden Horde Khanate; the disease also affected the Genoese Europeans they were attacking, before spreading to the rest of Europe. In Central and East Asia, there was a series of revolts after Kazan Khan was killed in an uprising, and the Chagatai Khanate began to splinter and fall; several revolts in China began what would eventually lead to the overthrow of the Yuan dynasty. The Indian kingdom of Vijayanagara won several victories over Muslim conquerors in the north in this year as well.
Philip VI, called the Fortunate or the Catholic and of Valois, was the first king of France from the House of Valois, reigning from 1328 until his death in 1350.
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The siege of Calais occurred at the conclusion of the Crécy campaign, when an English army under the command of King Edward III of England successfully besieged the French town of Calais during the Edwardian phase of the Hundred Years' War.
A chevauchée was a raiding method of medieval warfare for weakening the enemy, primarily by burning and pillaging enemy territory in order to reduce the productivity of a region, in addition to siege warfare most often as part of wars of conquest but occasionally as a punitive raid. The use of the chevauchée declined at the end of the 14th century as the focus of warfare turned to sieges. It is conceptually similar to the scorched earth strategies used in modern warfare.
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The Hundred Years' War was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from English claims to the French throne. The war grew into a broader power struggle involving factions from across Western Europe, fueled by emerging nationalism on both sides.
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The Battle of Calais took place in 1350 when an English force defeated an unsuspecting French army which was attempting to take the city. Despite a truce being in effect the French commander Geoffrey de Charny had planned to take the city by subterfuge, and bribed Amerigo of Pavia, an Italian officer of the city garrison, to open a gate for them. The English king, Edward III, became aware of the plot and personally led his household knights and the Calais garrison in a surprise counter-attack. The French were routed by this smaller force, with significant losses and all their leaders captured or killed.
Amery of Pavy or of Pavia was a 14th-century English knight, originally from Pavia in Lombardy, who was made captain of Calais by King Edward III of England in 1347. He made a secret deal with Sir Geoffrey de Charny, a French knight, to sell Calais for 20,000 écus. After discovering the plot, Edward summoned Amery to London and confronted him, ordering him to keep his bargain with Geoffrey and say nothing of the king's knowledge. As Geoffrey gathered an army to take control of the town in December of that year, Edward brought an army from England to counter the French. The English then prevailed in the failed siege of Calais on 31 December 1349, and Edward transferred governance of Calais to John de Beauchamp and abated the arms of Amery in 1350. In 1352, Amery was captured and tortured to death by Charny.
Waleran III of Luxembourg Count of Ligny and Saint Pol, was a French nobleman and soldier.
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The Truce of Calais was a truce agreed by King Edward III of England and King Philip VI of France on 28 September 1347, which was mediated by emissaries of Pope Clement VI. The Hundred Years' War had broken out in 1337 and in 1346 Edward had landed with an army in northern France. After inflicting a heavy defeat on Philip and a French army at the Battle of Crécy the English besieged Calais, which fell after 11 months. Both countries were financially and militarily exhausted and two cardinals acting for Pope Clement were able to broker a truce in a series of negotiations outside Calais. This was signed on 28 September to run until 7 July 1348.
The Crécy campaign was a series of large-scale raids (chevauchées) conducted by the Kingdom of England throughout northern France in 1346 that devastated the French countryside on a wide front, culminating in the Battle of Crécy. The campaign was part of the Hundred Years' War.
Château de Calais was a 13th century castle constructed to defend the port of Calais, France. It was razed to the ground in 1558, after being recaptured from the English by the French and a citadel built on its ruins.
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The Treaty of Guînes was a draft settlement to end the Hundred Years' War, negotiated between England and France and signed at Guînes on 6 April 1354. The war had broken out in 1337 and was further aggravated in 1340 when the English king, Edward III, claimed the French throne. The war went badly for France: the French army was heavily defeated at the Battle of Crécy, and the French town of Calais was besieged and captured. With both sides exhausted, a truce was agreed that, despite being only fitfully observed, was repeatedly renewed.
English offensives in 1345–1347, during the Hundred Years' War, resulted in repeated defeats of the French, the loss or devastation of much French territory and the capture by the English of the port of Calais. The war had broken out in 1337 and flared up in 1340 when the king of England, Edward III, laid claim to the French crown and campaigned in northern France. There was then a lull in the major hostilities, although much small-scale fighting continued.
