Philip, Count of Longueville - Alliance With England

Alliance With England

On 5 April 1356 John II unexpectedly, and to contemporaries quite shockingly, personally had Charles II arrested while he was attended a council of the leading noblemen of Normandy at Rouen. And so open war broke out between the Houses of Evreux and Valois as the King of France’s armies lay siege to Evreux, Charles' administrative seat in Normandy. It fell to Philip to defend his imprisoned brother’s interests in Normandy. After a brief attempt to negotiate with John II he withdrew to the Cotentin where he set up headquarters at Cherbourg and proclaimed himself his brother's lieutenant in France. Though the region had a long tradition of opposition to the French Crown the local nobility were reluctant to throw in their support as the Navarrese caused appeared doomed to fail. Philip sent his chief lieutenants Martin Henriques and Pedro Remirez back to Navarre to raise troops. There Louis, the youngest of the three brothers, was already busy raising money and seeking allies in Spain and at Avignon. However Philip knew that the resources of Navarre alone could never be enough to sustain a war against France and by the end of April he had sent to emissaries to England to seek an alliance. Though initially sceptical by 4 May the English government had decided to divert Henry, Duke of Lancaster's planned invasion of Brittany to Normandy. On 28 May Philip formally renounced his homage to the King of France and declared war on his former liege.

Henry of Lancaster arrived in the Contentin 1 June 1356 bringing with him some 1300 men. To this Philip added 300 of his own retainers. They were also joined by Robert Knolles bringing with him 800 men from the English garrisons in Brittany. The small but all mounted army rode out from Montebourg on 22 June. They were too late to save Evereux, but arrived in time to relieve and reinforce the Navarrese garrison at Pont-Audemer. From there they moved south reaching Conches-en-Ouche on 3 July only to find that the place had just fallen to the French. Driving off a small French army outside the walls of Breteuil they went to capture Verneuil by storm before turning west again on 8 July. By 13 July the army was back at Montebourg. They had failed to relieve Evreux, but brought back considerable booty making the short campaign a profitable venture for the participants. The raid also caused John II to be caught in a pointless siege of Breteuil instead of focusing on the threatening events taking place to the south. On 20 August he paid the garrison an enormous sum for surrendering the castle and rejoin Philip in the Cotentin.

The rest of the year Philip spent in England together with his Chancellor Thomas de Ladit to settle the terms of his alliance with Edward III. Philip did homage to Edward III as King of France and Duke of Normandy and promised to serve Edward against anyone except his own brothers. The formal agreement was concluded at the king’s hunting lodge at Clarendon in Wiltshire. Philip was to have possession of anything own by him or his brother and keep all his conquests up to a value of 60 000 écus, a considerable sum. Edward was to have the demesne lands of the dukes of Normandy and anything else Philip might conquer. Philip was also required to surrender any place of special military or political value. Well satisfied Philip left England in early December with letters appointing him Edward III’s Lieutenant in Normandy.

The capture of John II in the Battle of Poitiers on 17 September threw the French government, now headed by the Dauphin, into disarray. This allowed Philip reinforced with several shiploads of fresh soldiers from Navarre, to go on the offensive. Avranches was captured early December, by the end of 1356 Saint-Lô was the only significant place in the Cotentin holding out for the Dauphin.

In 1357 the English and Navarrese began spilling out from Normandy into Île de France. In January that year Philip rode out of the Cotentin with a mounted force of 700 of his own Navarrese and Norman retainers reinforced by a 100 English and German men-at-arms under the English captain Sir Richard Totesham. Travelling east into the Bessin they occupied several castles east of Bayeux before setting out towards Paris causing considerable panic. Passing Chartres they came within 8 miles from Paris before returning home.

Philip returned home to discover that the Duke of Lancaster had taken over control of Avranches and installed an English garrison there. Outraged Philip went to Lancaster’s camp outside Rennes to complain. Though Lancaster agreed to reinstate the Navarrese garrison his captains remained in possession. Philip also became embroiled in another dispute with the English government. When the heirless Norman nobleman Godfrey of Harcourt fell in battle against the French in November 1356 Philip had taken possession of his castle, Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, one of strongest and most valuable in the region. However Edward III sent his own men to take over the castle, citing a previous agreement with Godfrey of Harcourt had gifted the castle to the English King. Philip sent his Chancellor to Westminster to protest, but was overruled.