Bataille de Val-es-Dunes
10 August 1047*
William the Conqueror and Henri I v. Norman Barons
Battles home page... HYW home page ... Main home page (DW)
Both William and Henri had coinage. None of the barons did.
William the Conqueror (1035-87)
for a larger image click here
AR denier, 21mm, 1.25gr. Obv: CO/O-, three fontons. Rev: degenerate legend, central cross with four besants. Mint is Rouen. Legros 384 as William the Conqueror and notes this type was found in a hoard laid down 1050-60 at St-Paul-hors-les-Murs (Italy). PdA 153 (V-18) as anonymous with the title of duc of Normandy. Dep 27v as Richard II and successors.
The battle description relies heavily on several sources. One is “The Conspiracy of the Norman Barons against William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy” by Abbe Le Cointe, Caen 1868 and translated in 1887 by Edmund Goldsmid. The second is a 12th century history of William the Conqueror written by Master Wace (The Norman Conquest from the Roman de Rou) translated by Edgar Raylor in 1837. Both are available in digital form online. Sur les pas de Guillaume en Val es Dunes by the local Syndic d'Initiative was very helpful. I also appreciate the comments and additional images provided by Jean-Paul Hauguel, one of the authors of Sur les pas ..
Background
The opposition to William was led by his cousin, Guy of Burgundy who also claimed the duchy. Guy was William's cousin. William's great grandfather was Richard I of Normandy and he claimed descent through Richard II, son of Richard I. Gui was the grandson of Richard I and he claimed descent through Richard I's daugher Addize who married Renaud I of Bourgogne. William's barons were a strong group of men, some claiming descent from Rollo, who fought among themselves and resisted William's assertion of ducal authority. In 1047, when William was 19, his opponents planned an attack with the intent of killing him and seizing the duchy.
Abbe Le Cointe describes how this came about. "William, ignorant of the conspiracy against him, went to his castle of Valognes to settle certain matters and enjoy the pleasures of the chase. He came into the centre of his enemies' lands, without troops, and accompanied only by his suite: he was placing himself in their hands. The opportunity, indeed, was too favourable for the conspirators; they resolved to take advantage of it. Neel, Renulf, Hammond, Grimoult, hastened towards Valognes to carry out the plot formed at Bayeux." Spelling of the combatants names varies in the record (and on this page).
William was warned and fled. Continuing, Le Cointe says “The Duke, terrified, springs from his bed, signs himself with the Cross, and barefooted, in hose and shirt, he throws in haste over his shoulders a short mantle suitable for riding; then, buckling on his trusty sword, he leaps on a strong and spirited horse which a trembling chamberlain brings him, and disappears. Hardly had he left the castle when he hears a loud noise of approaching cavalry. It is the band of traitors who come to murder him.”
William escaped and fled to the king, Henri I. His intended murderers realized that they faced execution if caught and realize they are committed to open warfare. Le Cointe paints this picture of the meeting between William and Henri. William “threw himself at the feet of Henry I, King of France. Without trying to hide from him the critical and desperate position he was in. "Sire," said he, "I no longer trust in aught but God and you. All my vassals are in rebellion against me; they no longer do me homage, they have taken my lands, they ravage and burn all my domains; soon I shall have nothing left. Sire, it is your duty not to abandon me. My father made me your vassal, when he went to Holy Land; your vassal am I of Normandy, and you should defend me well"
"Henry was moved by the misfortune of this young son of Robert's, whom, twelve years before, he had sworn to protect as a guardian and a father. He promised to help him.” Well, who knows what was really said. However, Henri did commit to help William secure Normandy. Henri's incentive might have been as much to thwart Gui as support William. Had Gui succeeded to Normandy, Henri would have found himself bracketed by Burgunian influence. This takes us up to the battle.
The Setting
Val es Dunes
is located SE of Caen. The country is
generally flat, with a slight downward tilt to the east. Henri and
William gathered their forces in the area circled in red on Map 1,
which generally runs from Argences in the north to Mezidon in the
south. The
battle actually occurred over a fairly large area to the left of this
circled land. In its final stages the fighting ended within the
(modern) Caen
peripherique. This IGN map shows the meta scope of the fighting area.
The size of the forces involved in the conflict vary, with lots of
exaggeration. It is generally agreed that the forces of the revolting
barons were larger than those of Henri and William. Likewise, Henri
supplied most of the forces on his side, with a fairly small contingent
from William. Like all early battles, estimates of the forces involved
vary widely. Common estimates are that Henri and William marshaled
about 10,000+ troops, knights and men at arms, against a larger but
less organized opposing force. On the other hand, Sur les pas de Guillaume gives an order of battle that has William and Henri outnumbering the
barons. It says William and Henri had about 260 cavaliers and over 1000
foot troops, for a total of 1300 men against the barons 170 cavaliers
and 680 foot troops, for a total of 850 men on the field. Of the larger
estimates, it notes "Ces chiffres sont certainement tres excessifs" and
goes on to give estimates for each of the combatants. William had about
350 men, Henri 950, Raoul Tesson 225, and for the rebels, Grimoult
200, Hamon le Dentu 175, Neel 150, Renouf 150 and Gui de Brionne 175. At the outset Raoul was aligned with the rebels, boosting their numbers, but ended up fighting with Henri.
From Le Cointe: "It (the Baron's position) had, however, the great fault of making a victory indispensable for the Barons' army. This was a mistake. In war one must, while striving for the victory, ever insure the means of retreat. If conquered, the barons could not retire on Caen, which was held for the Duke, and which, without means, it is true, of resisting them if they were conquerors, could nevertheless, in case of defeat, stop their march and give the King and Duke time to crush them. A retreat would therefore have to be made more to the southwest ; but in that direction even greater difficulties would be met. Two leagues away they had the Orne in their rear, with only the ford of Bully to cross its wide and deep stream."
The Battle
The Franco-Norman force traveling with Henri entered the valley from Billy and Navarre,
small communities on this map (A on Map 2) directly to the right of the
blue line. This IGN map also shows the contour of the land, generally
sloping (modestly) downward to the east. Henri prepared for battle by
having a mass said. He then “gave the signal to start, and marched
towards
Val es Dunes, resolved to dare and do in the fierce struggle that was
to
ensue. Having reached Beneauville, he drew up his troops on the left
bank of the
little river Semillon, and there awaited the Duke's army. At the same
time,
William, encamped at Argences, was preparing to effect his junction
with the
French army. At an early hour, he was giving his orders in the midst of
his
troops. When all was ready, his arms were brought to him. The two
armies effected
their junction at Beneauville. The two armies then turned to the West,
for in
that direction was the enemy massed." They met at point B. Had they
aligned just somewhat south of this position, a fold in the terrain
would have limited Henri's complete view of the field. Had that been
the case, the * marks the only spot from which Henri would be able to
see both flanks of his line.
The military fly in the ointment was Raoul Tesson. He was initially aligned with the rebels but held back from the conflict. The rebellious barons urged him to join their attack and Henri and William were unsure of his intentions. From Master Wace: "Raoul Tesson saw the Normans and French advancing, and beheld William's force increasing. He stood on one side afar off, having six score knights and six in his troop; all with their lances raised, and trimmed with silk tokens. The king and Duke William spoke together; each armed, and with helmet laced. They divided their troops, and arranged their order of battle, each holding in his hand a baton; and when the king saw Raoul Tesson with his people standing far off from the others, he was unable to discover on whose side he was, or what he intended to do. "Sire," said William, "I believe those men will aid me; for the name of their lord is Raoul Tesson, and he has no cause of quarrel or anger against me." Much was thereupon said and done, the whole of which I never heard; and Raoul Tesson still stood hesitating whether he should hold with William."
"On the one hand the viscounts besought him, and made him great promises; and he had before pledged himself, and sworn upon the saints at Bayeux, to smite William wherever he should find him. But all his men besought and advised him for his good, not to make war upon his lawful lord, whatever he did; nor to fail of his duty to him in any manner. They said William was his natural lord; that he could not deny being his man; that he should remember having done him homage before his father and his barons; and that the man who would fight against his lord had no right to fief or barony."
"That I cannot dispute," said Raoul; "you say well, and we
will do even so." So he spurred his horse forth from among the people
with
whom he stood, crying TUR AIE; and ordering his men to rest where they
were,
went to speak with Duke William. He came spurring over the plain, and
struck
his lord with his glove, and said laughingly to him, "What I have sworn
to
do that I perform; I had sworn to smite you as soon as I should find
you; and
as I would not perjure myself, I have now struck you to acquit myself
of my
oath, and henceforth I will do you no further wrong or felony." Then
the
duke said, "Thanks to thee!" and Raoul thereupon went on his way back
to his men." Ralph later entered the conflict with an attack on the
rear of the barons. If the smaller number of combatants is accurate,
Raoul's 225 troops would have definite impact of the fight, perhaps
critically so.
Map 4 (Wikipedia)
Recently there have been a number of markers added to the area of the battle, aimed at helping the visitor understand the nature and scope of the engagement. M. Hauguel has generously provided several images that I missed or are new to the area. The first is another map, similar to Map 3 but clearer. This is followed by pictures of a panneau providing historical background and, very helpfully, an orientation table at Bellengreville offering an over view of the site.
Today the battlefield is still farmland, although the image is broken by the presence of a number of wind turbines. The baron's view looked like this:
They are looking generally east and the tree line in the distance is between Navarre and Beneauville. They had woods at their back and Chicheboville on their left flank. This next picture is the baron's left flank.
Unlike later battles such as Crecy and
Agincourt, where one force attacked a well entrenched force, Val es
Dunes was a series of mounted skirmishes over a fairly wide area. One
source describes it as "a tourney of horsemen on an open table land."
The Franco-Norman forces benefited from better leadership and more
organizational cohesiveness, so even though, by most accounts, the smaller force, they had
the organizational advantage. The barons experienced several defeats
and the death of one of their leaders (Haimo de Creully). Master Wace
describes it like this: "Against the King of France and the Frenchmen came
up the body of the
Costentinese; each party closing with the other, and clashing with leveled
lances. When the lances broke and failed, then they assailed each other with
swords. Hand to hand they fight, as champions in the lists, when two knights
are matched; striking and beating each other down in many ways; wrestling and
pushing and triumphing whenever any one yields. Each would be ashamed to flee,
each tries to keep the field, each one boasts of his prowess with his fellow;
Costentinese and French thus contending with each other.
Great is the clamour
and hard the strife; the swords are drawn, the lances clash. Many were the
vassals to be seen there fighting, serjeants and knights overthrowing one
another. "
The major event was that Henri
was unseated, but recovered. From
Master Wace: "The king himself was struck and beat down off his horse.
A Norman whom no
one knew had come up among them; he thought that if the king should
fall, his
army would soon be dispersed; so he struck at him 'de travers,' and
overthrew
him, and if his hauberk had not been very good, in my opinion he would
have
been killed … There was great press to
raise the king up, and they soon remounted him. He had fallen among his
men,
and was no way hurt nor injured: so he arose up nimbly and boldly;
never more
so. As soon as he was on horseback, many were the vassals who were
again to be
seen striking with lance and sword…” If
you go back to Map 2, the blue circled area behind the baron's line is
supposedly the place Henri was unhorsed. Today this locale is possibly named for
the event: La Malcouronne. This is possibly a 19th century attribution. Today it is also largely inaccessible, being
behind a fenced power generating facility. From the distance it looks
like an area of small knolls and much rougher country that the plain on
which the battle started.
The term 'malcouronne' also has a different meaning in Normandy. Monks wore a tonsure, or had a 'bare crown,' and certain bare hilltops were reminescent of a monks head, or malcouronne. M. Hauguel observes "when you look at this place from the main road, you see a field on top of the hillock surrounded with trees and bushed looking like a monk's head, still today." Hence La Malcouronne is a possible, but not certain site where Henri was unhorsed.
The rebels broke and fled. It turned into a rout and many
(thousands say some sources) of them were slaughtered. They were caught by the
difficulty of fording the Orne and many died at this point. Map 5
offers another view of the site and the paths of the respective forces and the baron's path of retreat.
Today Fleury sur Orne is within the Caen peripherique.
There are several monuments in the area, only one of which I found. It is the stele of 1841 and is located just to the east of Vimot, close to William's approach to the battlefield.
When I visited Val es Dunes I was unable to find a second stele commemorating the battle, or the site Henri celebrated mass before the battle. Today (Fall 2011) these have been better marked and I appreciate the pictures M. Hauguel has shared. First is the ruin of the church tower in Valmeray, the site of Henri's mass, and second is the new commemorative monument located at Bellengreville, alongside the orientation table.
Winston Churchill, in A History of the English Speaking People, notes the significance of this battle in William's (and England's) life. It allowed him to consolidate his hold in Normandy, and over the next 20 years to build a powerful duchy, by marriage and military success. It therefore left William in a strong position to claim the English crown when Edward the Confessor died in 1066.
* As with so many medieval battles, the dates are often uncertain. This is a traditional date given for the battle. Sources place the battle variably between January and October. Arguing against the earlier dates, war in the winter was not common. More commonly, sources place it later in the summer or even into the fall 1047. There is agreement it was in 1047. M. Hauguel suggests that some time during the summer is the most probable time frame. He says (private correspondence) "C’est pourquoi je pense qu’on a moins de chances de commettre d’erreur en plaçant la bataille en été 1047," most likely between late May and late September. Given the uncertainty I will leave this traditional date, which falls within the summer time frame, with the proviso the jury is still out on the accurate date.
Sources
http://www.archive.org/stream/conspiracyofnorm00leco/conspiracyofnorm00leco_djvu.txt
Full text of the Conspiracy of the Norman barons against William the
bastard, Duke of Burgundy, by the Abbe le Cointe, Caen 1868,
translated by Edmund Goldmid, Digitized by the Internet Archive 2008.
http://www.1066.co.nz/library/master_wace/chap02.htm Master Wace: Chronicle of THE NORMAN CONQUEST from the ROMAN
DE ROU, Translated By EDGAR TAYLOR ESQ. F. S. A., LONDON, WILLIAM PICKERING,
1837. This electronic edition was prepared by Michael A. Linton, 2004 www.1066.co.nz
Hauguel, J-P, Lechevalier, C., and Wavelet, T., Sur les pas de Guillaume en Val es Dunes, Syndicat d'Initiative, Argences, 2003'
Hauguel, J-P, personal correspondence, Nov 2011
IGN Carte de Randonnee 1613O
Wikipedia