Letters, Orders and Musters of Bertrand du Guesclin, 1357-1380
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Evidence from more than fifty archives in western Europe offers factual detail on du Guesclin, the most famous soldier of fourteenth-century France, and glamorised subject of a contemporary chivalric verse-life.
Bertrand du Guesclin (d. 1380) was the most famous French soldier of his generation. He made his name as a guerrilla leader in the Breton War of Succession (1341-64) and, as Constable from 1370-80, played a major role in the recovery of France under Charles V. Captured on at least three occasions, but also victorious in several important battles, his valour and dominant personality allowed him to exercise remarkable influence. He twice led important expeditions to Spain where he was rewarded with lands and titles by the kings of Aragon and Castile.
A contemporary chivalric verse-life lies at the base of all subsequent biographies, but this book brings together for the first time the wealth of archival evidence relating to his career, making available the full range of diplomatic, administrative and financial evidence for his public and private life found in more than fifty archives in western Europe. It offers a corrective to views on du Guesclin that have traditionally been derived too exclusively, and often uncritically, from literary sources.
MICHAEL JONES is Emeritus Professor of Medieval French History, University of Nottingham.
Bertrand du Guesclin (d. 1380) was the most famous French soldier of his generation. He made his name as a guerrilla leader in the Breton War of Succession (1341-64) and, as Constable from 1370-80, played a major role in the recovery of France under Charles V. Captured on at least three occasions, but also victorious in several important battles, his valour and dominant personality allowed him to exercise remarkable influence. He twice led important expeditions to Spain where he was rewarded with lands and titles by the kings of Aragon and Castile.
A contemporary chivalric verse-life lies at the base of all subsequent biographies, but this book brings together for the first time the wealth of archival evidence relating to his career, making available the full range of diplomatic, administrative and financial evidence for his public and private life found in more than fifty archives in western Europe. It offers a corrective to views on du Guesclin that have traditionally been derived too exclusively, and often uncritically, from literary sources.
MICHAEL JONES is Emeritus Professor of Medieval French History, University of Nottingham.
"Meticulous [and] fascinating insight into du Guesclin's career. An invaluable handbook for historians of du Guesclin and his military operations and also potentially for scholars of literature who want to separate the man and the myth." MEDIUM AEVUM
"This collection represents a major achievement...with which both editor and publisher can be well pleased, is one which fellow toilers in the field will have to ensure is never far from their reach for long." HISTORY
"[The author] has done a great service to scholars by calendaring all the known documents relating to Bertrand du Guesclin. [.] Notably increases our knowledge of Du Guesclin's military operations, supplying much detailed information about campaigns whose course was previously known only in rather general terms." ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW
Hardcover
9781843830887
November 2004
$160.00 / £110.00
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