Lancaster's chevauchée of 1356


Lancaster's chevauchée of 1356 was an offensive directed by Henry, Earl of Lancaster, in northern France during 1356, as a part of the Hundred Years' War.
Lancaster was to land on the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy and gather the supporters of Charles II of Navarre in Normandy and ravage the County of Anjou before linking up with an army led by the Black Prince and an army led by Edward III from Calais.
The plan ultimately failed as Edward III, was unable to leave England. Lancaster was unable to cross the Loire, as the bridges had either been destroyed or were too well defended.

Background

With the arrest of Charles II of Navarre and other nobles at Rouen, this tipped the Navarrese and most of the Norman nobility, including ]Geoffroy de Harcourt, towards the English side. Lancaster who had originally been planning a chevachée in Brittany, was ordered to land in the Contentin and conduct a chevauchée in northern France.

Anglo-Navarrese offensive

Lancaster arrived in the Contentin on 1 June 1356 bringing with him some 1300 men. Philip, Count of Longueville added 300 of own retainers. Robert Knolles also brought with him 800 men from the English garrisons in Brittany. The small mounted army rode out from Montebourg on 22 June. Too late to save Évreux, which had surrendered to the French, the army arrived in time to relieve and reinforce the Navarrese garrison at Pont-Audemer. Moving south the army reached Conches-en-Ouche on 3 July to find that the town had fallen to the French. Lancaster was able to drive off a small French army outside the walls of Breteuil before going on to capture Verneuil, before turning westwards on 8 July. By 13 July the army was back at Montebourg.

Aftermath

Lancaster had failed to relieve Evreux, but brought back considerable booty making the short campaign a profitable venture for the participants. The chevauchée also caused King John II of France to undertake a siege of Breteuil, instead of focusing on the Black Prince in Gascony.