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The first major battle of the 100 Years War was the naval Battle of Sluys in 1340. The French fleet was destroyed and England retained command of the sea thereafter through the many decades of the Hundred Years War. Furthermore, this English victory ensured that France could never invade England and that most of the Hundred Years War would be fought on French soil. The French fleet was under the command of Hugues Quiéret, admiral for the king of France, and Constable Nicolas Béhuchet which at that time was more than adequate to host a fleet of this size. 140 ships had put up in the inlet at the town of Sluys between West Flanders and Zeeland. Preparations were being made for an invasion of England, and the French had Genoese galleys with them. King Edward commanded 200 ships and was joined by his Commander of the North Seas, Sir Robert Morley who brought an additional 50 ships to the fray. Béhuchet was in command and arranged his fleet on the defensive with most ships chained together in three or four lines to prevent the English from landing an army that would then go for Bruges. This conservative, defensive strategy was the usual one in situations of this sort.
The battle began with English longbowmen unleashing volley after volley of arrows from the 'castles' of the English ship as Edward sent his ships three at time toward the French navy. Two ships were loaded with archers, the third with soldiers. These volleys of arrows terrorized the French, inflicted heavy casualties and were followed by English men at arms swooping over the hand rails to fight the French on the decks of of their own ships. Hand to hand combat went on for many hours and the English victory was decisive. There is an exceptional painting of the Battle of Sluys by ... in an early edition of Frossart's Chronicles. The French ships chained together are clearly shown, as the fierce battle rages and critically wounded soldier fall into the sea. The French and English ships appear to be late medieval, large cogs, with fore and 'after castles'. The English ships were smaller and the English longbowmen in the 'castles had the best position possible from which to unleash their arrows down onto the French ships. (By the end of the 14th century, cogs had increased in size. The 'castles were higher and larger and the ship had two masts. This new design and larger warship is termed a 'carrack'.)
The Genoese Captain Barbavera escaped with two English warships but Quiéret was killed, and Béhuchet was captured and hanged. French casualties were very high but the contemporary figure of 25,000 is not to be trusted. Further to the complexities is the narrative of the Battle of Sluys by Frossart, which is believed to rely upon contemporary accounts now lost. Frossart puts the French fleet at four times the size of the English. Norman and Genoese are described as second to none and they fought fiercely. But the courage, battle skill and tactics of Edward III and the English are superior. And in his second redaction of the Battle of Sluys, Frossart believe the arrival of the 8,000 Flemish to the English side proved decisive and tipped the scales for an English victory. In the third redaction, little mention is made of superior English tactics, Edward is said to have only taken advantage of inferior French battle strategy and the immobile target provided by French ships chained together and unable to move.
The Breton War of Succession began in 1341. It was a conflict over the succession to the Duchy of Brittany. Edward backed John of Montfort and Philip backed Charles of Blois. A back and forth struggle in Brittany erupted, with the city of Vannes changing hands several times. Further campaigns in Gascony were indecisive with mixed success for both sides.
There was similar naval battle at Guernsey in 1342 where the the French, led by Louis of Spain, were also decisively defeated. The painting chose by Frossart to illustrate the Battle of Guernsey in his “Chronicles” is nearly identical to that for the Battle of Sluys.
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