Armagnac (party)
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The Armagnac faction was prominent in French politics and warfare during the
The Armagnac Faction took its name from Charles' father-in-law, Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac (1360–1418), who guided the young Duke during his teens and provided much of the financing and some of the seasoned Gascon troops that besieged Paris before their defeat at Saint-Cloud.
Origins
In 1407,
Parisian supporters of the nobles adopted the name "Armagnac" in the struggle for control of the city against the Burgundians. It was composed of two elements: the Orleanists and those following the Count who gradually infiltrated the noble opposition. Armagnac became an outspoken adherent of the Orleanist Faction in the Valois Court. His Gascon raiders hired to impose order on Paris wore their white shoulder sash. But Armagnac's brutal tactics made his administration very unpopular among Parisians. In February the citizens asked the exiled John the Fearless to return to the capital. The following month he presented a long document known as The Justification of the Duke of Burgundy containing proof of the Armagnac schemes of intrigue. Orleans pleaded with the king, but Charles insisted on setting a meeting in Chartres for a reconciliation. Meanwhile, by the end of December 1409, Burgundians had filled all the offices of the city government.
The Armagnacs withdrew altogether from city politics to form the
The Burgundians met them at the Peace of Bicetres, an attempted truce designed to iron out their differences. It largely failed because as the Armagnacs laid siege to Paris, a small English force landed at Calais to assist the Burgundian government. In October 1411 they marched towards Paris.
Both parties in the
Later, John the Fearless was sent back to his lands, and Bernard of Armagnac remained in Paris and, some said, in the queen's bed.[citation needed] Burgundy gained control of Paris in 1419. The Count of Armagnac was assassinated in the same year. In the same year, Henry V conquered Normandy. For both parties, it was clear that England was the main threat. There was an attempt at reconciliation between Armagnacs and Burgundians. However, in a meeting on the bridge at Montereau in September 1419, followers of the Dauphin Charles (who had succeeded in 1417) assassinated John the Fearless. As consequence, John's son Philip the Good allied with England as Henry V advanced without opposition to Paris.[1]
The Armagnac faction, together with the Dauphin Charles, established a separate jurisdiction in central and southern France. Meanwhile, the Anglo-Burgundian alliance controlled the north, including Paris.[1] Sporadic warfare continued between the Armagnacs and Burgundians for a number of years. As the Burgundians were allied with the English from 1419, and the Armagnacs supported the Dauphin, the factional rivalry became part of the larger dispute between the French and English monarchies.
The terms remained in use until they were outlawed by Charles VII toward the close of the Hundred Years' War, as part of efforts to heal the factional rift.