Battle of Brouwershaven
Battle of Brouwershaven | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Hook and Cod wars | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Forces of Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut
| Burgundian State and Cod allies | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Floris, Lord of Heemstedt Walter FitzWalter, 7th Baron FitzWalter | Philip the Good | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
c. 4,000, inc. 1,200 English | c. 4,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
c. 3,000 killed, 200 captured | Unknown |
The Battle of Brouwershaven was fought on 13 January 1426 in Brouwershaven, Zeeland. The battle was part of the Hook and Cod wars waged over control of the Low Countries and resulted in a significant victory for Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.
Factions
The origins of the conflict lay in a succession dispute between
In 1424, Jaqueline and Humphrey had landed with English forces and quickly overrun Hainaut. The death of John of Bavaria in January 1425 led to short campaign by Burgundian forces in pursuit of Philip's claim and the English were ousted. Jaqueline had ended the war in the custody of Philip but in September 1425 escaped to Gouda, where she again asserted her rights. As leader of the Hooks, she drew most of her support from the petty nobility and small towns. Her opponents, the Cods, were drawn largely from the burghers of the cities, including Rotterdam and Dordrecht.[2]
Events leading to the battle
Jaqueline requested support from her husband Humphrey, who was in England, and he set about raising a force of 1500 English troops to reinforce her, led by Walter FitzWalter, 7th Baron FitzWalter. In the meantime, Jaqueline's army had defeated a Burgundian force of city militia at the Battle of Alphen on 22 October 1425. Duke Philip had plenty of notice of the assembly of the English force and raised a fleet to intercept them at sea. Although he did succeed in catching a small part of the English force, consisting of 300 men, most of the English force made landfall at the port of Brouwershaven, where they rendezvoused with their Zeeland allies.[3]
Composition of the armies
The Duke of Burgundy personally led the Burgundian army landed at Brouwershaven, consisting of his own feudal retainers and municipal militia from Dordrecht, The Hague, and Delft. The force consisted of about 4000 combatants, including gunners from Dordrecht and over 1000 militia crossbowmen.
The Zeelanders, led by the Lord of Haamstede, numbered about 3000 men, reinforced by the English, who were reduced to about 1200 men.[4]
Battle
The Zeelander forces allowed their opponents to land unopposed from boats, perhaps hoping for an Agincourt-like triumph with the aid of their English allies.
However, when the Burgundians were still disembarking, the English led an attack, advancing in good order, giving a great shout and blowing trumpets. The English troops were bombarded with a cannonade and a volley of
Aftermath
The loss was devastating to Jacqueline's cause. Duke Humphrey was increasingly preoccupied with politics at home, and had become infatuated with
Citations
- ^ Vaughan 2002, pp. 33–35.
- ^ Vaughan 2002, pp. 34–40.
- ^ Vaughan 2002, pp. 40–42.
- ^ Vaughan 2002, pp. 42–44.
- ^ Smith & DeVries 2005, p. 96.
- ^ Vaughan 2002, p. 43.
References
- Smith, Robert Douglas; ISBN 1-84383-162-7.
- Vaughan, Richard (2002) [1970]. Philip the Good. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-917-6.