Battle of Morlaix 1342
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1342 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | War of the Breton Succession | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Charles, Duke of Brittany, Geoffroi de Charny, William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 48.6300, -3.7400 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The battle of Morlaix was fought near the village of Lanmeur in Brittany, France, on 30 September 1342 between an Anglo-Breton army and a much larger Franco-Breton force. England, at war with France since 1337 in the Hundred Years' War, had sided with John of Montfort's faction in the Breton Civil War shortly after it broke out in 1341. The French were supporting Duke Charles of Blois, a nephew of the French king.
A small Anglo-Breton army under William, Earl of Northampton, besieged the Breton port of Morlaix. Charles led a force several times larger than Northampton's from the town of Guingamp to relieve Morlaix. Warned of this, the English carried out a night march and prepared a defensive position just outside Lanmeur. When they sighted the English position, the French deployed into three divisions, one behind the other. The first of these, probably made up of Breton levies, advanced and was shot to pieces by the English archers using longbows, halting their advance; the attackers then broke without making contact. The second division, of French and Breton men-at-arms, attacked but their charge was halted when they fell into a camouflaged ditch in front of the English position. Presented with a large, close-range target the English archers inflicted many casualties.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Morlaix (revision 1378057652), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Morlaix (1594) 1594 · 9 km
- Battle of Saint-Pol-de-Léon 1346 · 19 km
- Battle of Sept-Îles 1943 · 43 km
- Battle for Brest 1944 · 61 km
- Siege of Brest (1342) 1342 · 62 km
- Siege of Fort Crozon 1594 · 70 km
Other battles of the War of the Breton Succession
- Initial campaign of the War of the Breton Succession 1341
- Siege of Brest (1342) 1342
- Siege of Hennebont 1342
- Sieges of Vannes (1342) 1342
- Battle of Cadoret 1345
- Battle of Saint-Pol-de-Léon 1346
- Combat of the Thirty 1351
- Battle of Mauron 1352
- Siege of Rennes (1356–1357) 1356
- Battle of Auray 1364
All 11 battles of the War of the Breton Succession →
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