Hi Guys 
Greetings to all fans of our craft-art.
I would like to apologize in advance for the imperfect English in this challenging text. My knowledge of English has great limits and I mostly use Google translator. Thank you for your understanding and hopefully I will be forgiven
.
Like probably most of you, I am now forced to sit at home. Social distance is a powerful weapon against the spread of the virus, and so I have completely ruled out any contact with the environment, except for the necessary reasons. Apart from a few duties, I am now out of work. I use the time to complete the previously unfinished figure projects (for example Grivitsa vignette for Nicolaos, or two Napoleonic soldiers for my friend Jirka). But I was wondering how I could have fun and bring you some interesting quarantine project that you could watch and relax a bit from the difficult situation of the outside world.
Some time ago I started working on the diorama of the Battle of Clontarf, but unfortunately now I have neither the figures in progress nor the collected documents. That's why I decided to start a brand new project. I want to bring you an interesting and extensive WIP series on a daily basis, in which you can follow in detail the development of sculpting a large diorama. How big it will be. I will do the figures one by one and bring you some updates of the work in progress every day. And see where we get.
As you have noticed in the opening picture, I chose a very special and exceptional clash of the Hundred Years' War. I have long wanted to create a diorama from the Middle Ages and now seems to be an opportunity.
The Combat of the Thirty is a military clash from times of war for Breton succession. In 1341, Duke of Brittany John III died and in his last will appointed John IV de Montfort as his successor. Great support of the nobility, however, had Charles of Blois, who was entitled to Breton succession by marriage to Joan of Penthièvre (daughter of Guy, younger brother of John III)
A long civil war lasting nearly a quarter of a century fought between this two sides. Historically, it became part of the Hundred Years' War. Charles de Blois was supported by the French (on his side fought and the famous French conetable Bertrand du Guesclin), Montfort had the support of the English. The war for Breton successions took many lives and ended in 1364, when Charles de Blois died in the Battle of Auray and John V, (son of John IV de Montfort) became the ruler of Brittany.
The War of the Breton succession was long and full of big and interesting episodes. However, the struggle of the Thirty is a truly exceptional and dramatic chapter, which is beyond its course in other clashes of the century war. Did not in fact like a normal battle, but held rather in the style of hard Tournament (Tournoi), in which two equally large groups of chosen warriors will compete together in the fight, which is just as hard and unforgiving as the real battle. Such tough tournaments were common during the 12th and 13th centuries, but as a fun and part of the tournaments. In this case, however, this method of combat was chosen for a combat clash in a real war. Although the combat of thirty itself had no effect on the war , it enjoyed quite a major fame. He was beyond the ways of warfare that were common at the time.The Gentlemen's agreement on the struggle of two equally large groups was perceived as the pinnacle of a curtoasia - a knightly virtue, at a time when strategies began to prevail on the battlefields and battles often ended in massive massacres
(See, for example, the Battle of Crécy, which took place 5 years before the Combat of Thirty).
At the time of this special clash, both sides of the Breton succession dispute were led by women. Joan of Penthièvre represented her husband Charles de Blois, who has been imprisoned in the Tower Of London since 1347. The interests of their opponents, the Montfort family, were protected by Joanna of Flanders, whose husband John of Montfort died only a few years after the outbreak of the war, in 1345. That is why the conflict began to be nicknamed "The War of Two Joan".
In 1351 there was a relative ceasefire. The fortified town of Ploermel, located in the southeast of Brittany, was dominated by the Montfort family at that time. Commander of the city was the English Knight, whose name was Benborough or Bramborough. According to some indications, it seems that Bemborough did not respect the ceasefire too much. The raids of his troops ravaged mainly the surroundings of Josselin Castle, which was located about 10 kilometers west of Ploermel.
Sir Robert de Baumenoir, who was the constable of Brittany and the governor of Josselin Castle, decided to prevent Bemborough from further assaults and therefore gathered all his men and set off for Ploermel. Siege the fortified city and the castle, however, seemed unrealistic. Baumenoir then called on the English knight Bemborough to fight in a tournament style. It was supposed to compete several knights in joust, a classic tournament. Bembourogh refused, and himself suggested that the 30 best fighters be selected from each side to face each other in the style of a hard tournament (tournoi), a simulated battle with a limited number of fighters.
Baumenoir accepted the Englishman's suggestion, and in four days (26 or 27 march 1351) the troops of the two knights had gathered halfway between the two fortifications. The place is still called Mi-Voie (Midway Oak). The selected men were armed with the weapons common at the time: swords, daggers, axes, spears, and polearms, and gathered in the open grassy area. Those who accompanied the selected men then retreated to give warriors room for their clash. The escort men were given a clear command not to interfere in the fight. The disobedience threatened death. Both groups of warriors then negotiated the conditions of combat, then both groups separated and prepared for battle.
As a sign, the two groups of warriors fell on each other. The first clash soon disintegrated into a confused struggle of smaller groups, a hand-to-hand struggle in which Sir Jehan Rouselet was seriously wounded on the French side and squire Geffroy Mellon (Sir Rouselet seems to have succumbed to his injury in the end). On the French side there were other unpleasant losses. Sir Even de Charruel, Sir Caro de Bodegat and squire Tristan de Pestivien were injured and captured. At this stage of the fight, the French group lost 5 men. The struggle was probably fierce and exhausting, because it was interrupted after some time, which is probably a fact that Froissart also mentions. The men interrupted the struggle that the first one to stand up would invite the opponents to fight again. At the break, Beaumanoir of one of the squires fighting at his side fought as a knight (it was Geoffroy de la Roche), which certainly encouraged not only his morale, but also the fighting spirit of others who could also hope to pass after fighting if they flutter and bravely.
After the rest, when the warriors refreshed themselves with the wine, the fight flared again. According to the preserved pieces of information, the English commander Bemborough clashed with a squire Alain de Keranrais, whose spear drove between the Englishman's skull and helmet. It is not clear if Bemborough was injured, but it is assumed. The Englishman was said to have fallen to the ground, but immediately tried to get up again, while his warriors raged angrily at Alain de Keranrais. When Bemborough managed to get up and search for his rival, he found himself facing another French knight, Sir Geoffroy du Boys. He attacked him with his ax and killed Bemborough. According to another legend, Bemborough was killed by one of the de Tinténiac brothers (two brothers out of three, Jean and Alain, fought in battle).
The death of the English commander was probably a shock to both sides, so the fight was interrupted for a while.
Since there was no condition in the arrangement that the death of one of the commanders automatically meant victory, the struggle continued after a few moments. The German adventurer Crokart apparently spontaneously seized command of the English. The English men certainly respected this man as an experienced combatant and warrior. He immediately changed their tactics and arranged his men in one tight line (probably two rows). Until then, the struggle was chaotic, hand-to-hand, while the English now formed a solid wall, which broke the attacks of the enemies. Several of French were injured.
The French constable Beaumenoir also suffered several scars in this struggle. Around this moment it is possible to place his famous exclamation “Oh, I'm thirsty! Oh, I'm terribly thirsty! ”, As well as the memorable du Boys answer,“ Drink thy blood, Beumanoir, thy thirst will pass! ”, which the knight tried to support his comrade and commander in spirit. If these memorable sentences were really heard, it is likely that it was at this very moment.
Encouraged and a little ashamed, Beaumanoir ordered his men to attack the English line from the front and sides, and led the attack himself. Apparently he was trying to surround the enemy, which was (due to the English renumbering) certainly bold and also risky. But the risk came out. A fierce attack could disrupt the enemy's line. At this stage, managed to partially break the line of English warriors who in this brutal brawl probably lost about four warriors (two Britons, a German and a Breton knight of Ardaine)
Crokart, the German commander of the English, tried to prevent the line breaking by trying to retreat and bend both sides of the line to the back so they could join (perhaps wanted to form a circle, defend it and prevent the French invading his group from behind). At that moment, one of the Frenchmen ran off the battlefield. Others seemed to think of him as a deserter. According to tradition, it was Squire Guillaume de Montauban, who did not run from the fight, but mounted his horse and galloped to the English section. On his horse, he easily managed to break the close defensive circle of the English, and again out of it. Perhaps as many as ten warriors were knocked down by Montauban's attack, and especially by his horse. Given the small number of fighters, this breach of line was fatal to the English. Beaumanoir and his men took advantage of this. Through the resulting gap in formation, they managed to break through the enemies, exploit the confusion and chaos among the English and defeat them.
According to Froissart, since the beginning of the battle there have been 5 knights on the French side on horses. But that seems unlikely. Rather, it is an attempt by either Froissart or one of the survivors or battle participants to justify Montauban's attack on the horse. If there were several riders in battle from the beginning, it would mean that the opportunity to fight the horse was directly agreed. In that case, the knight's cavalry attack would not have a certain taste of fraud. The fact is, however, that the proven exact wording of the conditions of combat. There is a record that:
“The conditions of the fight were the conditions of the ‘wish-to-fight‘, that is, each of the sixty champions could fight freely as he liked, whether on foot or on horse, with the weapons he chose and had no other duty than in this fight observe the rules of chivalry loyalty.“ 1
It is indeed possible that it was announced in advance that the knights could fight on foot or by horse, at their discretion, but all chose to fight on foot. In the event of such a clash, it would seem more logical, horses in battle turmoil would endanger some wounded comrades, and the infantry struggle seemed more meaningful - giving both sides more control. Moreover, it is unlikely from the point of view of knightly courtesy that only a few knights on the French side remain on the horse - this could be seen as a violation of the rules of chivalrous virtue when everyone on the English side dismounted. So even if the original agreement allowed horse-fighting, Montauban's decision to use the horse during the engagement was morally at least questionable.
Either way, the battle ended with the victory of the Franco-Breton party. The French lost three men, while on the side of the English were about twelve dead. Beaumenoir, however, to the prisoners behaved knightly, in the spirit of the whole story. He took them to Josselin Castle, but after recovering from their injuries, they were all released for an unusually low ransom (at that time).
Although this military clash had no strategic value or impact on the evolution of the conflict, it remains an unusual and interesting event to commemorate the best ideals of the knight's courtship (except for the questionable horse attack at the end of the engagement).
So much for a historical event. I already have the basics for the scene. Over the next few days, I will complete the first composition of the future diorama. I will not use the romantic image you see in the header of my post and in the text describing the 4. phase of the battle (by painter Octave Penguilly L'Haridon, the picture was painted in 1856) I created my own composition. The diorama will show the third phase of the fight, namely when the French, under Beaumenoir's command, first break the English line.
So far, say goodbye, be careful, stay healthy, and in a few days we will meet again at the first WIP.
Cheers Borek
Citation
1 Citation from article - Les chevaliers Bretons du Combat des Trente
http://www.infobretagne.com/combatdestrente-chevaliers.htm
References
Printed Sources
Jiří Kovařík – Souboj Třiceti, edice Přísně Tajné 3/2003
Froissart's Chronicles
External links
Boj třicíti – Palba article http://www.palba.cz/viewtopic.php?f=257&t=3177
The Combat of the Thirty – Wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_of_the_Thirty
Combat des Trente – infobretagne article - http://www.infobretagne.com/combat_des_trente.htm
Les chevaliers Bretons du Combat des Trente - infobretagne article
http://www.infobretagne.com/combatdestrente-chevaliers.htm
Les ecuyers Bretons du Combat des Trente - infobretagne article
http://www.infobretagne.com/combatdestrente-ecuyers.htm
Les combatants Anglais du Combat des Trente - infobretagne article
http://www.infobretagne.com/combatdestrente-anglais.htm
Combat des Trente – 26 mars 1351-
http://ploeuc-genealogie.over-blog.com/2017/12/combat-des-trente.html
Greetings to all fans of our craft-art.
I would like to apologize in advance for the imperfect English in this challenging text. My knowledge of English has great limits and I mostly use Google translator. Thank you for your understanding and hopefully I will be forgiven
. Like probably most of you, I am now forced to sit at home. Social distance is a powerful weapon against the spread of the virus, and so I have completely ruled out any contact with the environment, except for the necessary reasons. Apart from a few duties, I am now out of work. I use the time to complete the previously unfinished figure projects (for example Grivitsa vignette for Nicolaos, or two Napoleonic soldiers for my friend Jirka). But I was wondering how I could have fun and bring you some interesting quarantine project that you could watch and relax a bit from the difficult situation of the outside world.
Some time ago I started working on the diorama of the Battle of Clontarf, but unfortunately now I have neither the figures in progress nor the collected documents. That's why I decided to start a brand new project. I want to bring you an interesting and extensive WIP series on a daily basis, in which you can follow in detail the development of sculpting a large diorama. How big it will be. I will do the figures one by one and bring you some updates of the work in progress every day. And see where we get
.As you have noticed in the opening picture, I chose a very special and exceptional clash of the Hundred Years' War. I have long wanted to create a diorama from the Middle Ages and now seems to be an opportunity.
Combat of the thirty - a little history
The Combat of the Thirty is a military clash from times of war for Breton succession. In 1341, Duke of Brittany John III died and in his last will appointed John IV de Montfort as his successor. Great support of the nobility, however, had Charles of Blois, who was entitled to Breton succession by marriage to Joan of Penthièvre (daughter of Guy, younger brother of John III)
A long civil war lasting nearly a quarter of a century fought between this two sides. Historically, it became part of the Hundred Years' War. Charles de Blois was supported by the French (on his side fought and the famous French conetable Bertrand du Guesclin), Montfort had the support of the English. The war for Breton successions took many lives and ended in 1364, when Charles de Blois died in the Battle of Auray and John V, (son of John IV de Montfort) became the ruler of Brittany.
The War of the Breton succession was long and full of big and interesting episodes. However, the struggle of the Thirty is a truly exceptional and dramatic chapter, which is beyond its course in other clashes of the century war. Did not in fact like a normal battle, but held rather in the style of hard Tournament (Tournoi), in which two equally large groups of chosen warriors will compete together in the fight, which is just as hard and unforgiving as the real battle. Such tough tournaments were common during the 12th and 13th centuries, but as a fun and part of the tournaments. In this case, however, this method of combat was chosen for a combat clash in a real war. Although the combat of thirty itself had no effect on the war , it enjoyed quite a major fame. He was beyond the ways of warfare that were common at the time.The Gentlemen's agreement on the struggle of two equally large groups was perceived as the pinnacle of a curtoasia - a knightly virtue, at a time when strategies began to prevail on the battlefields and battles often ended in massive massacres
(See, for example, the Battle of Crécy, which took place 5 years before the Combat of Thirty).
At the time of this special clash, both sides of the Breton succession dispute were led by women. Joan of Penthièvre represented her husband Charles de Blois, who has been imprisoned in the Tower Of London since 1347. The interests of their opponents, the Montfort family, were protected by Joanna of Flanders, whose husband John of Montfort died only a few years after the outbreak of the war, in 1345. That is why the conflict began to be nicknamed "The War of Two Joan".
Prelude
In 1351 there was a relative ceasefire. The fortified town of Ploermel, located in the southeast of Brittany, was dominated by the Montfort family at that time. Commander of the city was the English Knight, whose name was Benborough or Bramborough. According to some indications, it seems that Bemborough did not respect the ceasefire too much. The raids of his troops ravaged mainly the surroundings of Josselin Castle, which was located about 10 kilometers west of Ploermel.
Sir Robert de Baumenoir, who was the constable of Brittany and the governor of Josselin Castle, decided to prevent Bemborough from further assaults and therefore gathered all his men and set off for Ploermel. Siege the fortified city and the castle, however, seemed unrealistic. Baumenoir then called on the English knight Bemborough to fight in a tournament style. It was supposed to compete several knights in joust, a classic tournament. Bembourogh refused, and himself suggested that the 30 best fighters be selected from each side to face each other in the style of a hard tournament (tournoi), a simulated battle with a limited number of fighters.
Baumenoir accepted the Englishman's suggestion, and in four days (26 or 27 march 1351) the troops of the two knights had gathered halfway between the two fortifications. The place is still called Mi-Voie (Midway Oak). The selected men were armed with the weapons common at the time: swords, daggers, axes, spears, and polearms, and gathered in the open grassy area. Those who accompanied the selected men then retreated to give warriors room for their clash. The escort men were given a clear command not to interfere in the fight. The disobedience threatened death. Both groups of warriors then negotiated the conditions of combat, then both groups separated and prepared for battle.
The Combat of the Thirty – Battle
Phase 1
As a sign, the two groups of warriors fell on each other. The first clash soon disintegrated into a confused struggle of smaller groups, a hand-to-hand struggle in which Sir Jehan Rouselet was seriously wounded on the French side and squire Geffroy Mellon (Sir Rouselet seems to have succumbed to his injury in the end). On the French side there were other unpleasant losses. Sir Even de Charruel, Sir Caro de Bodegat and squire Tristan de Pestivien were injured and captured. At this stage of the fight, the French group lost 5 men. The struggle was probably fierce and exhausting, because it was interrupted after some time, which is probably a fact that Froissart also mentions. The men interrupted the struggle that the first one to stand up would invite the opponents to fight again. At the break, Beaumanoir of one of the squires fighting at his side fought as a knight (it was Geoffroy de la Roche), which certainly encouraged not only his morale, but also the fighting spirit of others who could also hope to pass after fighting if they flutter and bravely.
Melee - fight man against man - engraving from the 19th century.
Phase 2
After the rest, when the warriors refreshed themselves with the wine, the fight flared again. According to the preserved pieces of information, the English commander Bemborough clashed with a squire Alain de Keranrais, whose spear drove between the Englishman's skull and helmet. It is not clear if Bemborough was injured, but it is assumed. The Englishman was said to have fallen to the ground, but immediately tried to get up again, while his warriors raged angrily at Alain de Keranrais. When Bemborough managed to get up and search for his rival, he found himself facing another French knight, Sir Geoffroy du Boys. He attacked him with his ax and killed Bemborough. According to another legend, Bemborough was killed by one of the de Tinténiac brothers (two brothers out of three, Jean and Alain, fought in battle).
The death of the English commander was probably a shock to both sides, so the fight was interrupted for a while.
Alain de Kernarais and Geoffroy du Boys kill Robert of Bemborough - engraving from the 19th century.
Phase 3
Since there was no condition in the arrangement that the death of one of the commanders automatically meant victory, the struggle continued after a few moments. The German adventurer Crokart apparently spontaneously seized command of the English. The English men certainly respected this man as an experienced combatant and warrior. He immediately changed their tactics and arranged his men in one tight line (probably two rows). Until then, the struggle was chaotic, hand-to-hand, while the English now formed a solid wall, which broke the attacks of the enemies. Several of French were injured.
The French constable Beaumenoir also suffered several scars in this struggle. Around this moment it is possible to place his famous exclamation “Oh, I'm thirsty! Oh, I'm terribly thirsty! ”, As well as the memorable du Boys answer,“ Drink thy blood, Beumanoir, thy thirst will pass! ”, which the knight tried to support his comrade and commander in spirit. If these memorable sentences were really heard, it is likely that it was at this very moment.
Encouraged and a little ashamed, Beaumanoir ordered his men to attack the English line from the front and sides, and led the attack himself. Apparently he was trying to surround the enemy, which was (due to the English renumbering) certainly bold and also risky. But the risk came out. A fierce attack could disrupt the enemy's line. At this stage, managed to partially break the line of English warriors who in this brutal brawl probably lost about four warriors (two Britons, a German and a Breton knight of Ardaine)
Sir Geoffroy du Boys encourages Captain Jean de Beaumanoir - engraving from the 19th century.
Phase 4
Crokart, the German commander of the English, tried to prevent the line breaking by trying to retreat and bend both sides of the line to the back so they could join (perhaps wanted to form a circle, defend it and prevent the French invading his group from behind). At that moment, one of the Frenchmen ran off the battlefield. Others seemed to think of him as a deserter. According to tradition, it was Squire Guillaume de Montauban, who did not run from the fight, but mounted his horse and galloped to the English section. On his horse, he easily managed to break the close defensive circle of the English, and again out of it. Perhaps as many as ten warriors were knocked down by Montauban's attack, and especially by his horse. Given the small number of fighters, this breach of line was fatal to the English. Beaumanoir and his men took advantage of this. Through the resulting gap in formation, they managed to break through the enemies, exploit the confusion and chaos among the English and defeat them.
The final struggle in "The Combat of the thirty" in the painting from 1856
According to Froissart, since the beginning of the battle there have been 5 knights on the French side on horses. But that seems unlikely. Rather, it is an attempt by either Froissart or one of the survivors or battle participants to justify Montauban's attack on the horse. If there were several riders in battle from the beginning, it would mean that the opportunity to fight the horse was directly agreed. In that case, the knight's cavalry attack would not have a certain taste of fraud. The fact is, however, that the proven exact wording of the conditions of combat. There is a record that:
“The conditions of the fight were the conditions of the ‘wish-to-fight‘, that is, each of the sixty champions could fight freely as he liked, whether on foot or on horse, with the weapons he chose and had no other duty than in this fight observe the rules of chivalry loyalty.“ 1
It is indeed possible that it was announced in advance that the knights could fight on foot or by horse, at their discretion, but all chose to fight on foot. In the event of such a clash, it would seem more logical, horses in battle turmoil would endanger some wounded comrades, and the infantry struggle seemed more meaningful - giving both sides more control. Moreover, it is unlikely from the point of view of knightly courtesy that only a few knights on the French side remain on the horse - this could be seen as a violation of the rules of chivalrous virtue when everyone on the English side dismounted. So even if the original agreement allowed horse-fighting, Montauban's decision to use the horse during the engagement was morally at least questionable.
Aftermath
Either way, the battle ended with the victory of the Franco-Breton party. The French lost three men, while on the side of the English were about twelve dead. Beaumenoir, however, to the prisoners behaved knightly, in the spirit of the whole story. He took them to Josselin Castle, but after recovering from their injuries, they were all released for an unusually low ransom (at that time).
Although this military clash had no strategic value or impact on the evolution of the conflict, it remains an unusual and interesting event to commemorate the best ideals of the knight's courtship (except for the questionable horse attack at the end of the engagement).
Diorama
So much for a historical event. I already have the basics for the scene. Over the next few days, I will complete the first composition of the future diorama. I will not use the romantic image you see in the header of my post and in the text describing the 4. phase of the battle (by painter Octave Penguilly L'Haridon, the picture was painted in 1856) I created my own composition. The diorama will show the third phase of the fight, namely when the French, under Beaumenoir's command, first break the English line.
So far, say goodbye, be careful, stay healthy, and in a few days we will meet again at the first WIP.
Cheers Borek
Citation
1 Citation from article - Les chevaliers Bretons du Combat des Trente
http://www.infobretagne.com/combatdestrente-chevaliers.htm
References
Printed Sources
Jiří Kovařík – Souboj Třiceti, edice Přísně Tajné 3/2003
Froissart's Chronicles
External links
Boj třicíti – Palba article http://www.palba.cz/viewtopic.php?f=257&t=3177
The Combat of the Thirty – Wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_of_the_Thirty
Combat des Trente – infobretagne article - http://www.infobretagne.com/combat_des_trente.htm
Les chevaliers Bretons du Combat des Trente - infobretagne article
http://www.infobretagne.com/combatdestrente-chevaliers.htm
Les ecuyers Bretons du Combat des Trente - infobretagne article
http://www.infobretagne.com/combatdestrente-ecuyers.htm
Les combatants Anglais du Combat des Trente - infobretagne article
http://www.infobretagne.com/combatdestrente-anglais.htm
Combat des Trente – 26 mars 1351-
http://ploeuc-genealogie.over-blog.com/2017/12/combat-des-trente.html
.
