Arthur, constable de Richemont

Arthur, constable de Richemont (born 1393, Brittany [France]—died Dec. 26, 1458) was the constable of France (from 1425) who fought for Charles VII under the banner of Joan of Arc and later fought further battles against the English (1436–53) in the final years of the Hundred Years’ War. In childhood (1399) he had been given the English title of Earl of Richmond, styled in French as Comte de Richemont. In 1457 he became Duke of Brittany.

Early career.

A younger son of John IV, Duke of Brittany, Arthur was given the English title of Earl of Richmond by his older brother, Duke John V, in 1399. The marriage of their mother, Joanna, to Henry IV of England after her first husband’s death had reestablished Brittany’s connection with the English crown, but Richemont’s primary interests remained in French affairs. In the bitter and divisive feud between the houses of Orlēans and Burgundy—branches of the Valois dynasty—Richemont fought on the side of the former faction, shortly to be renamed Armagnac. During this same period, Arthur also became the intimate friend and partisan of the dauphin Louis, son of the French king Charles VI.

Richemont fought at Agincourt in 1415, where he was wounded and captured by the English victors, who, allied with the Burgundians, sought to unite France and England under the English crown. Richemont remained a prisoner in England until 1420, when he was released on parole and threw his support to the English side. He was now influential in persuading his brother John to support the Treaty of Troyes of 1420 under which Henry V of England became “Heir of France.” Henry rewarded Richemont with the French county of Ivry. Richemont’s connection with the Anglo-Burgundian faction was further sealed in 1423 by his marriage to Margaret of Burgundy, widow of the dauphin Louis, who had died young. This match made Richemont the brother-in-law of Philip, Duke of Burgundy, and John, Duke of Bedford, the English regent of France. Richemont was well on his way toward a high position in the ruling circles around Bedford and Burgundy when an unexplained quarrel broke out between him and the English regent. Richemont now deserted the English cause and returned to his initial French allegiance. Appointed constable of France by Charles VII in March 1425, he attempted to assume control of France’s battered and unreliable military forces. He now totally supported the French cause, persuading his brother to sign the Treaty of Saumur with France in October 1425.

Constable of France.

The new constable quickly made himself unpopular by his rough manners and his grim insistence upon a vigorous prosecution of the war. His political power was therefore overshadowed by that of Charles VII’s incompetent favourites, especially Georges de La Trémoille. Richemont’s influence at court was further weakened by Brittany’s return to the English cause. A treaty between John V and the regent Bedford in September 1427 caused the expulsion of the constable from the French court. Richemont joined Joan of Arc at Orléans in 1429, fighting under her banner in several victorious engagements against the English until the influence of La Trémoille forced him out of the army once again. Despite the favourite’s power, Richemont was able to bring Brittany and Charles VII together once again in the Treaty of Rennes, but it was not until La Trémoille’s final overthrow in 1432 that the constable was able to return to court.

Using his Burgundian connections, Richemont was able to arrange the Treaty of Arras (Sept. 21, 1435), which ended the long quarrel between Duke Philip of Burgundy and the French king. Arras was the political and diplomatic turning point of the Hundred Years’ War, as well as an important milestone in Richemont’s own career.

Conclusion of the war.

The military task of winning the war, however, remained. In April 1436 Richemont marched into Paris as the city rose against the English garrison, but the poorly organized French armies were unable to make much headway in the years that followed. Richemont now determined upon a total reform of the French army, along with a reorganization of the financial structure of the French state in order to provide the revenues necessary for its support. Strongly supported by Charles VII and given a steady source of revenue by the taxes upon hearths and salt, Richemont now reorganized the French cavalry into the regular and highly professional gens d’armes d’ordonnance. These regular companies enabled Richemont to renew the war with overwhelming success after a brief truce had been concluded in 1444. In this final act of the long struggle, the Constable de Richemont played an active role, driving the English from the Cotentin Peninsula in September and October of 1449 and taking a decisive part in the climactic Battle of Formigny in April 1450. The conquest of Normandy followed in short order and that of Guyenne in the succeeding two years.

France had finally won the Hundred Years’ War, and Richemont’s active career now drew to a close. Succeeding his nephew Peter II, he became Duke of Brittany in September 1457. He died a year later, leaving no legitimate children.

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