Bertrand du Guesclin (d. 1380) was the most famous French soldier of his generation. He made his name as a guerrilla leader in the Breton War of Succession (1341-64) and, as Constable from 1370-80, played a major role in the recovery of France under Charles V. Captured on at least three occasions, but also victorious in several important battles, his valour and dominant personality allowed him to exercise remarkable influence. He twice led important expeditions to Spain where he was rewarded with lands and titles by the kings of Aragon and Castile.
A contemporary chivalric verse-life lies at the base of all subsequent biographies, but this book brings together for the first time the wealth of archival evidence relating to his career, making available the full range of diplomatic, administrative and financial evidence for his public and private life found in more than fifty archives in western Europe. It offers a corrective to views on du Guesclin that have traditionally been derived too exclusively, and often uncritically, from literary sources.
MICHAEL JONES is Emeritus Professor of Medieval French History, University of Nottingham.
- ISBN10 1843830884
- ISBN13 9781843830887
- Publish Date 30 November 2004
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd
- Imprint The Boydell Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 470
- Language English