Turkish truce

The Armistice of Turks ( French: Trêve de Tours ) - an agreement concluded on May 28, 1444 in the castle of Plessis-les-Tours between England and France, and establishing a 22-month truce in the Hundred Years War .

After the victories of Joan of Arc and the transfer of the Duke of Burgundy to the side of Charles VII, the French managed to recapture part of the lost territories, but by the end of the 1430s their offensive slowed down and protracted military campaigns began, which took place with varying success. Both sides needed a respite, and in 1439, with the mediation of the Duke of Breton and Isabella of Portugal , the first peace conference was held in Gravelin . At these negotiations, the representative of Charles VII Reno of Chartres proposed to the British the Guyenne and part of Normandy as a fief from the king of France. The English Commissioner John Beaufort , in turn, suggested that the French save what they had already won, like a fief from the English king. The main demand of the French was the rejection of Henry VI of the title of king of France, and when the British rejected this demand, negotiations reached an impasse.

In the years 1440-1441, the French king was occupied with the suppression of Prageria and campaigns against the " Flayer ", and then achieved success in the fight against the British, finally liberating the Ile de France and launching an offensive in Guyenne. The British government was forced to enter into negotiations.

The peace conference began in Tours on April 16, 1444 in the presence of the papal legate of Bishop Brescia. The English delegation was led by William de la Paul , Earl of Suffolk, who agreed not to raise the question of the French crown, but demanded recognition of English sovereignty in Guyenne and Normandy. For France, represented by Pierre de Brezet , this was unacceptable, but since it also needed a truce, it was decided to conclude it for a period of 22 months, omitting territorial issues. The treaty extended to the allies of France ( Castile , Naples and Scotland ) and England ( Holy Roman Empire , Portugal and a united Scandinavia ). As a guarantee, the British received for King Henry VI the hand of Margarita of Anjou , daughter of Rene the Good .

The truce entered into force on June 1 and was valid until April 1, 1446.

In 1445, a large French embassy led by Jacques Juvenel , Archbishop of Reims , and representatives of Castile, Brittany and Rene of Anjou arrived in England. The final peace was again unsuccessful, but the truce was extended on the basis of the transfer by the British of Maine to King René. However, the British did not want to leave the county, where in 1448 hostilities almost resumed.

The truce was beneficial to the French and weakened the position of the British. Charles VII used a peaceful respite to restore order in the country, terrorized by the Zhivoderov gangs, create a standing army and restore the economy, while in England, on the contrary, a political crisis was brewing, which later led to civil wars .

In March 1449, Henry proposed to convene a conference in Pont de l'Arche , but he no longer controlled his captains. On March 24, mercenary commander Francois de Surienne ("Aragonese"), by secret order of the Duke of Somerset, captured Fougeres in Breton. The French responded to the provocation by capturing several fortresses. On July 20, French troops launched the Norman campaign, and on July 31, Charles VII announced the resumption of hostilities to the British ambassadors. The final stage of the Hundred Years War began.