Battle of Saint-Paul-de-Leon

The commander of the Anglo-Breton army was Sir Thomas Deworth , a veteran, a professional soldier who had served with King Edward III for many years, so the king entrusted him to lead the Breton War as successfully as possible, at the same time Edward raised funds in England and planned an invasion to Normandy next year, which will ultimately lead to the Battle of Crécy . The state of Daguort’s army was poor, and his forces were distributed over a handful of coastal cities and castles. His main rival, Carl de Blois , was on a march with an army of volunteers from eastern Brittany, French soldiers and German mercenaries, but a number of his allies, who were under his command, showed independence and went to their estates.

To strengthen the morale of his troops, Daguort conducted an inspection of his possessions on the north coast of Brittany, thereby making sure that the population was supported in the rear and if the path to retreat to England was defeated, they had to besiege it in the south of the region in the fall. On June 9, Daguort was in the Finister region, moving north from the city of Morlaix , the site of his early victory at the Battle of Morlaix . Here, Blois prepared a surprise, he managed to bring the army into quick readiness by transferring it to the north back in March, and Daguort and his 180 bodyguards were ambushed in the isolated village of Saint-Paul-de-Leon . Daguort gathered his people and led them quickly to the nearby hill, where they dug trenches and prepared positions. Blois was a clever general, and he noted the ruthless effectiveness of the English bow in the Battle of Morlaix and in numerous small skirmishes. He knew that cavalry would be doomed on the hillsides, and that the only way to break the English ranks and capture Daegworth, only a frontal attack by infantry could help before his release. To do this, he was in a hurry to all the cavalrymen and he refused to ride and ordered to create a triple attack on the line of the Anglo-Bretons. One attack after another during the day was repelled by the accurate shooting of archers using fire arrows that destroyed the ranks of the attackers, and only a small number of opponents managed to get to hand-to-hand combat. The last attack fell on the remaining small forces with Karl at the forefront, but even they failed to achieve victory, and the army of the Franco-Bretons was forced to abandon the attack and retreat to eastern Brittany , leaving many dead, wounded and captured soldiers on the hillside.

The British forces suffered little damage, and despite a number of serious injuries, not one of the knights and cavalry was killed, while the losses among the archers and rank and file infantrymen were small, although no actual losses were recorded. The French suffered more serious losses, although modern figures are almost certainly exaggerated. The real effect of the battle was psychological. Carl de Blois, who had a reputation as a cruel and intelligent commander, was again defeated by the English commander who commanded one of the ordinary campaigns. In fact, Karl could not win any of the five significant battles during the period when he fought with the British between 1342 and 1364 , although he proved to be more effective in organizing sieges and long campaigns. The Breton nobility now gave a break for reflection in choosing a side in the ongoing war. Daguort and Blois met again in battle, with the same result, in La Roche-Deryen next year.

• Turnbull, Stephen. The Book of the Medieval Knight. London: Arms and Armor Press, 1985. ISBN 0-85368-715-3
• Sumption, Jonathan , The Hundred Years War, Vol 1, Trial by Battle , 1990, ISBN 0-571-13895-0