The Battle of Zhenglan

The most detailed information about the battle of Jenglan is in the Regino Prumsky Chronicle. Although he composed his work half a century after the battle, in the chronicle he used data from some earlier, historical source that did not reach our time. More concise information on the events of 851 is contained in the Frankish annals (including the Bertin Annals ^[2] , the Angouleme Annals and the Fontennel Chronicle ), the treatise Liber revelationum of the contemporary of the events of , as well as in the chronicle of Ademar Shabannsky and " Saint-Mexican Chronicle " ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]} .

The Frankish-Breton armed clashes began shortly after the death in 840 of Emperor Louis I the Pious . Their reason was the desire of the ruler of Brittany Nominoe to achieve independence from the king of the West Frankish state, Charles II Lysy, and, if the military operations were successful, to expand his possessions. In turn, Karl Lysy intended to take complete control of the territory of Brittany, the rulers of which the monarchs of the Frankish state since the time of Charles the Great considered their vassals ^{[8] [9] [10]} .

The first major battles - at Mesak and at Blen - between the Bretons and the Franks took place in 843. In the first of them, the West Franks won, in the second - the Nominoe warriors. In the same year, an ally of the Duke of Brittany, the Viking king of Hasting , captured Nantes . In 845, at the Battle of Ballon, the Franks suffered a new defeat ^{[9] [11] [12]} .

Despite the truce concluded in 846, in 849 the Bretons resumed military operations against the Franks. In response, in August 850, Charles II Lysy made a campaign in Brittany, and also strengthened the garrisons in Rennes and Nantes . However, as early as next year, the Bretons captured these cities, captivating the Franks who were there, including the recently appointed Count of Amanti of Nantes . After the destruction of all the fortifications of Rennes and Nantes, the Breton army devastated the vicinity of Angers , and then took and plundered Le Mans ^{[4] [12]} .

In the spring of 851, at the head of the army, Nominoe and his ally, the former Earl of Nantes Lambert II , moved towards Chartres . However, on March 7 near Vandoma, Nominoe died unexpectedly. Despite this, the new ruler of Brittany, his son Erispoe continued the campaign ^{[4] [13] [14]} . Probably, the commander of the Breton army was Count Lambert of Nantes, who, unlike Erispoe, had great military experience ^{[4] [15] [16]} .

Faced with the threat of ruining the inner regions of his kingdom, Charles II the Lysy turned for help to his brother, the ruler of the East Frankish kingdom, Louis II of Germany , who sent a detachment of Saxons to him ^{[14] [16]} . Although the total number of opposing sides is not known exactly, it is estimated that under the command of Karl Lysy there could be approximately 4000 soldiers, and the Breton army could consist of approximately 1000 people ^[17] .

In August 851, an army of Western Franks led by Charles II Lysy advanced from Le Mans towards the borders of the Duchy of Breton. It moved along the old Roman road, passing from Nantes to Corcello . At the forefront was a detachment of Saxons, which was supposed to restrain the attacks of light cavalry - the main military force of the Bretons ^{[16] [18]} . Having reached the right bank of Vilen , near the village of Zhenglan (near the modern Gran Fougeres), the Franks collided with the Breton army of Erispoe ^[7] .

From the very beginning, Charles II the Bald’s plans began to fail. According to Reginon Prümsky, at the first encounter with the Breton cavalry, the Saxons retreated from the ranks of the Frankish heavily armed infantry. This retreat caught the Western Franks by surprise. At the same time, Erispoe did not want to engage in close combat with forces superior to his army. For two days he maneuvered his cavalry, provoking false detachments of the Franks to separate from the main forces, after which the Bretons surrounded and then destroyed the warriors tired of the pursuit. Also, the Franks suffered heavy losses from the shelling of the Bretons of their ranks with throwing spears. The losses of the Bretons themselves were insignificant ^{[16] [19]} . Regino Prumsky mentioned that the Frankish military leaders, including the king himself, were completely confused by what was happening and were unable to organize opposition to the tactics of the Bretons ^[20] .

Seeing the inability of his warriors to withstand the attacks of the Bretons, at night Charles II the Bald secretly left the Frankish camp, leaving not only his warriors, but also the royal insignia to the mercy of fate. When in the morning it became known about it, the Franks were seized by a panic and they turned into an erratic flight. At the same time, the Bretons attacked the camp of their enemies, during which they killed many Franks and captured rich booty. Among the noble Franks who fell on the battlefield were Count Tura Vivian and Count of the Palace Hilmerad ^{[4] [7] [9] [12] [14] [16] [21]} . According to the "Angouleme Annals", the body of the deceased Tour Earl was never interred and was "devoured by wild animals" ^[5] .

The defeat at Zhenglan forced Charles II the Bald to enter into negotiations with the Duke of Erispoe. The meeting of the two rulers took place in September or October 851 in Angers. Although on it Erispoe and recognized himself subordinate to the king of the West Frankish state, in fact he became a completely independent ruler. In addition, vast lands with the cities of Rennes, Nantes and , formerly part of the Breton mark ^{[7] [9] [10] [16],} were annexed to Erispoe's possessions.

• Merlet R. Guerres d'Indépendance de la Bretagne sous Nominoé et Érispoè (841-851). - Vannes: Lafolye, 1891. - 27 p.
• Smith JMH Province and Empire: Brittany and the Carolingians . - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press , 1992 .-- 238 p. - ISBN 0-521-38285-8 .

• 22 & 23 août 851, bataille de Jengland (fr.) . Ambasad Vreizh. Date of appeal May 14, 2017.