Treaty of Amiens (1423)
 | This article includes a list of generalreferences,butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations.(October 2018) |
| Treaty of Amiens | |
|---|---|
| Context | Hundred Years' War |
| Signed | 13 April 1423 |
| Location | Amiens,Picardy,France |
| Signatories | |
| Parties | |
TheTreaty of Amiens,signed on 13 April 1423, was a defensive agreement betweenBurgundy,Brittany,andEnglandduring theHundred Years' War.The English were represented byJohn, Duke of Bedford,the English regent of France, the Burgundians by DukePhilip the Goodhimself, and the Bretons byArthur de Richemont,on behalf of his brother theDuke of Brittany.By the agreement, all three parties acknowledgedHenry VI of EnglandasKing of France,and agreed to aid each other against theValoisclaimant,Charles VII.[1]It also stipulated the marriage of Bedford and Richemont to Burgundy's sisters, in order to cement the alliance.
The Treaty of Amiens was formed in the aftermath of theTreaty of Troyes.It helped maintain the Anglo-Burgundian alliance until 1435, and the basis of the dual-monarchy of the two kingdoms of England andFrancefirst formed by KingHenry V of EnglandatTroyes.
Terms[edit]
The Treaty of Amiens was a tripartite alliance between England, Burgundy and Brittany. It arranged the marriage of the John, Duke of Bedford to the Duke of Burgundy's younger sister,Anne of Burgundy,and the marriage of Arthur, Earl of Richmond, to the Duke of Burgundy's older sisterMargaret of Burgundy,widow ofLouis, Dauphin of France.Furthermore, the treaty stated that all three of the parties would willingly acknowledge Henry VI of England as King of France, as had been promised by their oaths taken at theTreaty of Troyestwo years before.[2]
Background[edit]
As formalised by theTreaty of Troyes,Henry V and his heirs would inherit theKingdom of FranceafterCharles VI'sdeath. However Henry V died four weeks before the death of Charles VI, and so never inherited the French throne.
Henry V's son, though still an infant, became Henry VI,King of England,on his father's death, and shortly thereafter became King of France as well. Theaccessionof an infant king made it easier for theFrench nobilityto refuse him and support the Valois heir, Charles. The infant king of thedual-monarchythus required aregent.John, Duke of Bedford, who was governor ofNormandyand younger brother of Henry V, was made regent of France, and ruled with a joint French administration in Paris until the king came of age to rule his two kingdoms.
Anglo-Burgundian relations now centred on the two personal figures of the Duke of Bedford and the Duke of Burgundy, who was as strong as any other monarch. In 1422, Bedford had sought to bindBrittanyandBurgundymore to his young nephew's interest.[3]Bedford had concluded with a marriage contract in which he would marry Anne of Burgundy, younger sister of Philip, while Arthur, Earl of Richmond, would marry Margaret of Burgundy, older sister of Philip.[4]
In February 1423, Bedford appealed for a formalalliance,suggesting that both dukes would come toAmiensfor negotiation. The talks ended in April when they signed a personal alliance that would lapse on the signatories' death. Themilitarycommitment was that each individual would aid with five-hundredmen-at-armsandarchersin time of need. The main part of the agreement was the signatories commitment to work for "the good of our lord the king and his kingdom of France and England", a clause that recognised Henry VI's title to the French throne, and rejected the authority of Charles.[4]
The treaty also gave an unusual clause in which the three dukes would give relief to the poor and those suffering. Despite being fifteen years her senior, Bedford's marriage to Anne of Burgundy turned out to be a love match.[4]
Aftermath[edit]
The Treaty of Amiens was almost immediately undermined. On 18 April 1423, theBretonsand theBurgundiansheld a secret meeting in which the two agreed to remain friends if either duke would reconcile himself with Charles.[4]Although for the time being both recognised Henry VI as their sovereign, adherence to the Treaty of Amiens wavered for their own personal interests.[1]
The English and Burgundians were masters on thebattlefield.They won theBattle of Cravantin 1423, a victory celebrated by the people ofParis,and their victory atVerneuilin 1424 was known as the secondAgincourtto many of theArmagnacs(supporters of Charles) who were fighting against the English. This important victory meant there was a smaller need for important administration in Paris.
However, a quarrel between Bedford and Richmond caused the latter to offer his services to the Dauphin in 1424 despite having been createdCount of Touraineby Bedford. The same year, Anglo-Burgundian strain had been shown whenHumphrey of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester(the brother of Bedford), attacked theCounty of Hainaultin favour of his wife's right there, thus bringing Anglo-Burgundian confrontation.
Anne of Burgundy, the Duchess of Bedford, was the primary mediator between her brother and her husband. Her death in 1432 deeply shook the relations between the two. Henry VI's FrenchcoronationandconsecrationatNotre Damein Paris could do nothing to stop the French from pushing further into English territories. By 1433, the Duke of Burgundy opened negotiations with Charles, and, having only agreed with a small peace settlement nearBurgundian-Valoisterritory, he now started reflecting on a possibility of a Franco-Burgundian reconciliation.
At theTreaty of Arrasin 1435, the Duke of Burgundy withdrew from the alliance and withdrew his recognition of Henry VI as King of France. Burgundy had aPapal legatewhich enabled him to break the oath he had made at Troyes, and reconciled with and recognised Charles as King of France. Brittany had always stuck to its tradition of joining the strongest side. When it declared war on England in 1426, Brittany's eastern frontier remained unprotected, besides sending raids into English held territory. In 1427, Brittany was forced to a previousstatus quoasvassal.Even after the expulsion of Henry VI from France in 1453, the English kings continued to style themselves as Kings of France.
Footnotes[edit]
- ^abWagner 2006,p. 6.
- ^A.H. Burne,The Hundred Years War,vol.2, (London, 1955; reprint 2005), 349
- ^Wagner 2006,pp. 6–7.
- ^abcdWagner 2006,p. 7.
References[edit]
- Fritze, Ronald H.,Historical dictionary of late medieval England, 1272-1485,Publishing William Baxter Robinson, Greenwood Publishing Group,ISBN9780313291241
- Holmes, George,The Oxford illustrated history of medieval Europe,Editor George Holmes, Oxford University Press, 2001,ISBN9780192801333
- Lodge, R.,The Close of the Middle Ages 1273 to 1494 V3,Kessinger Publishing, 2005,ISBN978-1-4179-0124-1
- MacFarlane, Charles;Thomson, Thomas,The comprehensive history of England: civil and military, religious, intellectual, and social... to the suppression of the Sepoy revolt,Publisher Blackie and son, 1861.
- Ramsay, James H.,Lancaster and York; a Century of English History,Edition illustrated, Publisher Adamant Media Corporation, 2002,ISBN9781402189944
- Wagner, John A. (2006).Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War.Greenwood Publishing Group.ISBN9780313327360.