Loyset Liedet: The Battle of Sluys, 13 June 1340 (1470)

(Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, France)

A beautiful miniature made by the French-Flemish artist Loyset Liedet (1420- after 1479). This miniature comes from an illuminated manuscript today called 'Froissart's Chronicles'. Written by the French author Jean Froissart (1337 – 1405), the book covers the history of western Europe from 1326 to 1400 - it's main focus being the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) between France en England. The Hundred Years' War was fought over the right to rule the kingdom of France. In 1328 king Charles IV of France died without a male heir. The closest male relative of Charles IV was king Edward III of England, whose mother, Isabella of France, was the sister of king Charles IV of France (making Edward and Charles nephews) and Isabelle of France claimed the French throne for her son. The French however refused to recognize the English claim to the French throne. To back up their refusal the French claimed the Salic law, a Frankish civil law from around A.D. 500 which denied women succession to the French throne. Instead the French offered the French throne to Philip of Valois who was a cousin of king Charles IV. At first king Edward III did not press the matter when his claim was denied but when Philip of Valois started to confiscate Duchy of Aquitaine (Philip claimed that Edward had breached his obligations as a vassal and was harbouring enemies of the French throne), Edward pressed his right to the French throne and war broke out. The Flemish cities of Ghent, Ypres and Bruges (the county of Flanders was formally a part of France but a civil was between the count of Flanders and the Flemish cities had broken out because of the pro-French rule of the Flemish count) recognized the claim of Edward and hailed him as the "true" King of France. Edward gathered a large navy (about 120-150 ships) to transport his army and invade France from Flanders- the Flemish cities agreed to support the English attack. A French navy (about 130 ships) ailed up to meet the English navy, hoping to stop the invasion. Note: naval warfare in Western Europe was very rare in the Middle ages and the Western countries didn't have a standing navy. Instead they requisitioned merchant ships (called cogs) and converted these into warships. On 24 June 1340 both navies met at Sluis, near the Flemish coast. The French fleet had organised itself in four lines, with the first three each bound together with chains and ropes into large floating platforms. The English attacked by first raining down arrows on the French ships and then boarding them. The battle lasted until the night with almost the entire French navy destroyed and 16–18,000 men killed, losses on English side were light. The English victory gave them naval supremacy in the English Channel but they failed to take strategic advantage. After the battle the English army landed and laid siege to Tournai (Doornik). The English siege was a failure and the English army retreated. The French navy was quickly rebuild and resumed their raids on English territories and shipping. The book of Froissart was copied many times. This miniature comes from a copy from 1470.