00:05
Welcome to the British History Podcast. My name is Jamie, and this is episode 505, The Battle of Tenchebray.
00:13
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00:36
It was the 15th of August of 1106, and King Henry was at Beck.
00:42
Now, obviously, he didn't want to be at Beck. He wanted to be in the field fighting Robert. However, until this matter with Anselm was resolved, he didn't dare take to the field.
00:56
So, here he was.
00:58
And Anselm, despite reportedly being on his deathbed only days earlier, was now feeling just fine. That partridge had done the trick, apparently. But you know how it is with illness. It can come and go. Especially when you're the kind of person who likes to eat partially chewed meat that was stolen on the road from a member of the weasel family. And so things were a bit touch and go here. But Anselm was basically like, look, Henry, I am still recovering, but I do think there are a few things that if you do them, I'm sure that God will grace me with good health and allow me to cross to England.
01:42
So the king sat down, swallowed that rage that he was famous for, and listened to the archbishop's newest list of demands.
01:52
First, the profits from vacant churches could not go to the crown the way they had been doing since Rufus.
02:00
Second, married clergy who hadn't yet paid any part of the fines that were imposed upon them should have their fines and charges fully discharged. And if they had paid any part of those fines, then they should be released from future liabilities for the next three years.
02:18
Finally, anything and everything that had been taken from the Sea of Canterbury during Anselm's exile must be returned. And I do mean everything, Hank.
02:32
And I imagine that as Anselm gave these demands, he punctuated them with a soft little cough. After all, his illness could come back in any moment.
02:44
Henry was totally snookered here. So he relented and agreed to the demands.
02:50
And Anselm, at last, agreed to return to England.
02:56
Which naturally means that Anselm went to England, right?
03:00
Wrong.
03:01
See, Edinburgh reports that while the archbishop would have loved to return to England, quote, various causes, however, delayed Anselm's return, end quote.
03:13
And so instead, he was hanging around Beck. And while he was there, he dedicated a chapel. Though during that dedication, one of the clerks suddenly went insane. And so they brought the man before Anselm and Anselm's blessing actually cured his madness right on the spot. But while everyone was impressed with Anselm's skill as a mental health professional, he really was pushing his luck with King Henry here.
03:44
And so they urged him to board a boat bound for England. And besides, Henry was actually making additional concessions to sweeten the deal and get the archbishop on that boat. And the latest one was a really good one.
03:58
While the king was conducting his campaign in Normandy, Anselm could rule England as regent.
04:06
And I think Henry read the old man correctly here because that did the trick.
04:12
Anselm was finally on his way.
04:15
Queen Matilda and other high-ranked officials then rushed to Dover, wanting to make sure that they were there to greet the archbishop and offer him a warm welcome when he arrived, which, let's be honest here, was the smart political move. Things didn't tend to go well when Anselm felt slighted.
04:34
Meanwhile, back in Normandy, Henry was also in a rush. It was already mid-August, which meant he was two and a half months behind schedule for his relaunch of the campaign for Normandy.
04:46
Making matters worse, a lot had changed in the year since Anselm had put the brakes on that previous campaign.
04:54
First of all, the weather of 1106 was just pure ass. It had been raining nonstop, which makes campaigning absolutely miserable. Beyond that, Henry had momentum behind him in 1105.
05:10
I mean, Robert was collapsing and everyone could see it, and that made Henry's victory look like a foregone conclusion, which was a huge advantage. Henry also had won the psychological war by presenting himself and his army as being on the side of God, while simultaneously characterizing Robert as a faithless hedonist.
05:31
However, this fight with Anselm really had fixed all of that.
05:36
Those in power would have watched stunned as the king had a very messy and very public fight with one of the most famous holy men in the West.
05:48
And then he lost that fight.
05:51
That is a bell you can't unring. And on top of that, while Count Helius of Maine was still around in 1106, and now that this Anselm business was handled, Henry was going to have his military support again, well, Count Geoffrey Martel of Anjou was another matter entirely. And the truth is, if Henry had crossed on the 3rd of May, as he had intended, Geoffrey very well may have supported Henry's war and rode with him against Robert. However, that crossing had been delayed, and so Count Geoffrey stayed in Anjou and got himself embroiled in a conflict with some of his own rebellious barons.
06:32
And on May 19th, while riding to negotiate with the Baron of Condé, he was shot in the neck by a crossbow bolt and killed.
06:42
And since then, Anjou was being co-ruled by Geoffrey's dad, Fulk the Quarrelor, and his younger half-brother, Fulk the Younger.
06:52
Because Anjou has plenty of Fulks to give.
06:55
And this Fulk, Fulk the Younger, was actually the son of Bertrada.
07:01
Do you remember Bertrada? She was the hottie that King Philip of France had stolen from Folk the Quarrelor and then got excommunicated over it, but didn't seem to care all that much because he spent most of his time canoodling with Bertrada rather than ruling.
07:16
Well, according to the Chronicle of the Deeds of the Consuls of Anjou, the death of Count Geoffrey and the elevation of Folk the Younger wasn't an accident.
07:28
That crossbow bolt was an assassination, and it was orchestrated by Folk the Younger and his mom Bertrada.
07:39
but Orderic says that actually it was just a stray bolt fired during a siege and not a fratricidal betrayal organized by France's best known thirst trap. So we can't know for certain which way it went, but even if it was an assassination intended to clear the way for Folk the Younger, it was a terrible plan because Folk was soon captured by Duke William of Aquitaine because he wanted Anjou to hand over a castle.
08:07
And that meant that Folk's father, Count Folk the Coroller, was now trying to get his son back and thus completely bogged down in a political crisis with Aquitaine.
08:19
So the point here, well, there's two points really. France is a mess. That's point number one. But the second point is Anjou was pretty freaking busy right now and they couldn't come and play in Henry's war. And that meant that Henry had fewer fighters on hand than he did the year previously. Oh, and fun fact here, Count Folk the Younger will eventually get out of his imprisonment and will then go on to have a son who he'll name Jeffrey V.
08:47
But history will remember him by a different name, Geoffrey Plantagenet.
08:53
But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. Back in August of 1106, King Henry and Count Helius were trying to figure out how to restart their campaign for Normandy.
09:05
And man, this weather really sucked. Just rainy, windy, crappy weather. Exactly the kind of weather that made maneuvering in the field miserable and siege warfare incredibly difficult. I mean, imagine trying to construct and move siege equipment during thunderstorms or in the aftermath of a torrential downpour.
09:30
Weather like this can completely ruin a campaign.
09:34
Just ask Napoleon.
09:37
Consequently, both King Henry and Duke Robert were looking for ways to end this fight without having to engage in drawn-out siege warfare.
09:46
And Henry was in luck here because Duke Robert, despite having a year reprieve from the war, was still in a terribly weakened political position within Normandy.
09:58
He did still have the support of William of Mortain and Robert of Bolem. And there were other Norman lords who remained loyal to the Duke, but no one would call this a unified front. There were plenty of other lords, especially in Western Normandy, who were siding with Henry. And on top of that, even outside the ambitions of the brothers in this war, Normandy was wracked with internal conflict and chaos.
10:23
And Duke Robert couldn't contain it, which only served to further erode confidence in his ability to lead.
10:32
Honestly, the only reason the duchy hadn't already collapsed was because King Henry also had serious political problems.
10:40
And Robert's people still held Rouen and Falaise and had strong control over the lands on the right bank of the Seine.
10:48
So before this even began, this was actually looking a bit like a stalemate. And at the end of the day, it was Henry who needed to obtain victory. All Robert had to do was hold out, which meant Henry needed to be on the offensive. And given the terrible weather and late season, his best avenue for attack wasn't on the battlefield.
11:10
It was in the meeting hall.
11:12
He had to find a way to turn Robert's allies against him. And if enough barons switched sides, Robert would have no choice but to surrender. And so Henry went to Kahn and began working out his next moves. when the new abbot of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dive came to visit and told the king that he was weary of the mismatchment of Normandy under Robert, and that he would welcome having a duke that had the ability to control all of these rebellious barons.
11:42
A duke like Henry.
11:45
Now, this abbot was a Norman, which means his name was, of course, Robert. So to avoid confusion here, I'm just gonna keep calling him the abbot. So the abbot told Henry that he was willing to transfer the abbey of Saint-Pierre over to the king.
12:01
And this was a tempting offer because Saint-Pierre wasn't just an abbey. It was a fortified abbey, which meant it came with a castle. And it was a castle that was sitting on the River Dive and was within riding distance of fillets.
12:17
This was a strong strategic position.
12:20
So Henry accepted the offer and he prepared a large force to march upon St. Pierre and take possession. And the abbot was all, oh, wait, wait, wait, look, I'm no commander, but I think that is a bad idea. Your brother has people everywhere. And if you ride out with a large force of fighters like that, people are going to notice. Your better option is to go quiet and small. At most, just take a small personal guard with you. And then you can take direct possession without anyone knowing.
12:52
And the garrison is completely loyal and eager to join your cause. So you don't even need that large force. You're going to have it once you arrive.
13:00
And Henry was all, excellent point, Father Abbott. Thank you for your counsel. We will do as you ask and ride out to the abbey tomorrow. The abbot, quite pleased with the meeting, journeyed back to St. Pierre to prepare for the king's arrival. And once he left, Henry turned to his advisors and was all, am I crazy or was that suspicious as f**k? And they were all, no, you are not crazy. There's something off about that guy. So Henry was like, cool. And he gathered a force of 700 knights.
13:32
And rather than waiting to march on the castle the following day, he and his huge mounted force just waited for nightfall. And then they quietly rode the 20 kilometer journey to Saint-Pierre in secret.
13:48
As dawn broke at Saint-Pierre, the castle commanders, Robert de Stouteville and Reginald de Warren, were organizing their men. Today was going to be a busy day.
14:00
The abbot had told them all about his meeting with Henry, and they had a lot to do before he arrived. For one, they needed to get all 140 of their men in position. Because yeah, this was not some small royalist garrison. This was, in fact, a large ducal garrison. and their numbers were set to grow. Duke Robert and his men were due to arrive any moment.
14:29
And once they arrived, all they needed to do was wait for Henry to show his traitorous face, and they could spring the trap.
14:36
If all went well, this war could be over by dinnertime.
14:41
And then one of the men on the wall shouted down that there were some riders on the horizon and that they were coming not from Ruan, but from Khan. And they were bearing Henry's colors.
14:53
Oh, oh, we're not ready. The reinforcements aren't here. And what the hell? Father, get your butt up here. Does that look like a small personal guard to you?
15:05
No, no, that does not look like a small personal guard, does it? That looks like a goddamn army of 700 knights.
15:14
So inside St. Pierre, everybody was having a great time. But all wasn't lost. They still had a fortified position. And so the commanders and their garrison dug in and they prepared for a siege.
15:28
And Henry and his men rode towards the walls to assess the situation. And upon arrival, the king was not greeted by a loyal garrison. He was greeted by a bunch of shit talk.
15:41
Orderic reports that the would-be ambushers, quote, received him with shouts of laughter and abuse, end quote. Basically mocking him for falling for such an obvious trap. And given all that we've learned about Henry, I think you can guess how he felt about being laughed at.
16:00
Quote, Henry, much enraged at finding the snare into which he had fallen, gave orders for an instant assault on the garrison, end quote. And while Saint-Pierre was a formidable defensive structure, the defenders were also outnumbered by over 500 men. And that problem was exacerbated by the fact that Henry wasn't interested in preserving the Abbey for future use.
16:26
Like Bayou, he was gonna burn it down.
16:29
The castle, the abbey, all of it. The torches were lit and, whoa. I mean, 12th century architecture was pretty flammable. So in moments, it was pandemonium. Some of the garrison following their commanders attempted to fight off Henry's forces, but they were quickly defeated and captured. And others fled into the church for safety and were burned to death.
16:58
Out in the countryside, the ducal forces came into view, and they saw the inferno already engulfing the castle and abbey. And the brave garrison took one look at that and went, nope, nope, nope, and fled as quickly as they could to fillets.
17:14
As for the abbot who organized this whole thing, well, Henry's forces actually managed to capture him. And according to the scribes, he was bound, flung across the back of a horse like a sack, and brought to Henry, who immediately banished him.
17:30
Henry had avoided a deadly trap, but as for his campaign for Normandy, he was no closer to victory. And instead, the church had yet another reason to be mad at him.
17:44
Now, unfortunately, we don't have a precise account of the two armies' movements during this period of the war. In fact, Orderic's account of that situation at St. Pierre is one of the rare windows we have into this fight. But reading it gives the impression that intrigue was the main weapon of this war. So I suspect that this wasn't the only moment where one side attempted to ensnare the other with subterfuge.
18:10
But eventually, September arrived. So now we were late in the campaigning season, and southwestern Normandy was proving to be a serious problem for Henry. Robert of Bolem and William of Mortain were both very active down there, and they were also some of Henry's most fierce opponents. And I'm guessing that Robert of Bolem being a problem for Henry doesn't surprise you at all. That guy was famously warlike. But William of Mortain might be a surprise.
18:41
The last time we saw Mortain, he was a young, brash knight who was mogging around Henry's court and refusing to follow the rules, which, you know, got him kicked out of England. Well, unfortunately for Henry, William's time in Normandy had transformed this sulky teen into a fearsome commander.
19:01
And he and Bolem were creating enormous problems for Henry and his supporters. Or as Orderick puts it, quote, "...Robert de Bolem and William Earl of Mortain, with many others, obstinately attached themselves to Robert the Duke." fearing the king too much to think of submitting to his yoke, resisted him with all their power, end quote.
19:25
So to translate, they were fighting Henry in the field because they were afraid of him.
19:31
And their loyalty to their duke was actually just motivated by their obstinate refusal to submit to authority. Even for Orderic, that is some wild spin. But if we look past it, we can clearly see that Henry was having a difficult time gaining traction in that region. And a major reason for that was the resistance provided by Bolem, Mortain, and quote, many others, end quote. So Henry decided to bring the fight to them.
20:02
He ordered a siege castle to be constructed outside of Tinchebray, which was one of William of Mortain's castles. And Henry placed it under the command of Thomas of St. John. Now, Thomas, despite having a name that wasn't Robert or William, was actually a Norman knight of some repute. He was one of the three brothers who had been acting as commanders in Henry's army. And he had been given a really straightforward task.
20:31
Use this siege castle and the soldiers and knights under your command and put a stop to all these goddamn sallies that are coming out of Tinchebray.
20:40
If those gates open, you ride out and kill whoever comes out. Got it?
20:47
And Thomas was basically like, totally your highness, don't worry, we've got this.
20:53
So Henry, satisfied that Tinchebray would no longer be an issue, got back to the broader campaign. But you can't set up a siege castle without someone noticing.
21:04
So it wasn't long before William of Mortain learned of what was happening. And naturally, he immediately rode upon Tinchebray with a large force of men and supplies.
21:15
Far more men, in fact, than Thomas had in his siege castle.
21:20
And so when William and his men rode up, Thomas and his men stayed in their fort.
21:26
Consequently, William was able to resupply his men within Tinshebrae while the royalist forces could only watch.
21:34
And realizing he had the enemy spooked, William then gathered his men and he rode back outside the walls of the castle, wanting to see if they'd do anything.
21:45
And, uh... Nope.
21:48
They stayed in that little fort they built over there.
21:51
So, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth and realizing that it was late September, William's men went out into the fields and started harvesting the wheat. I mean, the wheat was still green right now, which is why Thomas and his men hadn't gotten at it yet. But while it would make for lousy bread, it was still pretty good for fodder. And more importantly, Thomas couldn't get it later. Also, this made Thomas look like a gigantic wuss, which was exactly the kind of news that would travel fast.
22:26
I mean, this was humiliating gossip. And that's exactly the kind of gossip that damn near everyone loves to share.
22:33
So it wasn't long before King Henry heard all about how Thomas was allowing Robert's forces to place Stardew Valley outside of his siege castle.
22:43
And of course, the king went absolutely through the roof.
22:49
He had been very clear with Thomas, and he had given his apparently timid commander plenty of knights to get the job done.
22:59
So why on earth were they hiding inside their castle? Thomas was a knight. That garrison was full of knights. What exactly did they think their job was?
23:11
So King Henry, determining that he had clearly overestimated Thomas, marched his army to Tinchebray, uniting them with a garrison in the siege castle. Because this time, he would command the damn thing himself. And according to Orderic, the siege was pressed far more closely from that point forward.
23:32
Now this was a disaster for William of Mortain and his men, because now they actually were stuck inside Tinshebrae. And given the size of Henry's army, it was only a matter of time before the king took the castle by storm. But siege lines are porous.
23:50
Even reinforced ones like Henry's are porous.
23:54
So while William wouldn't be able to sally forth and raid or, you know, do a bit of harvesting, he still could get a messenger through the lines.
24:04
He would just need to be sneaky about it.
24:07
And that is what he did.
24:10
Probably using the cover of darkness, and probably sending multiple men through the lines to better increase the odds that someone would get through, William sought the aid of Belem, Duke Robert, and his other allies.
24:25
Upon hearing of William's plight, Duke Robert sent a messenger to King Henry, telling his brother that if he did not lift the siege of Tincherbury, then Robert would have no choice but to fight him in the field. The direct quote from Orderic is, quote, the Duke, having assembled an army, required his brother to raise the siege of a place which lay in his territories, or otherwise he challenged him to battle, end quote.
24:54
Seems pretty straightforward. And I've looked through multiple translations of Orderick, and they all say roughly the same thing. And the reason why I'm telling you that is because I've read a couple historians who characterize this message as Robert demanding that Henry lift the siege, quote, or else he would declare war, end quote. And that carries a very different connotation than challenging him to battle. Specifically, the connotation that Kurt Hose wasn't aware that they were already at war.
25:26
And in an alternate universe, one where I didn't check sources, you could very well be listening to me make fun of Robert over this.
25:35
Basically, always check your sources.
25:38
Anyway, so Robert was pretty clearly trying to avoid having a direct violent conflict with his brother. Unfortunately for him, a direct violent conflict was exactly what Henry wanted because the numbers were turning in his favor.
25:56
As the weather had been slowing down their military operations, Henry had left most of that part of the fight to his commanders like William of Mortain and Bolem, while Henry had clearly been focused on the political battlefield instead. And he had been wildly successful in that regard.
26:14
Joining Henry at Tinchebray were Count Helius of Maine, Count William of Evreux, Count Robert de Milan, and Count William de Warren. On top of that, there were a huge number of very powerful barons, including Ranulf of Bayou, Ralph de Conch, Robert de Montfort, Robert de Gransmanil, and, quote, several others, end quote, who were also probably named Robert. In addition, these high-ranked nobles were bringing with them their own vassals.
26:46
So Henry's army, despite the absence of folk, was still substantially large.
26:53
But to be fair, Duke Robert wasn't without supporters. In fact, he had, quote, Robert de Blem and his nephew, Earl William of Mortain, Robert de Stouteville, William de Ferres, and many more with their followers, end quote.
27:08
Robert clearly wasn't alone here. He had a sizable army, in fact. So why didn't he want to fight it out with his brother? Especially considering what Henry was up to.
27:19
Well, we all know Orderic's take on that, right? Robert was lazy and a loser. But I suspect the actual reason was more complicated and less contemptible than that.
27:29
If we have learned one thing about Robert, it's that he really didn't like the family warfare that was so common in his dynasty. He consistently avoided it. And when he did take aggressive actions against family members, they were usually bluffs. Or if he got the upper hand, like in his battle with his father, he would show mercy and pull back.
27:52
Robert, unlike damn near everyone else in this line, didn't actually wanna kill his own family members.
28:00
Beyond that, Robert and Henry weren't the only family members who were on opposite sides of this war. This was Normandy, and it was also a civil war. So, as Orderic points out, "...brothers and kinsmen were arrayed of different sides, and some of them were ready to exchange blows with each other." That sounds like a nightmare, at least to my 21st century eyes.
28:27
And I'm guessing Robert felt the same way. And that's why, despite having an army in the field, he was all, dude, don't do this. Just lift the siege and go home.
28:40
But Henry wouldn't back down. And so Robert took his forces and he marched upon Tenchebray.
28:47
And soon the two armies were arrayed on the battlefield across from one another. And while Robert did have more infantry than Henry, Henry did have the larger army and he also had more knights. Though again, Henry didn't have all of the knights. This war was splitting families down the middle with noble brothers and kinsmen on both sides of it.
29:13
And that was a fact that was really worrying the religious men of the region.
29:18
were told that numerous holy men came out and begged Henry and Robert to put a stop to this.
29:25
One of the holy men, a man named Vitalis the Hermit, not Orderic, this was a different Vitalis, well, this Vitalis tried to get the point across by citing the classical tale of Polyneses and Etiocles. And then he was all, and we all know how badly that went, right?
29:45
And, you know, they probably didn't know how badly that went because these guys were knights. However, Henry didn't need to know the story of the Sons of Oedipus to know that the optics here were not good. I mean, Henry was the aggressor. Henry had also only just avoided being excommunicated. And now Henry and a bunch of his supporters were seriously considering forcing a fight where they would commit fratricide. That's a bad look. And so after talking it over with his advisors, Henry sent a message to his brother, quote, "'My brother, I have not come here actuated by worldly ambition, nor did I propose to deprive you of your rights in the duchy, but in answer to the sorrowful complaints of the poor, my desire is to succor the church of God, which is like a vessel without a pilot in peril from a tempestuous sea.'" As you planted in this land like a barren tree, you offered no fruit of good works to our creator.
30:51
You are duke in name only, while you are openly mocked by your vassals and take no pains to punish the insults you receive. Thus, the cruel sons of iniquity, under the shade of your protection, oppress by the iniquities the Christian people and have already almost depopulated whole parishes in Normandy.
31:13
Witnessing these things, I burn with zeal for God, who is our creator, and am eager to expose my life in the cause of my brethren, and this beloved people and country. Take these things into consideration. I entreat you to profit by my advice, and you will find it distinctly proved that my proceedings are not dictated by ambition, but by goodwill. Yield to me the strong places of Normandy. with the entire administration of justice and the management of affairs, and one moedi of the duchy, reserving to yourself the revenues of the other half without care or trouble, and I will pay you annually out of the treasury of England a sum equivalent to the revenue of the moedi ceded to me.
32:02
After that, you may revel in feasts and sports and all such delights with perfect security. As for me, I shall submit to the toils required for the maintenance of tranquility, and, while you enjoy repose, faithfully equip myself of the engagements I enter into with you, and, by God's help, bridle with justice the fury of the oppressors, so that they shall no longer buffet the people of God." What an asshole.
32:36
I mean, Henry has been burning down churches with people inside. He also burned down all of Bayou, and he has the gall to talk about protecting God and feigning concern about depopulated parishes.
32:52
Furthermore, Henry had a history of not paying his bills, so that promised pension was likely to end up the same way that the previous pensions did.
33:02
with Henry finding reasons to not pay it.
33:05
But what Henry was poking at there was a weak spot for the Duke because there were complaints about Robert's piety.
33:15
And incredibly, they go all the way back to his actions during the First Crusade.
33:22
You see, it didn't matter all that much that he was a crusader and King Henry wasn't. It also didn't matter that he was a victorious commander who had led his army through a campaign that was so doomed that most of Europe was now convinced that it only succeeded because God directly intervened. No, what mattered here, at least according to the religious scribes like Henry of Huntington, was that when the crusaders took Jerusalem, they had offered to make Duke Robert the king of Jerusalem.
33:52
And he refused.
33:54
This apparently was a moral failing so severe that Jesus himself was exacting divine retribution upon Robert for it.
34:04
Quote, Thus the Lord took vengeance on Duke Robert, because when he had exalted him to great glory in the holy wars, he rejected the offer of the kingdom of Jerusalem, preferring the service of ease and sloth in Normandy to serving the Lord zealously in defense of the holy city. End quote.
34:24
Now, there are plenty of reasons why Robert might have refused the crown of Jerusalem, including God-fearing ones. But for the Anglo-Norman clergy, or at least the ones who are writing our records, this act proved that Robert was so lazy he would even abandon God.
34:44
And that belief influenced the framing of every subsequent event. Because remember, we are now living in a new biblical era. And God is very much present.
34:57
There are no coincidences. Everything is part of God's plan.
35:02
So Robert wasn't showing humility. And he wasn't showing pious restraint, even though crusaders were specifically told that they should not take the cross for personal gain. He wasn't even showing a love for Normandy and a desire to go home.
35:18
No, he was just denying God.
35:22
It's incredible spin. And while I can't prove it, I would not be surprised if that propagandic spin came right out of Henry's court, especially since we see Henry's camp referencing Robert's divinely condemned laziness in a lot of their messages. Consequently, when Henry offered to allow Robert to revel in feasts and sports and all such delights, that was an intensely barbed comment. And that's not even counting the fact that Henry was also proposing to reduce Robert from Duke of Normandy to a mere dependent of his baby brother.
35:59
Furthermore, you'll note that Robert's supporters were not getting any sort of concession in that offer. And considering Henry's vindictive nature, that did not bode well for anyone who sided with the Duke.
36:13
So Henry's message here was aggressive, insulting, and provocative.
36:19
And predictably, when Robert's men heard it, they went berserk.
36:25
In fact, they were apparently making violent threats and basically demanding that they go out and kill Henry right now.
36:33
And you know what?
36:34
Fair play, I think I would probably feel the same way because this was staggeringly disingenuous. And besides, despite all the insults that Henry was throwing around about how lazy and weak Robert was, the reality was Robert was an experienced military commander who had spent years at war while Henry, for his part, was more of an indoors king. I mean, Henry had never even fought a pitched battle before.
37:02
And so Duke Roberts sent his reply.
37:05
We've had enough of you and your bullshit, Hank. So no, we're not interested in peace now. We want war. To which Henry replied, quote, God almighty in whom I trust knows that I fight this battle on behalf of his suffering people. I implore our maker from the bottom of my heart to grant the victory in this day's conflict to him by whom it is the divine will to secure to his people protection and rest, end quote. But, you know, Henry also wasn't stupid, so while this sort of spin might work on the public, the Almighty was another matter entirely.
37:43
He knew what Henry had just done at St. Pierre, and he knew what Henry had previously done at Bayou and elsewhere.
37:50
So the king hastily tried to make friends with God by releasing the prisoners that he took at St. Pierre, specifically Renal de Warren, but he also released some unnamed others as well.
38:03
And then to really spice it up a bit, he swore that he would rebuild that church he burned down.
38:09
Now, I can't say whether or not that influenced God's favor, but what I can say is that it was very good politics. Because Renald de Warren was the brother of William de Warren, who was one of Henry's top commanders.
38:26
And so releasing Renald, rather than giving him the old Belem special, was very much appreciated by William.
38:34
Similarly, the pledge to rebuild the church would have been something that appealed to Henry's supporters, especially the more pious among them, like Count Helius of Maine.
38:45
And that was important because the support of Count Helius was central to Henry's campaign.
38:52
If you remember, it was his withdrawal last year that had caused the collapse of the king's army.
38:58
And then, with his religious flank secured, Henry arrayed his troops on the battlefield.
39:05
And remember, the weather here by all accounts was awful. And that doesn't just impact morale. It also impacts your ability to fight. All of that rain turns potential battlefields into soggy, mud-filled quagmires. And that fact could account for why Henry, despite having far more knights than Robert, ordered all of his knights to dismount and prepare to fight on foot.
39:31
they would lose the mobility that mounted cavalry provided. But if the ground was waterlogged and muddy, that mobility was probably an open question at best. Honestly, a lot of horses might have been a bit of a liability in these conditions.
39:46
And on top of that, having mounted knights carries with it a risk of an early route. I mean, riding off on horseback is a lot easier than running away on foot while you're wearing a bunch of armor. Consequently, dismounting his knights and dispersing them through the infantry would have made his lines more resilient. And it avoided the risk of having a bunch of his knights just galloping off into the countryside at the first sign of trouble.
40:12
Next, he split his army into three lines.
40:16
Ranulf of Bayou would command one division, Robert of Moulin and King Henry commanded a second, and William de Warren had the third.
40:25
And we're told that William de Warren, still incredibly thankful for his brother's release, was the most enthusiastic of the leaders, urging his men to fight fearlessly for their king.
40:37
Meanwhile, across the field lay Duke Robert's forces. And Robert had divided his army into just two units. The fearsome Count William of Mortain commanded the front line, while Robert of Bolem held the rear.
40:56
Now, unfortunately, I can't paint for you a full picture of this battlefield because we don't know where it was.
41:04
All we know is that it was somewhere outside of Tinchebray and that it was likely close to the castle. Similarly, we don't know for certain what day this battle actually took place because our scribes disagree on that fact.
41:18
Many historians default to William of Malmesbury's dating of September 28th of 1106. And it is possible that was the day, but I should point out that Malmesbury loved a good story. And having the battle take place on September 28th is excellent storytelling. because it would place the battle for Normandy on the 40th anniversary to the day of William the Conqueror landing at Pevensey and beginning his conquest of England. So I wouldn't be surprised if Malmesbury fudged the date a little bit, and that it was actually on the 27th or the 29th, as some of the other scribes reported.
41:59
But whatever day it was, at about nine in the morning, trumpets sounded from Duke Roberts' lines, and the ducal forces advanced.
42:10
Huntingdon reports that William of Mortain and his line attacked the royal army furiously. Many of Robert's soldiers were veterans from the First Crusade, and experience in battle was worth quite a bit here. So sure enough, soon after that initial clash, they began to push back the royal lines.
42:32
Now, I'm not sure if Robert was part of the front line. Orderick doesn't tell us, but I don't imagine Orderick would tell us either.
42:40
I will say though, that I wouldn't be surprised if he was in that front line. He was an experienced commander and he was dealing with a crisis of confidence in his leadership. So he definitely would have been incentivized to be in a more central location. And his presence would also have helped fuel the fierce attack upon the royal forces. So my guess is that Robert was probably there in the melee with his ducal guard. And the bravery and aggression of this attack was paying off.
43:11
Clearly, the royalist forces were not prepared for such a quick and ferocious attack.
43:18
But suddenly, on the flank, men began screaming and the sound of clashing metal and colliding bodies rang out.
43:28
Now, as I mentioned earlier, Henry had arranged his army into three divisions on the battlefield.
43:34
However, some distance away, along the flank, he had positioned a fourth division of over 1,000 knights and placed them under the command of Count Helius.
43:48
And from the context of the battle, Henry didn't order those knights to dismount.
43:54
And that was who was currently slamming into the flank of Count William's forces, taking them completely by surprise.
44:03
We're told that in practically the blink of an eye, 225 men were killed in this onslaught. It was a terrible blow to the ducal forces, but it wasn't fatal because Robert of Belem and the other half of the army were holding the rear.
44:21
And answering a flank attack like this is one of the reasons why you have a rear line.
44:28
So Bolem took his forces and he retreated, completely bailing on William of Bortain, Duke Robert, and their men.
44:37
Abandoned by their comrades, the ducal forces then collapsed into a panic.
44:43
The royal forces, being heavily comprised of knights, knew exactly what to do in this situation.
44:50
It was time to kidnap their fellow nobles for fun and profit. So the royal forces surged against the broken and fleeing ducal forces, seeking to capture as many high-value knights and nobles as possible.
45:04
And in the medieval gold rush that followed, a large number of knights and nobles were captured, including William of Mortain, Robert de Stoopville, and William de Ferres.
45:17
But the biggest prize went to Henry's chaplain, Waldrick. Despite being clergy, Waldrick had decided to join a company of knights. Because, like I said, Norman piety is a different kind of piety. And as the ducal forces began to rout, Waldrick spotted a familiar face.
45:39
Duke Robert Kurthose So he rushed upon the Duke, captured him, and delivered him to his brother, the King.
45:47
Henry was obviously thrilled, and he would soon raise Waldrick up to Bishop. So Waldrick was moving on up, at least for now. He would eventually get assassinated by his own people, but that's a problem for future Waldrick. Current Waldrick was doing great.
46:05
Current Robert, on the other hand, was not doing great.
46:10
nor were many of his men.
46:12
Now, it's not clear how many men were captured. Henry would later write to Anselm claiming that he and his men captured 400 knights and 10,000 foot soldiers. But if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.
46:27
I will say, though, that it was probably a lot. The Bretons in particular captured large numbers of troops. And so Henry's victory at Tinchebray, which actually was his first major military victory, had effectively ended the campaign. Now it's just a simple matter of obtaining the submission of fillets, which Duke Robert, as Henry's prisoner, was actually helping to arrange.
46:52
Orderick describes Robert in this situation as attempting to reconcile with his brother by blaming his advisors and by making efforts to support Henry's acquisition of various Norman strongholds.
47:04
And Henry is described as, well, not being all that interested in reconciliation, but he wasn't going to turn down Robert's help.
47:17
He was going to take it.
47:18
But he wasn't going to let Robert go either.
47:21
Now, Robert was Henry's prisoner now. And like many others who were captured at Tinchabray, he would remain so until the day he died.
47:35
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, you can reach me at thebritishhistorypodcast at gmail.com. And if you'd like to support the podcast, please sign up for membership at thebritishhistorypodcast.com. Thanks for listening.
