Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier

Overview

The Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier took place on 28 July 1488, between the forces of King Charles VIII of France, and those of Francis II, Duke of Brittany, and his allies. The defeat of the latter signalled the end to the "guerre folle", a feudal conflict in which French aristocrats revolted against royal power during the regency of Anne de Beaujeu. It also effectively precipitated the end of the independence of Brittany from France.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier, fought on August 6, 1488, was the decisive engagement of the Mad War. The French force of 15,000 inflicted casualties of 5,000–6,000 on the Breton-led coalition of 11,500 at a cost of roughly 1,500 of their own, a disparity indicating a comprehensive French battlefield victory. The Duke of Orléans, fighting on the Breton side against the French crown, was among those caught up in the defeat. The scale of the Breton losses effectively ended Brittany's capacity to resist French power, and the battle preceded the Treaty of Sablé later that same month, by which Duke Francis II of Brittany was compelled to accept terms that subordinated the duchy to French authority. Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier thus marked the terminal point of Breton military independence and set in motion the dynastic process that would lead to Brittany's union with France.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (9)