Siege of Compiègne

Significance

The siege of Compiègne was initiated by Duke Philip III of Burgundy after the town refused to transfer allegiance to him under the terms of a treaty with Charles VII of France. By the siege's own military and political weight it was a minor operation, and it ended in a Burgundian defeat. Its lasting importance derives from a single event within it: on 23 May 1430, Joan of Arc was captured by Burgundian troops during a skirmish outside the town walls while accompanying an Armagnac force. That capture proved one of the consequential moments of the Hundred Years' War, removing from the field the commander whose leadership had been closely identified with the revival of the Armagnac cause and the coronation of Charles VII. The siege of Compiègne thus occupies an outsized place in the history of the conflict relative to its operational significance, remembered primarily as the circumstances in which Joan of Arc passed into Burgundian — and ultimately English — custody.

Commanders (6)