Battle of La Brossinière

Who Fought

History & Significance

The Battle of La Brossinière or Battle of la Gravelle (French – la "besoigne" de la Brossinière) was a battle of the Hundred Years' War on 26 September 1423. It occurred at La Brossinière (commune of Bourgon, Mayenne), between the forces of England and France, shortly after hostilities had resumed, following the battle of Agincourt (1415).

The English force commanded by Sir John De la Pole, brother of William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, which had returned to Normandy after a pillaging expedition to Anjou and Maine, suffered a crushing defeat. Chronique de la Pucelle reports that "there were great deeds of arms done" and that the English "were beaten in the field and there were fourteen to fifteen hundred killed"

The battle of Agincourt had been particularly damaging for the nobility of the region. After this battle, the English regent John, Duke of Bedford, given the titles of Duke of Anjou and Count of Maine, ordered a systematic conquest, though this was not effected without resistance.

In September 1423, John de la Pole left Normandy with 2000 soldiers and 800 archers to go raiding in Maine and Anjou. He seized Segré, and there mustered a huge collection of loot and a herd of 1,200 bulls and cows, before setting off to return to Normandy, taking hostages as he went.

Queen Yolande of Aragon, mother-in-law to Charles VII of France, who was in her town of Angers, had the first thought of avenging the affront and the damage to her county, and gave orders for such a mission to the most valiant of the French king's partisans, Ambroise de Loré, who had been commander of Sainte-Suzanne since 1422. Knowing that John VIII of Harcourt, count of Aumale and governor of Touraine, Anjou and Maine, was then in Tours and preparing an expedition into Normandy, Amboise despatched a message to Aumale by letter. The governor came in haste to Laval, bringing the troops he had already gathered "and summoning men from all the lands he passed through".

The promptest and best-armed response came from the baron of Coulonges, whose services were accepted despite his current disgrace with the governor, who merely enjoined Coulonges not to present himself to him. This whole concentration of force was all gathered together very rapidly. D'Aumale had not yet arrived in Laval on Friday 24 September, but set off again as early as the Saturday morning, on his way to take up a position on the road to follow the English, sending scouts to keep an eye on their march and to inform him of it exactly. It was early at the Le Bourgneuf-la-Forêt, from which he sent word to Anne de Laval at Vitré "to pray her that she would send him the army of her sons, named André of Lohéac, then a young man of twelve years; which she did very willingly, and sent him to accompany it, master Guy XIV de Laval, lord of Mont-Jean, and all the people of the seigneurie of Laval, with several other of their vassals that she could recover and bring in promptly from other parts".

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of La Brossinière lies on Great Oolite Group, bedrock that formed in the Bathonian. The rock here is sandstone, limestone and argillaceous rocks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of La Brossinière

Lypiatt Cross

Scheduled monument · ~2.2 mi

Lypiatt Cross is a medieval wayside cross located in Gloucestershire. The monument dates to the medieval period and represents the type of stone cross that would have served religious, social, or directional functions within the landscape. The cross stands as evidence of medieval religious practi…

Andy Stephenson / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

The Long Stone

Scheduled monument · ~2.5 mi

The Long Stone is a Neolithic standing stone located in Gloucestershire, England. The monument consists of a single upright stone of considerable height, typical of megalithic monuments erected during the Neolithic period. Such standing stones are thought to have served ritual, ceremonial, or ter…

Rick Crowley / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Churchyard cross in St Mary's churchyard

Scheduled monument · ~3.1 mi

St Mary's churchyard cross in Gloucestershire is a medieval monument of ecclesiastical significance. The cross stands within the churchyard of St Mary's and represents the type of stone crosses that commonly marked sacred spaces and served practical functions within parish churchyards during the…

Jonathan Thacker / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Long barrow, 575m north-west of Lypiatt Farm

Scheduled monument · ~3.8 mi

Long barrow, 575m north-west of Lypiatt Farm is a Neolithic communal burial monument situated in Gloucestershire. The structure belongs to the long barrow tradition characteristic of the Early Neolithic period, approximately 4000–3000 BCE, when such monuments served as focal points for collective…

Woodchester Roman villa

Scheduled monument · ~4 mi

Woodchester Roman villa is a substantial Roman country house located in Gloucestershire, dating to the second and third centuries AD. The site is notable for its extensive mosaic pavements, including a celebrated geometric floor design discovered during excavation, which demonstrates the wealth a…

Arpingstone (talk). / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

Windmill Tump long barrow

Scheduled monument · ~4.2 mi

Windmill Tump long barrow is a Neolithic communal burial monument located in Gloucestershire, England. The barrow belongs to the tradition of long mound construction characteristic of the early Neolithic period, broadly dating to the fourth millennium before the present. The monument survives as…

Michael Murray / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Other Medieval Battles

Battles near Battle of La Brossinière

Explore the landscape around this battlefield

Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the UK — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.

• Battle of La Brossinière · Wikipedia