Battle of Blanquefort, 1450

The Battle of Blanquefort was fought on 1 November 1450 during the French reconquest of Gascony in the final phase of the Hundred Years War. A small French force under Arnaud-Amanieu d’Albret, lord of Orval, defeated a much larger Anglo-Gascon army sent out from Bordeaux. The battle was fought near Jallepont, close to Blanquefort and the northern approaches to Bordeaux, and became known as the Male Jornade — the “Bad Day”.

The battle should not be confused with the Siege of Blanquefort in 1453. The 1450 battle was an open-field engagement fought when the Anglo-Gascon forces marched out of Bordeaux against Orval’s smaller force. The later 1453 operation was a siege of Blanquefort Castle during the final French campaign in Gascony.

The Battle of Blanquefort followed the French recovery of Normandy in 1450. Charles VII was now able to turn his attention towards Gascony, the principal remaining English territory in southwestern France. The battle was one of the first major engagements of the campaign and preceded the French conquest of much of the region in 1451.

The Battle of Blanquefort, 1450

The French Advance into Gascony

By the autumn of 1450, the French position in France had changed dramatically. The reconquest of Normandy had been completed with the fall of Cherbourg, while the English had lost the political and military structures that had supported their rule in the duchy.

Charles VII now directed military attention towards Gascony. Bordeaux remained the principal English stronghold in the southwest and was supported by a network of towns, castles and local allies. The French campaign therefore aimed to isolate Bordeaux while reducing the surrounding English-held positions.

Among the French commanders operating in the region was Arnaud-Amanieu d’Albret, lord of Orval. The Albret family possessed extensive interests in Gascony, and Amanieu was closely connected with the French cause. His force included experienced men-at-arms and archers, as well as Scottish troops commanded by Robin Pettilow, also known as Robin Petit-Loup.

One of the French commanders associated with the operation was Étienne de Vignolles, better known as La Hire. His participation illustrates the continuing involvement of veterans of the earlier French campaigns in the struggle against English rule in the southwest.

Bordeaux and the Anglo-Gascon Defence

Bordeaux was the centre of English administration and military power in Gascony. Its mayor, Gadifer Shorthose, was an Englishman who had held the office since 1433. He had also served for many years as captain of Bergerac.

The English administration depended heavily upon cooperation from the Bordelaise population and the wider Gascon nobility. The relationship was not simply one between England and France: local political interests, privileges and loyalties were also involved.

The French advance threatened Bordeaux’s access to the surrounding countryside. Orval’s force operated in the territory around the city, disrupting communications and supplies and demonstrating that French forces could approach the city’s immediate hinterland.

Monstrelet records that the Anglo-Bordelaise force eventually marched out to attack Orval. He gives its strength as between eight and nine thousand men, including soldiers and other inhabitants of Bordeaux. The size of the force is considerably greater than that attributed to Orval, although other contemporary and near-contemporary accounts give different figures.

Orval’s Smaller Army

Monstrelet states that Orval had only four to five hundred combatants. Other sources give higher estimates for the French force, but all emphasise the considerable numerical disparity between the two armies.

The French commander nevertheless decided to stand and fight. Rather than retreat towards stronger positions, Orval organised his men for battle while the much larger Anglo-Gascon force approached.

Monstrelet describes the French light troops advancing in good order and records that they captured a gentleman from Bordeaux near a coppice before the main engagement began.

“The battle now commenced, and was so well fought by the French” that eighteen hundred English and Bordelois were killed.

Monstrelet’s account is strongly favourable to the French and should therefore be read alongside the other chronicles. Nevertheless, his description is important evidence for the course and outcome of the battle, particularly because he also records the unusually large number of prisoners taken by the French.

The Battle at Jallepont

The engagement took place in wooded and marshy country near Jallepont, in the area between Blanquefort and the modern community of Le Haillan. The terrain limited the ability of the much larger Anglo-Gascon force to deploy effectively.

Aerial photograph illustrating the marshy conditions in the area in which the battle of Blanquefort was fought. — Aerial photograph of the White Fortress at Blanquefort. The area remains marshy to this day.

The first stage of the fighting appears to have involved the French forward troops giving ground and drawing part of the Anglo-Gascon force into a vulnerable position. The precise details vary between the chronicles, but the accounts agree that the larger army lost cohesion during the engagement.

Robin Pettilow’s archers played an important role in the fighting. The French were able to exploit the terrain and attack the advancing force while it was divided and increasingly disordered.

The numerical superiority of the Anglo-Gascons therefore failed to produce the expected result. Instead, the French were able to concentrate their smaller force against portions of the opposing army and then pursue the defeated troops towards Bordeaux.

The Collapse of the Anglo-Gascon Army

The turning point came when the Anglo-Gascon formation broke. The cavalry began to withdraw while the infantry was left increasingly exposed.

Jean Chartier gives a particularly hostile account of Gadifer Shorthose’s conduct. He states that the mayor of Bordeaux was “the principal” man to flee, abandoning the infantry that had been placed in front of the main force.

Chartier’s description is an accusation by a French royal chronicler rather than an objective assessment of Shorthose’s conduct. It is nevertheless significant because the alleged abandonment of the infantry became part of the contemporary French explanation for the scale of the defeat.

Once the cavalry had withdrawn, the infantry had little opportunity to reorganise. The French pursued the fugitives towards Bordeaux, inflicting further casualties and taking large numbers of prisoners.

Casualties and Prisoners

The casualty figures given by the sources vary considerably. Monstrelet records approximately eighteen hundred English and Bordelois killed and twelve hundred prisoners. Other accounts provide substantially higher figures, particularly for the deaths during the pursuit.

The disparity between the figures is a reminder that medieval battle casualties are rarely precise. Chroniclers could also have different reasons for recording the numbers: political interpretation, the reputation of commanders and the perceived scale of a victory could all influence the figures they reported.

What is consistent across the principal accounts is the scale of the Anglo-Gascon defeat. A substantial part of the force sent from Bordeaux was killed or captured, while the French force suffered comparatively limited losses.

The large number of prisoners was also important in medieval warfare. Men of sufficient status could be held for ransom, while poorer soldiers faced a much greater danger during the pursuit. The economic structure of late medieval warfare therefore influenced who survived a defeated army.

The Male Jornade

The defeat became known locally as the Male Jornade, or “Bad Day”. The name reflected the scale of the disaster suffered by the Bordelaise force.

The emotional impact was significant. Later accounts describe the dead being brought back towards Bordeaux and the distress caused among the population. The defeat had not merely been a military setback outside the city: a large part of the force drawn from Bordeaux had been destroyed or captured.

The name Male Jornade consequently became associated with the battle itself and with the shock experienced in Bordeaux after the defeat.

The Consequences of Blanquefort

The Battle of Blanquefort did not immediately bring about the fall of Bordeaux. The city remained in English hands through the winter of 1450–1451, and the French still had to conduct a substantial campaign to reduce the remaining strongholds of Gascony.

The defeat nevertheless weakened the military position of Bordeaux. A large force had been committed to an attempt to destroy a much smaller French army and had suffered heavy losses instead.

The French subsequently expanded their operations across the region. In 1451, forces under Jean de Dunois and other commanders captured or received the surrender of a series of towns and castles. Bordeaux eventually surrendered to the French in June 1451.

The campaign did not permanently end English rule in Gascony. English forces under John Talbot returned in 1452 and recovered Bordeaux, beginning a second phase of the struggle. The final French reconquest came in 1453, culminating in the Battle of Castillon and the subsequent surrender of Bordeaux.

Blanquefort and the Final Phase of the Hundred Years War

Blanquefort is significant because it demonstrates the changing balance of the war in southwestern France. The English still possessed the powerful base of Bordeaux, but the French could now operate aggressively in the surrounding countryside.

The battle also demonstrates the importance of mobility, terrain and tactical cohesion. Orval’s force was considerably smaller than the army that advanced against it, yet the French were able to exploit the ground and attack an opponent whose formation became increasingly disordered.

The battle is therefore an important contrast with the great English victories of the earlier Hundred Years War. By 1450, French commanders possessed experienced troops, effective organisation and the ability to sustain coordinated operations across several theatres.

Blanquefort was not by itself the conquest of Gascony. It was, however, an important early engagement in the campaign that would eventually remove English political and military control from the region.

The Battles and Sieges of the Hundred Years War collection places Blanquefort alongside the other major engagements of the final French reconquest, including Rouen, Formigny, Cherbourg and, three years later, Castillon.

Sources and Evidence

The evidence for the Battle of Blanquefort comes principally from French and Burgundian chronicles written during or close to the period, supplemented by later historical studies of the Gascon campaign and the documentary record of English administration in the region.

Enguerrand de Monstrelet provides a concise but important contemporary narrative. He records Orval’s departure from Bazas, the small size of the French force, the much larger army that marched from Bordeaux, the battle itself, the death toll and the twelve hundred prisoners taken by the French.

Jean Chartier provides another near-contemporary account from the perspective of the French royal court. His account is particularly useful for the description of Gadifer Shorthose and the collapse of the Anglo-Gascon force, although his interpretation of the mayor’s conduct should be treated as a partisan account.

Mathieu d’Escouchy also records the engagement. His chronicle is particularly valuable because it provides an independent narrative alongside Chartier and Monstrelet and gives a substantially different account of the casualties. Modern scholarship has therefore used the three chronicles comparatively rather than accepting a single casualty figure.

The later Vigiles du roi Charles VII provides visual evidence for the final campaigns in Gascony, although its illustrations were produced several decades after the events. The manuscript should therefore be treated as later visual evidence rather than as eyewitness testimony.

Source	Origin and character	Evidence for the Battle of Blanquefort
Enguerrand de Monstrelet, Chronique de France — View source	Near-contemporary French and Burgundian chronicle	Provides the principal narrative account of the battle. Records Orval’s departure from Bazas, the French force of approximately 400–500 combatants, the much larger Anglo-Bordelaise army, the battle, 1,800 Anglo-Gascon dead and 1,200 prisoners, and the French withdrawal to Bazas.
Jean Chartier, Chronique de Charles VII, roi de France — View source	Near-contemporary royal French chronicle	Provides an account of the battle and its aftermath from the perspective of Charles VII’s government. Particularly important for the description of Gadifer Shorthose and the collapse of the Bordelaise force, although its interpretation is partisan.
Mathieu d’Escouchy, Chronique de Mathieu d’Escouchy — View source	Near-contemporary chronicle covering 1444–1452	Provides an independent narrative of the Anglo-Gascon sortie from Bordeaux and the French victory. Its casualty figures differ substantially from those of Monstrelet and Chartier, making it particularly useful for assessing the uncertainty surrounding losses.
Gilles le Bouvier, Le Recouvrement de Normandie et de Guyenne — View source	Near-contemporary French heraldic chronicle	Provides another French account of the reconquest of Guyenne and is useful for comparison with the longer narratives of Chartier and d’Escouchy.
Vigiles du roi Charles VII, Martial d’Auvergne — View source	Late fifteenth-century illustrated chronicle, produced around 1484	Provides later visual evidence for the French campaigns in Gascony. It should not be treated as eyewitness evidence for Blanquefort, and the separate miniature of the Siege of Blanquefort in 1453 must not be confused with the battle of 1450.