A glass of Champagne

The castles of Andelot and Wassy in Champagne, north-east France. In Easter 1297 Henri III, Count of Bar, invaded Champagne on behalf of his father-in-law, Edward I of England. Henri was a member of the English king’s grand alliance against Philip le Bel, and one of the few to actually go into action against the French.

 Henri did his best to make up for the failures of others. He split his army in two, the other led by his vassal, the Sire de Blémont. The count then plundered and destroyed the abbey of Beaulieu, burning the abbey, treasury and archives and carrying off sacred relics. Meanwhile his lieutenant ravaged Champagne, destroying villages and storming the aforesaid castles. Philip le Bel was busy in Flanders, so he sent his senesechal, Gercher de Cressy, at the head of an army of Champenois to counter-attack. Gercher invaded the Barrois, on the western frontier of Lorraine, and burnt the villages of Rosne, Belrain, Naives, Erize, Salmagne, Lavincourt and Culey.

This was the normal way of war, with both sides wasting the land and avoiding direct confrontation. Unusually, a battle was fought on this occasion as Gercher and Blémont’s armies clashed at Vaubécourt. Blémont was defeated and captured, and the battle remembered in French legend as the Battle of Louppy-le-Château. An engagement was fought at the same place in World War 1. A later French tradition, dating no earlier than 1579, claimed Henri himself was captured at Vaubécourt. In fact he remained at large, and ransomed his lieutenant for 2000 livres. Oddly, he borrowed the money from the Count of Hainault, who was supposed to be on the French side.

The bogus tradition has served to obscure Edward’s own military operations, since the king later gave Henri command of Welsh infantry in Flanders. Henri led the Welsh on frequent destructive raids into French territory, heaping pressure on Philip le Bel in the days leading up to the truce of Vyve-st-Baron.