The War in the Low Countries
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The War in the Low Countries Jan van Herwaarden Froissart: Historian (1981) As a native of Hainault, Froissart naturally enough showed a keen interest in the history of the Low Countries, an interest stimulated (we may well imagine) by the fact that his major patrons – Robert of Namur, Wenceslas of Brabant, and the house of Blois – either ruled in that area or had major territorial or dynastic concerns there. It is therefore scarcely surprising that events in the Low Countries, and in particular in Flanders, Brabant and Hainault, are a recurring theme running through the whole of the Chronicles from the very earliest chapters of Book I to the final page of Book IV. But though Froissart had compelling reasons for wishing to include much of the history of the Low Countries, he rarely allowed his personal predilections or the interests of his patrons to dictate the overall shape of his work. He had one great theme to which all else was subordinated: the colossal struggle between Plantagenet and Valois for hegemony in western Europe which so overwhelmingly dominated the international scene throughout his lifetime. To this theme Froissart adhered with remarkable fidelity from beginning to end of his vast work. Anything which did not directly relate to this epic struggle, he ruthlessly discarded. Despite his slavish dependence upon the narrative of Jean le Bel for the period prior to 1362, for instance, Froissart jettisoned whale blocks of Le Bel’s chapters devoted to the internal history of the Low Countries (Le Bel I, 220-44). No matter how important in their own right, the domestic events of the Low Countries were of no interest to Froissart unless they were relevant to the greater events of the war between England and France. As a consequence, his attention to the affairs of the Low Countries is intermittent, episodic. The rulers of Brabant, Flanders, Hainault, Namur, Liege etc. make fleeting appearances throughout the narrative but are rarely on .stage for any length of time. Only when the Low Countries itself became the focus of Anglo-French concern did Froissart fix his attention on the area for sufficiently long to make his narrative of first importance for historians of the Low Countries. He, did so on three main occasions: between 1326-8, 1337-40 and 1379-85. Of these three, the last is by far the most sustained, complex and interesting piece of historical analysis. The reasons are not far to seek. The two previous episodes; both recounted in Book I, are both derived from the Chronicle of Jean le Bel; and although Froissart made significant alterations and additions to the narrative of his predecessor – particularly in his account of the van Artevelde era – , the basic structure and much of the detail of his version is taken from Le Bel. His account of the events of the years 1379-85 in Book II, however, is the work of a mature and independent historian. When he came to write this part of his Chronicles, Froissart had left his model behind him. He had reached a mature middle age, had had long experience of courts and politics, had written tens of thousands of words of history, and was writing about the events of his own adult lifetime which had taken place in an area with which he was personally familiar and had many possible sources of information. Any analysis of Froissart’s presentation of the social, economic and political history of the Low Countries must therefore concentrate very heavily on this particular section of the Chronicles. Despite its feudal dependence upon France, the county of Flanders had much closer economic ties with England,2 a fact which was to colour its relationship to the two great 1/19 powers throughout the course of their struggle. Froissart was well aware of this. Commenting upon the events of c.1370, he remarked (I, 547; Johnes I, 409): `the commonalties of Flanders maintained the quarrel between the two kings to be more just on the part of England than of France’, so it is understandable that the representatives of the three towns Bruges, Ghent and Ypres `resolved that it was not for their advantage to be at war or to have any ill-will with the English, who were their neighbours and connected with them by commerce, on account of any quarrel of their count, nor would it be expedient for them to aid and support him.’ Thus attitude was formed slowly during, the van Artevelde era (1338-45), when Flanders developed into one of the sheetanchors of Edward III’s system of continental. alliances during the early years of the Hundred Years War. Van Artevelde (Lucas 1933) and the Flemish towns felt justified in this attitude by the pro-French stance taken by their count, Louis of Nevers (1322-46). Originally intent only upon neutrality to protect their commerce, the Flemings were gradually driven into an alliance with Edward III by the combined effects of economic and political pressure exerted by the English king and the intransigence of Louis of Nevers.3 Yet feudal loyalties were still strongly felt even by townsmen, and it was only after Edward III had received homage at Ghent as king of France in January 1340 – three years after the beginning of the war – that the Flemings lent him active support against the French.4 Successive versions of Book I of Froissart’s Chronicles reveal an increasing appreciation of the importance of van Artevelde. His first edition does no more than copy the narrative of Jean le Bel, whereas the second and third editions focus much more sharply on van Artevelde and deal with his circumstances at greater length.5 It may be doubted whether this is a reflection of Froissart’s growing sympathy, since all versions recount the tale of van Artevelde’s domestic tyranny which the chronicler had borrowed from Le Bel (I, 59-60; III, 454-8; Diller, 261-2, 270); but it undoubtedly reflects Froissart’s growing awareness of the importance of van Artevelde’s leadership in shaping events between 1338 and 1345, and in influencing the future role of Flanders in the. Hundred Years War. The services of van Artevelde were remembered and applauded in the. 1380s, asFroissart records in Book II (II, 144-6; Cronyke, 125-9). Froissart also showed an appreciation of the stresses and strains which van Artevelde’s policy produced within the urban communities of Flanders. According to one of the versions of Book I, James van Artevelde was supported by the whole communalty of Ghent and a considerable part of the wealthier burghers, the poorterie (III, 454). In this way, Froissart suggests divisions within the poorterie, to which van Artevelde as a broker just failed to belong.6 These disagreements probably concerned the extent to which the count’s policy should be accepted or rejected. Van Artevelde and his supporters felt that the pro-French policy of the count was detrimental to the interests of Ghent and her trades, which required good relations with England. Another aspect of the van Artevelde period with which Froissart deals, is the highly important question of the relationship between the towns of Flanders. He shows how van Artevelde co-operated with the towns of Bruges and.Ypres in matters of general Flemish concern and even suggests that representatives of the (agrarian) Franc de Bruges were involved in these decisions (III, 471), though this seems to be a confusion with the situation under Louis of Male (1346-84).7 However, the degree of harmony between the towns should not be exaggerated as Ghent dominated internal policies and people from Ghent were nominated as the real governors of the smaller towns in the Quarter of Ghent and even in Ypres.8 The count had held such imperialist tendencies in check. In his absence, they could flourish.9 2/19 Froissart was aware, however, that van Artevelde did not have matters all his own way and that his situation was highly insecure. Opposition to the legitimate ruler was a risky course in the fourteenth century, and, according to Froissart, it was van Artevelde’s appreciation of this fact and his efforts to compensate for it, which led to his death. The wish to recognise Edward as suzerain and the prince of Wales (the Black Prince) as duke of Flanders (I, 204; Diller, 633), in order to exclude completely both Louis of Nevers and his son Louis of Male, was suggested by him as `he always mistrusted the Flemings because he thought them fickle’ (Diller, 633). However, this plan challenged the powerful loyalties towards the lawful and natural ruler. Moreover, according to Froissart, van Artevelde’s policies aroused the distrust of the duke of Brabant, John III(1312-55), who had meanwhile been reconciled with Louis of Nevers (the count was even living in Brussels) and who feared that Ghent’s example would inspire opposition from his own towns. John III considered the pro-English policies of the Flemings unfavourable for his territories, and he was considering a marriage between one of his daughters and the heir of Flanders, Louis of Male, which made those policies even less acceptable. The duke of Brabant, according to Froissart’s final version, was cause de ceste aventure with regard to Artevelde’s death. He is said to have enabled the dean of the weavers to strike him down as a traitor, despite the fact that this dean had van Artevelde to thank for his post. Van Artevelde had been forced to support him in a power struggle between weavers and fullers; but is supposed to have tried to break this newly acquired power by means of the treaty with England – which meanwhile had probably been accepted by Bruges and Ypres.10 This story in the final version of Book I puts the murder of James van Artevelde in an entirely different light from that of the first version where, it is true, the English plan was also involved, but where van Artevelde’s unpopularity is said to have been caused by his sending illegally acquired money over to England (I, 205) – a rumour that did not prevent Froissart, even in.