Robert Knolles
Encyclopedia
Sir Robert Knolles was an important English
soldier
of the Hundred Years' War
, who, operating with the tacit support of the Crown
, succeeded in taking the only two major French
cities, other than Calais
and Poitiers
, to fall to Edward III
. His methods, however, earned him infamy as a freebooter and a ravager: the ruined gables of burned buildings came to be known as "Knolly's mitres".
Born in Cheshire
, Knolles first appears as the captain of several castle
s throughout Brittany
in the mid-14th century, including Fougeray, Gravelle and Chateaublanc. He was one of the English champions at the Combat of the Thirty
in 1351, where he was captured. He then contributed himself and 800 men to the 1356 chevauchée
of Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster
through Normandy
, a diversionary campaign to draw King John II of France
north and thus leave the Black Prince
free to embark on the famous Poitiers campaign. With France in disarray after the Battle of Poitiers
, King Charles II of Navarre
assumed command of the rebellion in Paris, and Knolles joined up with the army of Philip of Navarre
(Charles' younger brother) as they temporarily held the capital against the Dauphin in 1358.
Knolles' finest hours were to come that Autumn when he led a Great Company of 2,000–3,000 Anglo-Gascons into the Loire Valley
, establishing several forward garrisons at important towns like Châteauneuf-Val-de-Bargis
. He then advanced into the Nivernais
, which was unsuccessfully defended for Margaret III of Flanders by the Archpriest Arnaud de Cervole
, the adventurer who had raised the first Great Company the previous year.
In 1359 Knolles reached Auxerre
, which fell after a two month siege on March 10. After the city had surrendered, Knolles was knight
ed by two subordinates, previously he had formally only been ranked as a squire
. The sack of Auxerre proceeded with little violence and destruction, Knolles and his soldiers were professionals who intended to maximize their profit. The city was carefully ransacked for valuables and the citizens assessed for ransom. At the end a huge ransom was extorted for not destroying the city, although this was only partly paid. The following month he returned to Chateauneuf to plot the invasion of the Rhône Valley
with Hugh Calveley
. Marching south, a forward base was established on the Allier River
at Pont-du-Chateau
, from where they launched the invasion of the Velay. Knolles then reunited with Calveley to besiege the important city of Le Puy
, which fell in July 1359. As they continued to the Papal
city of Avignon
, their path was barred by the army of Thomas de la Marche, Deputy for Louis II, Duke of Bourbon
, at which point both English commanders retreated and dissolved their companies.
Knolles returned to Brittany an even richer man than he had set out and remained active, invading Maine
in 1360, participating in John de Montfort
's noteworthy siege of Auray
in July 1364, and joining the Black Prince at the Battle of Nájera (Navarrete) of 1367.
In 1370 he was given a large grant of lands and money to raise an army to invade northern France. He landed at Calais
in August with 6,000 mounted men and carried out a raid deep into French territory, burning villages on the outskirts of Paris but failing to bring the French King Charles V
out to battle. He then turned towards Gascony and began capturing and fortifying castles and churches in the region between the rivers Loir
and Loire
. However he had to cope with much criticism from his younger subordinate commanders such as Sir John Minsterworth who were spoiling for a fight. When it became known that French armies under the command of Bertrand du Guesclin
were closing in on them, Knolles proposed to retreat into Brittany but most of the army refused. He therefore marched away with his own retinue, leaving the bulk of the army where they were, to be comprehensively defeated and slaughtered at the Battle of Pontvallain
on 4 December.
Knolles passed the winter in his castle at Derval
on the Breton March and afterwards attempted to evacuate his men and those of Minsterworth, who had managed to join him with his surviving troop, from the port of Saint-Mathieu
. However for lack of ships most of the English soldiers had to be left behind on the shore to be wiped out by the French under Olivier de Clisson
. In 1372 Knolles was found by the King's Council to bear the major responsibility for this disaster. He was stripped of the lands that had been given him as his fee for raising the army and fined 10,000 marks.
He died at his seat in Sculthorpe, Norfolk in 1407.
He also founded Trinity Hospital, Pontefract
and helped to suppress the Peasants' Revolt
.
Knolles' coat of arms decorates the postern
tower of Bodiam Castle
, Sussex
. It was a statement of loyalty to Knolles by its builder, Edward Dalyngrigge who served under Knolles in a Free Company
during the Hundred Years' War.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
of the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
, who, operating with the tacit support of the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
, succeeded in taking the only two major French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
cities, other than Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
and Poitiers
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
, to fall to Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
. His methods, however, earned him infamy as a freebooter and a ravager: the ruined gables of burned buildings came to be known as "Knolly's mitres".
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, Knolles first appears as the captain of several castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
s throughout Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
in the mid-14th century, including Fougeray, Gravelle and Chateaublanc. He was one of the English champions at the Combat of the Thirty
Combat of the Thirty
The Combat of the Thirty [known as Combat des Trente in French] was an episode in the struggle for the succession to the Duchy of Brittany...
in 1351, where he was captured. He then contributed himself and 800 men to the 1356 chevauchée
Chevauchée
A chevauchée was a raiding method of medieval warfare for weakening the enemy, focusing mainly on wreaking havoc, burning and pillaging enemy territory, in order to reduce the productivity of a region; as opposed to siege warfare or wars of conquest...
of Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster
Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster
Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, 4th Earl of Leicester and Lancaster, KG , also Earl of Derby, was a member of the English nobility in the 14th century, and a prominent English diplomat, politician, and soldier...
through Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, a diversionary campaign to draw King John II of France
John II of France
John II , called John the Good , was the King of France from 1350 until his death. He was the second sovereign of the House of Valois and is perhaps best remembered as the king who was vanquished at the Battle of Poitiers and taken as a captive to England.The son of Philip VI and Joan the Lame,...
north and thus leave the Black Prince
Edward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....
free to embark on the famous Poitiers campaign. With France in disarray after the Battle of Poitiers
Battle of Poitiers (1356)
The Battle of Poitiers was fought between the Kingdoms of England and France on 19 September 1356 near Poitiers, resulting in the second of the three great English victories of the Hundred Years' War: Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt....
, King Charles II of Navarre
Charles II of Navarre
Charles II , called "Charles the Bad", was King of Navarre 1349-1387 and Count of Évreux 1343-1387....
assumed command of the rebellion in Paris, and Knolles joined up with the army of Philip of Navarre
Philip, Count of Longueville
Philip of Navarre, Count of Longueville was a younger brother and supporter of Charles II of Navarre, a claimant to the French throne. The son of Philip III of Navarre and Joan II of Navarre, he married Yolande of Flanders in 1353. She was the daughter of Robert of Flanders and Jeanne of...
(Charles' younger brother) as they temporarily held the capital against the Dauphin in 1358.
Knolles' finest hours were to come that Autumn when he led a Great Company of 2,000–3,000 Anglo-Gascons into the Loire Valley
Loire Valley
The Loire Valley , spanning , is located in the middle stretch of the Loire River in central France. Its area comprises approximately . It is referred to as the Cradle of the French Language, and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards, and artichoke, asparagus, and...
, establishing several forward garrisons at important towns like Châteauneuf-Val-de-Bargis
Châteauneuf-Val-de-Bargis
Châteauneuf-Val-de-Bargis is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France.-Demographics:At the 1999 census, the population was 554. On 1 January 2004, the estimate was 565.-References:*...
. He then advanced into the Nivernais
Nivernais
Nivernais is former province of France, around the city of Nevers and the département of Nièvre.The raw climate and soils cause the area to be heavily wooded.- References :* Chamber's Encyclopedia Volume 10 page 50...
, which was unsuccessfully defended for Margaret III of Flanders by the Archpriest Arnaud de Cervole
Arnaud de Cervole
Arnaud de Cervole, also de Cervolles, de Cervolle, Arnaut de Cervole or Arnold of Cervoles , known as l'Archiprêtre , was a French mercenary soldier during the Hundred Years' War.-Early career:...
, the adventurer who had raised the first Great Company the previous year.
In 1359 Knolles reached Auxerre
Auxerre
Auxerre is a commune in the Bourgogne region in north-central France, between Paris and Dijon. It is the capital of the Yonne department.Auxerre's population today is about 45,000...
, which fell after a two month siege on March 10. After the city had surrendered, Knolles was knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed by two subordinates, previously he had formally only been ranked as a squire
Squire
The English word squire is a shortened version of the word Esquire, from the Old French , itself derived from the Late Latin , in medieval or Old English a scutifer. The Classical Latin equivalent was , "arms bearer"...
. The sack of Auxerre proceeded with little violence and destruction, Knolles and his soldiers were professionals who intended to maximize their profit. The city was carefully ransacked for valuables and the citizens assessed for ransom. At the end a huge ransom was extorted for not destroying the city, although this was only partly paid. The following month he returned to Chateauneuf to plot the invasion of the Rhône Valley
Rhône River
The Rhone is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in Switzerland and running from there through southeastern France. At Arles, near its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides into two branches, known as the Great Rhone and the Little Rhone...
with Hugh Calveley
Hugh Calveley
Sir Hugh Calveley was an English soldier and commander, who took part in the Hundred Years' War, gaining fame during the War of the Breton Succession and the Castilian Civil War...
. Marching south, a forward base was established on the Allier River
Allier River
The Allier is a river in central France, and is the left tributary to the Loire River. Its source is in the Massif Central, in the Lozère département, east of Mende. It flows generally north...
at Pont-du-Chateau
Pont-du-Château
Pont-du-Château is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-Geography:Located at 15 km from Clermont-Ferrand , Pont-du-Château is a regional town laying near a strategic crossroad of motorways connecting Paris to Barcelona and Lyon to Bordeaux.Pont-du-Château, a...
, from where they launched the invasion of the Velay. Knolles then reunited with Calveley to besiege the important city of Le Puy
Le Puy-en-Velay
Le Puy-en-Velay is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France.Its inhabitants are called Ponots.-History:Le Puy-en-Velay was a major bishopric in medieval France, founded early, though its early history is legendary...
, which fell in July 1359. As they continued to the Papal
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
city of Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
, their path was barred by the army of Thomas de la Marche, Deputy for Louis II, Duke of Bourbon
Louis II, Duke of Bourbon
Louis de Bourbon, called the Good , son of Peter de Bourbon and Isabella de Valois, was the third Duke of Bourbon....
, at which point both English commanders retreated and dissolved their companies.
Knolles returned to Brittany an even richer man than he had set out and remained active, invading Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
in 1360, participating in John de Montfort
John V, Duke of Brittany
John V the Conqueror KG was Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort, from 1345 until his death.-Numbering:...
's noteworthy siege of Auray
Auray
Auray is a commune located in the Morbihan department of Brittany in France. Inhabitants of Auray are called Alréens.-Geography:The city is surrounded by the communes of Crac'h to the south and west, Brech to the north and Pluneret to the east. It is crossed by the Loch, a small coastal river...
in July 1364, and joining the Black Prince at the Battle of Nájera (Navarrete) of 1367.
In 1370 he was given a large grant of lands and money to raise an army to invade northern France. He landed at Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
in August with 6,000 mounted men and carried out a raid deep into French territory, burning villages on the outskirts of Paris but failing to bring the French King Charles V
Charles V of France
Charles V , called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380 and a member of the House of Valois...
out to battle. He then turned towards Gascony and began capturing and fortifying castles and churches in the region between the rivers Loir
Loir
The Loir is a river in western France. It is a left tributary of the Sarthe River. Its source is in the Eure-et-Loir département, north of Illiers-Combray...
and Loire
Loire
Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...
. However he had to cope with much criticism from his younger subordinate commanders such as Sir John Minsterworth who were spoiling for a fight. When it became known that French armies under the command of Bertrand du Guesclin
Bertrand du Guesclin
Bertrand du Guesclin , known as the Eagle of Brittany or the Black Dog of Brocéliande, was a Breton knight and French military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was Constable of France from 1370 to his death...
were closing in on them, Knolles proposed to retreat into Brittany but most of the army refused. He therefore marched away with his own retinue, leaving the bulk of the army where they were, to be comprehensively defeated and slaughtered at the Battle of Pontvallain
Battle of Pontvallain
The Battle of Pontvallain was an important battle in France’s Hundred Years War with England. It was fought in early December 1370 in the Sarthe region between English forces that had broken away from the army commanded by the English knight Sir Robert Knolles and a French army under the...
on 4 December.
Knolles passed the winter in his castle at Derval
Derval
Derval is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.Derval is twinned with Llanidloes, a small town in Wales....
on the Breton March and afterwards attempted to evacuate his men and those of Minsterworth, who had managed to join him with his surviving troop, from the port of Saint-Mathieu
Saint-Mathieu
Saint-Mathieu is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Limousin region in west-central France.Inhabitants are known as Mathuséens.-References:*...
. However for lack of ships most of the English soldiers had to be left behind on the shore to be wiped out by the French under Olivier de Clisson
Olivier de Clisson
Olivier de Clisson , nicknamed "The Butcher", was a Breton soldier, the son of the Olivier de Clisson who was put to death in 1343 on the suspicion of having wished to give up Nantes to the English.- Biography :...
. In 1372 Knolles was found by the King's Council to bear the major responsibility for this disaster. He was stripped of the lands that had been given him as his fee for raising the army and fined 10,000 marks.
He died at his seat in Sculthorpe, Norfolk in 1407.
He also founded Trinity Hospital, Pontefract
Pontefract
Pontefract is an historic market town in West Yorkshire, England. Traditionally in the West Riding, near the A1 , the M62 motorway and Castleford. It is one of the five towns in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield and has a population of 28,250...
and helped to suppress the Peasants' Revolt
Peasants' Revolt
The Peasants' Revolt, Wat Tyler's Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England. Tyler's Rebellion was not only the most extreme and widespread insurrection in English history but also the...
.
Knolles' coat of arms decorates the postern
Postern
A postern is a secondary door or gate, particularly in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often located in a concealed location, allowing the occupants to come and go inconspicuously. In the event of a siege, a postern could act as a sally port, allowing...
tower of Bodiam Castle
Bodiam Castle
Bodiam Castle is a 14th-century moated castle near Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II, ostensibly to defend the area against French invasion during the Hundred Years' War...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
. It was a statement of loyalty to Knolles by its builder, Edward Dalyngrigge who served under Knolles in a Free Company
Free company
A free company or free lance was a late medieval army of mercenaries acting independently of any government, and thus "free". They were not called "free" because their services were gratis, rather they sold their services to the highest bidder...
during the Hundred Years' War.