Anglo-French War (1116–1119)

Anglo-French War (1116–1119)

PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: England vs. France

PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): Normandy

DECLARATION: No formal declaration

MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: Louis VI of France
attempted to annex English-held Maine and Brittany in
northwestern France.

OUTCOME: French forces were defeated; England
maintained its hold on its French possessions.

APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEN UNDER ARMS:
Fewer than 1,000 total (both French and English)

CASUALTIES: Few on either side

TREATIES: None

A trio of French leaders led by Capetian monarch Louis VI
(1081–1137), William Clito (c. 1101–28)—the son of
imprisoned Robert Curthose (c. 1054–1134) and nephew
of Henry I (1068–1139)—and Fulk (1092–1143) of Anjou
stepped up their harassment of the Anglo-Norman government.
Although Louis VI’s motivations were to divert
English attentions from his own interest in annexing the
provinces of Maine and Brittany, Louis also had as his
object ending the English presence on French soil.
During the early years of the war the French managed
to repel all English advances, but on August 20, 1119,
Henry’s troops defeated the French at the Battle of
Bermule. Fewer than 1,000 men were engaged, and there
were only a few casualties, but the demonstration of the
superiority of Henry’s forces was sufficient to prompt
Louis to sue for peace on Henry’s terms. The war ended in
1119, with Louis accepting English suzerainty over Brittany
and Maine, a concession that reaffirmed Henry’s
claim to Normandy and greatly diminished the Capetian
influence in northern France. Nevertheless, the Capetians
continued to exercise an unprecedented degree of control
over most of France and would do so well into the 14th
century, thereby laying the foundation of the French
nation-state.

See also ANGLO-FRENCH WAR (1109–1113); ANGLOFRENCH
WAR (1123–1135); NORMAN CONQUEST.

Further reading: Frank Barlow, The Feudal Kingdom
of England, 1042–1216 (London: Longman, 1972); John
Le Patourel, The Norman Empire (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1976).