Category Archives: Centre

Battle of Patay

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After the liberation of Orléans, Jeanne d’Arc turned her attention to other English-held towns in the Loire Valley. While far-less-known than the famous royal châteaux, these villages offer opportunities to view medieval castles and churches of a simpler style. Wandering their narrow streets can sometimes present quaint sights of life in rural France.

03a Battle of Patay: 18 June 1429
Département: Loiret
Region: Centre
Country: France

A French Battlefields “Virtual Battlefield Tour” [This battlefield is not included in Fields of War.]

Summary: The siege of Orléans had been lifted, but the English Army, led by John Talbot, the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, still controlled bridges across the Loire River at Jargeau, Meung-s/Loire, and Beaugency. In addition, Sir John Fastolf was leading an English relief column from Paris. After a short rest and with reinforcements in the form of Duke Jean II of Alençon’s troops, Jeanne set about retaking Jargeau (12 June), the Meung-s/Loire bridge (15 June) and Beaugency (16 June). The combined French forces pursued the retreating English Army and won a decisive open-field battle near Patay (18 June). The victory turned the tide of the war.

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Siege of Orléans

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03 Siege of Orléans: 12 October 1428 to 8 May 1429
Département: Loiret
Region: Centre
Country: France

A French Battlefields “Virtual Battlefield Tour”. This battle is more fully described in Fields of War: Fifty Key Battlefields in France and Belgium published by French Battlefields.

Summary: Orléans controlled one of the few bridges crossing the dangerous Loire River, a major commercial waterway. Capture of the city offered the English control of the entire Loire valley. The walled city was placed under siege by the Earl of Salisbury’s forces and, as winter changed into spring, the inhabitants were increasingly weakened by shortages of food and desertions. Jeanne d’Arc, then only a 17-year old peasant girl, convinced the French Dauphin to grant her an army to lift the siege. Personally leading successive attacks, she entered the city, stormed various English strongpoints, and finally overcame Les Tourelles. The siege was lifted.


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