Memory Medieval

Among the descriptions of a nocturnal skirmish in medieval chronicles that is violent and detailed can be found in the records in 1427 in the Low Countries, when Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, launched a night assault on the ramparts of Amersfoort, which was held by rebels. During this assault, which took place on October 24, the alarm was raised and a fierce counterattack ensued, forcing the Burgundians to retreat. Among the members of the ducal household, Philip, Lord of Le Bois, the Duke’s chamberlain, was "killed by a deep pike thrust"; the squire Morelet du Ploich "had his head shattered by a stone; that destroyed his skull" and another squire, Le Bon de Saveuse, "was pulled from the moats half-dead". The night assault was of such violence that the Burgundian operation to retake the city was abandoned.

In the Middle Ages, waging war was not merely about fighting to the death; it also involved the arts, most notably through songs, during the Hundred Years' War and various other conflicts with unique ones. Some of these songs have survived and are still sung today. Dozens of songs and musical pieces were composed, sung, and performed in specific regions, towns, and taverns throughout the war in France, often in response to various military events. Some were simple compositions intended to encourage or mock such as for the siege of Orléans 1428-1429. They were discovered in the register of the lordship of Crosville, kept by a clerk named Raoul de Crosville between 1429 and 1474. They appear before the accounts for the year 1429, suggesting they were written during the siege itself ! They were published in 1894 by L. Jarry : The first, "De par Orliens" ("From Orléans"), is a fierce indictment of Salisbury, the English commander who lost an eye outside Orléans and died at Meung. It begins as follows: Salisbury, prince of arrogance, Of falsehood and of tyranny, Before Orléans he lost an eye, And at Meung he met his end. It accuses him of having the church of Notre-Dame de Cléry plundered and of breaking his promise to leave the lands of the Duke of Orléans untouched; it even recounts that, on the night before he was wounded, he dreamt that a wolf had scratched him. Finally, it advises the Duke of Bedford to stay warm and cozy with his wife, sipping "hypocras" (spiced wine), and to leave the war behind. The second piece, "Response d’Engloys" ("An Englishman’s Reply"), comes to the defense of the deceased: Salisbury was a valiant conqueror, loyal to his lord, and he did not die in dishonor. The author denies the looting of Cléry and turns the accusation back upon the people of Orléans, dismissing their insults toward a dead man as nothing more than a "petty vengeance." He concludes with a stinging line: Slander is no mark of true knighthood.