The Battle of Brissarthe was a decisive battle between Brittany and the Carolingian West Francia. It is significant in French history because Brittany’s win gave them peace for the first time in decades.

Background

By 866, Vikings had been plundering northern France on a regular basis.

The main sources of information for these raids are the Annals of Saint Bertin. Scribes in the court of Louis the Pious may have written them.

A picture of Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious Public Domain

Louis the Pious was Charlemagne’s son. He ruled over Europe but his sons fought over their inheritance. These were the Carolingian wars of succession. They culminated in the Battle of Fontenoy, where my ancestor Gerard d’Auvergne died.

In those days, Viking raids were an annual occurrence. After the War of Carolingian Succession, the European mainland was no longer united. Vikings preyed on this division. Their attacks on northern France were successful because there wasn’t a united fighting force to stop them.

Planning for battle

In 866 Robert, the commander of West Francia, assembled an army to crush the Bretons1. It is clear Robert considered the Bretons to be a more significant threat than any Viking attack. Robert’s army included my ancestor Duke Ranulf I of Aquitaine, amongst others1. Together they approached modern-day Brittany.

Salomon, the Duke of Brittany, forged an alliance with the Viking Sea-King Haesten1. Sources do not show if Vikings had attacked Brittany before or not. Whether they had or hadn’t, Salomon leveraged the old wartime maxim: ’the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’

A picture of Haesten, the Viking sea lord who fought at the battle of Brissarthe
Haesten the Viking
By Unknown author – Histoire Populaire de la France, 1st edition, Ch. Lahure’s Publication, Public Domain

The battle

On 2 July 866, West Francian forces approached the small village of Brise – Sarthe, now called Pont – sur – Sarthe2 1. A rumour spread that Salomon had taken refuge in a nearby church. Hearing this, Robert took some troops to attack the church, hoping to end the battle quickly1.

It was a trap1.

As Robert approached, Haesten and his Vikings rushed out of the nearby forest1 under cover of night fall3. Robert died in battle, and archers wounded Ranulf1. Ranulf later died of his wounds.

Breton forces advanced on the leaderless Francian army and cut them to shreds1.

As a result of this, the Holy Roman Empire recognised Salomon as King of the Bretons1.

  1. Battle of Brissarthe; WorldAnvil.com; 2019-11-07[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
  2. History of Normandy and England, The; Volume I; Sir Francis Palgrave; 1851-01[↩]
  3. Vikings in Maine 866; L’Hotel de Herce; (Retrieved 2020-02-10) [↩]