Battle of Montlhéry

The tower of the castle of Montlhéry

Date	16 July 1465
Location	Between Montlhéry and Longjumeau, south of Paris
Result	Indecisive, French strategic victory

Belligerents

Duchy of Burgundy

Kingdom of France

Commanders and leaders

Charles, Count of Charolais

Louis XI of France
Charles, Count of Maine
Pierre de Brézé †

Strength

c. 20,000

c. 15,000

Casualties and losses

2,000

The Battle of Montlhéry was fought between Louis XI and the League of the Public Weal on 16 July 1465 in the vicinity of Longpont-sur-Orge. It had no clear winner and therefore did not decide the war.

Philip the Good had supported and even hosted Louis XI during his dispute with his father Charles VII. Still, or possibly even because he knew him that well after having lived for four years at his court, Louis XI resented the ambitions of Philip, who relentlessly expanded his duchy and behaved like a king in his own right. Louis XI had been King of France for four years already when Philip the Good, henceforth represented by his son Charles the Bold, Count of Charolais, allied with John II, Duke of Bourbon and Francis II, Duke of Brittany. Together they assembled an army that was considered strong enough to extort independence from Louis XI.

Louis XI was backed up by Gaston IV, Count of Foix, the big cities and all provinces (like Languedoc, Normandy, Champagne, Dauphiné and others). His army grew rapidly and enforced Picardy's border to Burgundy. He put the defence of this border into the hands of Joachim Rouault, sent Charles, Count of Maine (his uncle) with twelve thousand soldiers against the ruler of Brittany and took the rest of his army (including the Scottish Guard) in April against the Bourbons. After he had conquered Moulins the Duke of Bourbon and other members of the League of the Public Weal signed a peace treaty on the King's conditions. The Burgundians arrived at the end of May in Champagne and reached Saint-Denis on 5 July. Not meeting any resistance they marched further and eventually attacked Paris. Brittany's army arrived on 13 July at Beaugency and intended to join forces with the Burgundians and to attack the King's army with a force of 35,000 men. Confronted with an invasion of Champagne and an attack on Paris at the same time, Louis XI split his army. His infantry and artillery kept marching toward Burgundy but he went north while Paris was already surrounded by enemies. Eventually he and his uncle, the comte du Maine, attacked Brittany's army from two sides and hindered it successfully to fuse with the Burgundians. In the night of 14-15 July the army of Louis XI rejoined the forces led by his uncle. Together they prepared for battle.

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Wikipedia