{{Short description|1512 naval battle during the War of the League of Cambrai}} {{hatnote|This article is about the 1512 battle. For the 15 May 1293 battle, also between English and French sailors, see [[Gascon War]].}} {{hatnote|"Battle of St Matthew" redirects here. For the 1217 battle during the Livonian Crusade, see [[Battle of St Matthew's Day]]. For the 20th-century Northern Irish battle, see [[Battle of St Matthew's]].}} {{Infobox military conflict | conflict = Battle of Saint-Mathieu | partof = the [[War of the League of Cambrai]] | image = Cordeliere and Regent.jpg | caption = 16th-century illustration made to accompany a [[Germain de Brie]] poem, showing ''Marie-la-Cordelière'' and ''Regent'' on fire | date = 10 August 1512 | place = Off [[Pointe Saint-Mathieu]], [[Iroise Sea]] | coordinates = {{Coord|48.33|-4.77|display=inline,title}} | result = English victory | combatant1 = [[Kingdom of England|England]] | combatant2 = [[Kingdom of France|France]] <br /> [[Duchy of Brittany|Brittany]] | commander1 = [[Edward Howard (admiral)|Edward Howard]] | commander2 = [[René de Clermont]] | strength1 = 25 warships | strength2 = 22 warships | casualties1 = 400 killed <br /> 1 warship destroyed | casualties2 = 1,230 killed <br /> 1 warship destroyed | campaignbox = {{Campaignbox War of the League of Cambrai}} <br /> {{Campaignbox Italian Wars}} }}
The '''Battle of Saint-Mathieu''' took place on 10 August 1512 during the [[War of the League of Cambrai]], near [[Brest, France]], between an English fleet of 25 ships commanded by Sir [[Edward Howard (admiral)|Edward Howard]] and a Franco-Breton fleet of 22 ships commanded by [[René de Clermont]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clabby |first=Simon |date=2014-04-17 |title=The first battle of the Mary Rose |url=https://maryrose.org/blog/the-first-battle-of-the-mary-rose/ |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=The Mary Rose |language=en}}</ref> It is possibly the first battle between ships using cannon through ports, although this played a minor role in the fighting.<ref>{{cite web |title=Great Sea Fights 5: A Tudor Battle in the Reign of Henry VIII, 10 August, 1512. |url=https://snr.org.uk/the-mariners-mirror-podcast/great-sea-fights-5-a-tudor-battle-in-the-reign-of-henry-viii-10-august-1512/ |website=The Society for Nautical Research |access-date=March 24, 2026}}</ref> This was one of only two full-fledged naval battles fought by [[Henry VIII of England|King Henry VIII]]'s [[Tudor navy]], along with the later [[Battle of the Solent]].<ref name="Konstam2008">{{cite book|last=Konstam|first=Angus|title=Tudor Warships (1): Henry VIII's Navy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YKqsjKHwQ-8C&pg=PA41|access-date=9 August 2012|date=2008|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1846032516|page=41}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> During the battle, each navy's largest and most powerful ship — ''[[HMS Regent| Regent]]'' and the ''Marie-la-Cordelière'' (or simply ''Cordelière'') – were destroyed in a large explosion aboard the latter.
==Background== Although the [[War of the League of Cambrai]], sometimes known as the War of the Holy League (among several alternative names), was largely an Italian war, nearly every significant power in Western Europe participated at one point or another, including France, England, and Brittany. The latter was de facto independent of France, although the Dukes of Brittany were vassals to the French King.
When war with France broke out in April 1512, England's [[Edward Howard (admiral)|Edward Howard]] was appointed admiral of a fleet sent by King Henry VIII to control the sea between [[Brest, France|Brest]] and the [[River Thames|Thames]] estuary. Howard seized vessels of various nationalities on the pretext that they were carrying French cargoes. At the beginning of June, he escorted to [[Brittany]] an army which Henry sent to France under the command of [[Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset]], with the hope of recovering [[Guyenne]]. Howard then raided [[Le Conquet]] and [[Crozon]] on the Breton coast. During June and July, Howard effectively controlled the [[English Channel]] and is said to have captured more than 60 vessels. By August, a French-Breton fleet had assembled at Brest; Howard moved to attack them.<ref>Loades, David (2008). ''Howard, Sir Edward (1476/7–1513), naval commander''; ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''.</ref>
==Battle== [[File:Combat de La Cordelière devant Saint-Mathieu-Pierre-Juilien Gilbert mg 8266.jpg|thumb|1838 painting of the battle by [[Pierre-Julien Gilbert]] which inaccurately shows late-16th century ship designs]]
Well informed about the Franco-Breton manoeuvres, the English surprised them at anchor.<ref name="Toudouze">[http://www.hermine.org/simclient/integration/hermine/stream.asp?instance=incipio&BASEEID=INCIPIO_HERMINE&EIDMPA=COBB_A_1955_006_014_1 Georges G. Toudouze, ''Hervé de Portz-Moguer et "Marie la Cordelière", d'après les témoins oculaires de 1512'', in Fantômes des Combat]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Unprepared and confronted by a superior fleet, all the French and Breton ships cut their anchor cables and spread their sails.<ref name="Toudouze"/> By accident, about 300 guests, including some women, were visiting the Breton flagship ''Marie-la-Cordelière'' when it was attacked. In the hurry, [[Hervé de Portzmoguer]], the captain of the ship, could not disembark them and the crew was thus reinforced by those "involuntary" combatants who, however, fought bravely.<ref name="Toudouze"/>
''Marie-la-Cordelière'' and ''Petite Louise'' confronted the English to cover the retreat of the rest of the French fleet to the port of [[Brest, France|Brest]].<ref name="Toudouze"/> Under English fire, the 1,000-ton ''Marie-la-Cordelière'',<ref name="Toudouze"/> one of the largest warships of her era,<ref name="Holmes2006">{{cite book|last=Holmes|first=George C. V.|title=Ancient and Modern Ships V1: Wooden Sailing Ships|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eJBnFQJDXDIC&pg=PA93|access-date=9 August 2012|date=2006|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=978-1428647510|page=93}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> sailed towards the 600-ton ''Regent'',<ref name="Toudouze"/> which was the largest and most powerful ship in the [[Tudor navy]].<ref name="Knight1838">{{cite book|last=Knight|first=Charles|title=The Penny magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wKffAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA136|access-date=9 August 2012|year=1838|publisher=Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge|page=136}}</ref> ''Sovereign'' and ''Mary James'' rushed to rescue ''Regent'' and surrounded ''Marie-la-Cordelière'', while the superior fire of ''[[Mary Rose]]'' badly damaged the ''Petite Louise'' which was forced to retreat.<ref name="Toudouze"/> ''Marie-la-Cordelière'' remained alone among the English fleet, with the exception of the small ''Nef-de-Dieppe'' which harassed the English ships.<ref name="Toudouze"/> ''Marie-la-Cordelière''{{'}}s cannons dismasted both ''Sovereign'' and ''Mary James'' which became ungovernable and drifted in the [[Iroise Sea]].<ref name="Toudouze"/>
De Portzmoguer proceeded to order his crew to capture ''Regent''.<ref name="Toudouze"/> [[Grappling hook]]s were thrown and the two ships were tied together.<ref name="Toudouze"/> The seamen of ''Marie-la-Cordelière'' rushed on ''Regent''{{'}}s deck which was constantly being reinforced by English ships transferring their crews onto ''Regent''.<ref name="Toudouze"/> ''Nef-de-Dieppe'' manoeuvered to bombard these new assailants.<ref name="Toudouze"/> The deck of ''Regent'' was covered by blood when ''Marie-la-Cordelière'' suddenly exploded. The flames spread to the ''Regent'' and both ships blew up and sank.<ref name="Toudouze"/> The crews of both ships were almost entirely annihilated. Only 20 wounded sailors out of 1,250 were saved from the ''Cordelière'', and of the 460-strong crew of ''Regent'' only 60 were rescued.<ref name="Toudouze"/> Howard was devastated by the death of [[Thomas Knyvett]], the captain of ''Regent'', and vowed "that he will never see the King in the face till he hath revenged the death of the noble and valiant knight, Sir Thomas Knyvet."<ref name="Starkey2004">{{cite book|last=Starkey|first=David|title=Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zVn-x5kuBVgC&pg=PA132|access-date=9 August 2012|date=2004|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0060005504|page=132}}</ref>
==Aftermath==
Over the next two days, with the French fleet in Brest, the English fleet captured or destroyed thirty-two French vessels and recovered the valuable French anchors{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}} before returning to England.<ref name="Spont1897">{{cite book|last=Spont|first=Alfred|title=Letters and papers relating to the war with France, 1512–1513|url=https://archive.org/details/lettersandpaper00spongoog|year=1897|publisher=Navy Records Society|pages=xxv–xxviii}}</ref> As a result of the engagement Sir Edward Howard was made [[British Admiralty|Lord High Admiral]] by {{nowrap|Henry VIII}}.<ref name="Grant2011">{{cite book|last=Grant|first=R. G.|title=Battle at Sea: 3,000 Years of Naval Warfare|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AE8dQ8gvow8C&pg=PA84|access-date=9 August 2012|date=2011|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0756657017|page=84}}</ref> Brittany and France were still de facto separate states at the time, although the [[Anne of Brittany|Duchess Anne]] was a vassal of King [[Louis XII of France]], whom she had also recently married. The combination of the French and Breton fleets was thus the first significant military action in which the two countries fought together, twenty four years after the [[Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier (1488)]], the last battle between them. It thus became symbolic within Brittany of the unity between Brittany and France.
The destruction of the Breton ship ''Marie la Cordelière'' quickly became famous. French poets Humbert de Montmoret and [[Germain de Brie]] both wrote poems about it.<ref name="Tournoy1980">{{cite book|last=Tournoy|first=Gilbert|title=Humanistica Lovaniensia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iCXp0xAxKbQC&pg=PA176|access-date=9 August 2012|date=1980|publisher=Leuven University Press|isbn=978-9061861072|page=176}}</ref> The latter work presented such an exaggeratedly heroic version of the death of Hervé de Portzmoguer, that it occasioned a satirical response from [[Thomas More]], leading to a literary battle between More and de Brie.<ref name="Marius1999">{{cite book|last=Marius|first=Richard|title=Thomas More: A Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DdAYSzj20t0C&pg=PA58|access-date=9 August 2012|year=1999|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0674885257|page=58}}</ref> The death of de Portzmoguer, on the day of [[Saint Lawrence]] (10 August), was later portrayed as a deliberate act of self-sacrificing heroism. He is supposed to have said «Nous allons fêter saint Laurent qui périt par le feu!». ("we will celebrate the [[feast of Saint Lawrence]], who died by fire") before blowing up the ship to avoid its capture. In fact, there is no evidence that the explosion was intentional and early literary accounts make no such claims.<ref>Max Guérout, ''Le dernier combat de la Cordelière'', Serpent de Mer, 2002.</ref><ref>[http://www.netmarine.net/bat/fregates/primaug/celebre.htm Hervé de Portzmoguer at www.netmarine.net/] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100818011042/http://www.netmarine.net/bat/fregates/primaug/celebre.htm |date=August 18, 2010 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.archeonavale.org/pdf/cordeliere/mdc.pdf Max Guérout, ''Le Mythe de la Cordelière''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232619/http://www.archeonavale.org/pdf/cordeliere/mdc.pdf |date=March 3, 2016 }}</ref> This version was commemorated by the Breton poet [[Théodore Botrel]]. A similar version is portrayed by [[Alan Simon (musician)|Alan Simon]] in the song ''Marie la Cordelière'' from ''Anne de Bretagne'' (2008). In 2018, the French government announced it was searching for the wrecks of ''Marie-la-Cordelière'' and ''Regent''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schofield |first1=Hugh |title=Intrepid French hunt for sunken warships Cordelière and Regent |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44806083 |publisher=BBC |access-date=31 July 2018}}</ref>
==Order of battle== {{unreferenced section|date=August 2017}} {| class="toccolours" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="10" align="center" style="margin:0.5em; background:#EEE;" |valign="top" style="font-size: 90%" | ; England (Edward Howard) (List is probable not certain) *''Regent'' (Thomas Knyvet) – Burnt *''Sovereign'' (Charles Brandon) – Dismasted *''Jenett'' *''Barbara'' *''Mary Barking'' *''[[Mary Rose]]'' (Thomas Wyndham) *''[[Peter Pomegranate]]'' *''John Hopton'' *''Mary John'' *''Anne of Greenwich'' *''Mary George'' *''Dragon'' *''Lion'' *''George of Falmouth'' *''Peter of Fowey'' *''Nicholas of Hampton'' *''Martinet'' *''Christopher Davy'' *''Sabyn'' *''Nicholas Reede'' *''Margaret of Topsham'' (James Knyvet) *''Mary James'' ([[Anthony Ughtred]]) –Dismasted *''Magdalene'' (J. Brigandyne) *''Henry of Hampton'' *''Catherine Pomegranate'' (Henry Gyldeford)
|valign="top" style="font-size: 90%" | ; France & Brittany (René de Clermont) *''Nef de Rouen'' *''Nef d'Orléans'' *''Nef de Dieppe'' *''Nef de Bordeaux'' *''Petite Louise'' – Damaged *''Nef de Morlaix'' (''Marie la Cordelière'') (Hervé de Porzmoguer aka Primauguet) – Burnt *''Nef de Brest'' *''Nef de Rochelle'' *''Nef de Bordeaux'' *''Saint Sauveur'' *12 others |}
==Footnotes== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==References== *{{Cite journal |title = Shock and Oar: Mary Rose and the Fear of the French Galleys |last = Childs |first = David |journal = History Today |date = April 2007 |volume = 57 |issue = 4 }}
==External links== {{Commonscat}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070312011641/http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/object.cfm?ID=MEC2167 Medal commemorating ''Marie de la Cordelière'' and the light cruiser ''Primauguet'']
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Mathieu, Battle of (1512)}} [[Category:1512 in France]] [[Category:Naval battles involving the Kingdom of England]] [[Category:Naval battles involving France]] [[Category:Naval battles of the Italian Wars]] [[Category:Military history of Brest, France]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1512]] [[Category:16th-century military history of the Kingdom of England]] [[Category:England–France relations]] [[Category:Battles of the War of the League of Cambrai]]