Olivier de Clisson and Political Society in France Under Charles V and Charles VI (review)

Reviews 243 This is a handsomely produced volume. A m o n g its comparatively few blemishes, 'Oceana' (p. 2) was an unluckily eyecatching exception. Spot checks elsewhere suggested that proofreading was left to individual contributors, since the standard of accuracy varies somewhat. To cite one or two lapses, I found 'soures' for 'sources' (p. 114), 'comprised of for 'composed of (p. 138), 'inportant' for 'important' and 'statment' for 'statement' (p. 141), 'one treachery' for 'one of treachery' (p. 143), 'unriddable' for 'unriddlable' (p. 202), 'gutteral' for 'guttural' (p. 336), 'loose' for lose' (p. 392), and 'inititiation' for 'initiation' (p. 399). Altogether, though, these are merely niggles. A brief review like this cannot do justice to a work which provides a valuable orientation to scholarship, eschews parochialism, and will undoubtedly stimulate new thinking. Russell Poole School ofEnglish and Media Studies Massey University Henneman, John Bell, Olivier de Clisson and Political Society in F Under Charles V and Charles VI (Middle Ages Series), Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press 1996; cloth; pp. xiv, 341; 6 maps, 3 tables, 4 b / w illustrations; R.R.R US$54.95. John Henneman provides a comprehensive case for the influence Olivier TV, lord of Clisson, upon the political and military hegemony of France during the latter half of the fourteenth century. Olivier de Clisson has not enjoyed the military reputation accorded his contemporary Bertrand du Guesclin, Constable of France, but Henneman presents strong argument to support his contention that this Breton warrior did have a profound influence upon the military 244 Reviews and social policies ofFrance during the reigns ofCharles V and Charles VI. Henneman's account of Olivier de Clisson's early years is revealing: born 23 April 1336 in southeastern Brittany, his early years were lived amid turmoil. The death of John III, duke of Brittany, led to dispute over succession to the dukedom, for whilst the French excluded w o m e n from royal succession, 'regional customs like those of Brittany' did not bar female succession' (p. 23). A dispute arose between the claims of Jeanne de Penthievre, niece of John III and her spouse Charles of Blois and Jean de Monfort, stepbrother to John III. The disputed succession was brought before Philip VI of France and eventually resolved in favour of Jeanne de Penthievre. Ever the opportunist, Edward III of England encouraged de Monfort to oppose this ruling. In the ensuing conflict, Olivier de Clisson's father joined the de Monforts, a treasonable act according to Philip VI. Arrested by the French in 1343, he was tried for treason, had his lands confiscated and was subsequently beheaded. Olivier's mother, Jeanne de Belleville, responded firmly to her husband's execution by launching a series of attacks against her opponents. Philip VI retaliated, seizing her property and declaring her traitor. Undeterred, she and a number other supporters 'surprised and massacred a proBlois garrison' and proceeded to harass French shipping. Eventually, 'she and Olivier followed the Monforts to exile in England'. The story of Jeanne's tenacity and refusal to surrender to adversity 'form a kind of metaphor, both for her personality and for that which Olivier IV would reveal in his mature years'. D e Clisson's motto 'because I like it' reveals m u c h about the man. Henneman suggests an economic basis for the rise of a French military society during the mid-fourteenth century. Traditionally, noble landholders derived their income through 'rural lordship'. However, the succession of famines, epidemics and wars which Reviews 245 ravaged France produced a severe shortage of rural labour. Henneman accepts that using a demographic model 'to gauge the changing seigneurial economy is controversial...but the available evidence appears persuasive'. With reduced income, m a n y nobles resorted to the profession of arms and the decision 'to finance a regularly salaried royal army' assisted to create a professional military elite. H e n n e m a n contends that leaders of this military society came to wield m u c h influence over political decisions. Olivier de Clisson returned to Brittany in 1354, 'quarrelsome and irascible, determined that people should bend before his will, and provoked to violence by the slightest...