The initial campaign of the Breton Civil War took place in 1341. John, Duke of Brittany, had died on 30 April 1341 and the Duchy of Brittany was claimed by both his younger half-brother, John of Montfort; and his niece's husband, Charles of Blois, a nephew of the king of France, Philip VI. John quickly installed friendly garrisons in most of the towns and castles of Brittany. Rumours of John's discussions with English emissaries reached Philip, causing him to recognise Charles as the new duke. John refused to give way and Philip sent an army to Brittany to impose Charles. Within a month John had been defeated and was a prisoner. His wife, Joanna, took command of her husband's army, stormed the town of Redon and moved to the small but strongly walled port of Hennebont. There she set up her two-year-old son, also named John, as the faction's figurehead. The Hundred Years' War between France and England had been ongoing since 1337, so she despatched a senior counsellor to encourage English military intervention.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_campaign_of_the_Breton_Civil_War> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1943: Second World War: The Royal Navy submarine HMS Seraph began Operation Mincemeat to deceive Germany about the upcoming invasion of Sicily. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat> 1963: A refusal by the Bristol Omnibus Company and the Transport and General Workers' Union to permit the employment of black bus crews led to a bus boycott in Bristol, England. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Bus_Boycott> 1975: American forces completed a helicopter evacuation (aircraft and evacuees pictured) of U.S. citizens, South Vietnamese civilians and others from Saigon, just before North Vietnamese troops captured the city and ended the Vietnam War. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Saigon> 2021: A crowd crush killed 45 people during the annual pilgrimage to the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Israel. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Meron_crowd_crush> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: Franciscan: 1. A friar of the religious order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1209, now known as the Order of the Friars Minor. 2. A friar or nun of a religious order based on the rule of Francis of Assisi's original order, such as (Roman Catholicism) the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (for men), Order of Friars Minor Conventual (men), Order of Saint Clare (women), or the Third Order of Saint Francis (men and women); or (Protestantism) certain orders in some Protestant churches, especially the Anglican Church and the Lutheran Church. 3. Of or pertaining to Saint Francis of Assisi. 4. Of or pertaining to (Roman Catholicism) the Order of the Friars Minor, or (Protestantism, Roman Catholicism) to another religious order based on the rule of Francis of Assisi's original order. <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Franciscan> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: Less depends upon the choice of words than upon this, that their introduction shall be justified by pregnant theorems. --Carl Friedrich Gauss <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe write to: [email protected] Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
