Today we talk about Arthur’s Siege of Nantes, the first major battle of King Arthur’s campaign in Gaul. My previous articles, ‘King Arthur’s European Campaign‘, has an overview of the history and legend behind this campaign, while ‘Why Did Anthemius Ally with the Britons?‘ and ‘King Arthur’s Strategy for Gaul‘ have more details behind the historical politics and strategic challenges Arthur would have faced.

As you may know, I do not alter history to fit my stories. I must find the story that fits history. Where the history is missing, I look for clues to fill in the blanks. The details of this post are mostly speculative, based on historical clues applied to my own military experience and education, and framed as depicted in my books. There aren’t any specific mentions of Arthur attacking Nantes in history or legend, but I have some very good reasons for thinking it must have occurred, which I will explain below. First, let’s dig into the historical details about Nantes in Arthur’s time, and the Arthurian references in legend.

Nantes

Nantes began as a town built by the Romans in the Gallic Celtic tribal region of the Namnetes, from which comes its current name. They named it Condevincum, a Latinization of the Gaullish term “Condate” (“confluence of two rivers”). Later, it became Portus Namnetum before evolving to Namnetis in the 5th century. Suffering from Germanic raids, they built walls around the city in the 3rd century.

Skipping forward to the later medieval era, the father of Arthurian Romance, Chrétien de Troyes, described Arthur choosing Nantes for Erec’s coronation site as king of Outre-Gales, a fictional kingdom of confused whereabouts. In the 13th century vulgate Story of Merlin, Nantes is described as being fortified against Saxon attacks during a rebellion against King Arthur. This is one of the infrequent instances where an Arthurian Romance may actually carry a hint of ancient history, as we shall see.

Nantes was not a very important town in the Roman scheme. But with the influx of Britons fleeing barbarian invasions of Britain in the 5th century, it became a principle city and eventual capital for Letavia, the region that would become Brittany. Legend and history suggest it was important to the war looming between Rome and the Visigoths, and this is where Arthur comes in. According to Roman records, the River Loire (the Leger) was controlled by Saxons (the name generally applied to all sea-going Germanic tribes by the Britons and Romans) up to the town of Angers (Andecava). Yet, Riothamus (Arthur) came by sea to the the land of the Bituriges, the region of Bourges, France. The only way for Arthur to arrive near Bourges by sea would be by ship up the Loire, at least as far as Tours (Turonis). He would have to pass Nantes.

Arthur’s Challenges

If you have read my previous article, ‘King Arthur’s Strategy for Gaul‘, you’ll recall that Arthur, Syagrius and Anthemius devised a plan for Arthur to establish a foothold in Visigoth territory, specifically at Poitiers (Pictavis). The best route of supply would be the major Roman road between Poitiers and Nantes, but the bridge was destroyed, and the Nantes was in Saxon hands. The Saxons of the Loire were led by a warlord called Odoacer. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Odoacer is also the name of the Germanic warlord who ended the Western Roman Empire in 476 and became the first King of Italy. Many, including myself, think it is the same man.

Coin of Odoacer with his “barbarian” mustache, 477 AD

Gregory of Tours said that Odoacer received hostages from Angers, about 55 miles upriver from Nantes. This suggests that Angers was not held by the Saxons, but that Odoacer was enough of a threat that the city cooperated with him. Arthur thus had to worry about a second city if he were to take control of the Loire. Additionally, the Saxons were notoriously difficult to pin down, as the Gallo-Roman politician, Sidonius, describes to a friend:

Look-out for curved ships: the ships of the Saxons, in whose every oarsman you think to detect an arch-pirate. Captains and crews alike, to a man they teach or learn the art of brigandage; therefore let me urgently caution you to be ever on the alert. For the Saxon is the most ferocious of all foes. He comes on you without warning; when you expect his attack he makes away. Resistance only moves him to contempt; a rash opponent is soon down. If he pursues he overtakes; if he flies himself, he is never caught. Shipwrecks to him are no terror, but only so much training. His is no mere acquaintance with the perils of the sea; he knows them as he knows himself. A storm puts his enemies off their guard, preventing his preparations from being seen; the chance of taking the foe by surprise makes him gladly face every hazard of rough waters and broken rocks.

Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters

Not only did the Saxons have a walled stronghold at Nantes and a cooperative city at the end of their reach, but many hideouts and havens among the islands and shore all along the Loire to the sea. To secure his lines of communication and supply, Arthur would have to clear the Saxons entirely from the Loire valley. A daunting task, but any good general looks for ways to turn problems into advantage.

Spoilers Ahead

If you haven’t read The Retreat to Avalon and want to avoid spoilers, you might want to pause here and read at least through chapter nine. The Retreat to Avalon is told through the eyes of Gawain, who, as a minor officer, only sees Arthur’s plans as they unfold. The following describes Arthur’s overall strategy, from the beginning of his planning, to the capture of Nantes.

In chapter 8, Gawain and his men board ships to sail to Letavia. This is the last shipment of Arthur’s army. For months he’s been collecting soldiers and supplies and shipping them to a staging camp at Aletum, near modern Saint-Malo on the northern coast of Brittany. It would be nearly impossible for this sort of military buildup, over months, to go on without notice, even in this era. Merchants, peasants, clergy and spies all carried news and rumors. Originally, Arthur gave the impression that his goal was only to clear the Loire valley and return Nantes to the control of his friend, Hoel of Comberos (Quimper, France). The alliance with Rome was still a secret. This secret would come out before Arthur was ready, but that’s a story for the next post. It had little effect on Arthur’s plans for Nantes.

It would be a tough fight just to clear the Saxons out of the Loire’s islands. Taking a walled city was a whole other issue, but Arthur’s biggest problem was time. He had to deal with Nantes quickly to move on his next target. The usual way, a siege, was out of the question. But the Saxons didn’t know that.

Today we tend to think of ourselves as far more sophisticated than people of the past, but digging into history will change your mind. We don’t hear much about the use of spies, disinformation and scouting because it was not the focus of historical records. But as my article, Espionage in the Arthurian Age explains, it was always a factor. I doubt Arthur would have been as successful a commander as legend describes if he didn’t make use of all tools, so in my series, espionage plays a major role.

Information gathering is one of the more important aspects of war planning. Throughout The Arthurian Age series you may note hints of this sort of espionage. There is an underlying factor that I won’t reveal yet because of overall spoilers, but you might pick up the clues. To deal with Odoacer, Arthur used his resources from the beginning to get an estimate of Saxon numbers and locations. He was already very familiar with their tactics and tendencies, and he would make his plans accordingly.

Romano-British Soldiers from Arthur’s Era

Odoacer and Arthur were both skilled generals who looked for ways to choose the fight they preferred. Odoacer had the significant advantage of defence, but Arthur had some advantages of his own, such as the locals who wanted the Saxons gone as well. Additionally, around any army there develops an even larger ecosystem of non-combatants. Wives and children, merchants, tradesmen, prostitutes, entertainers, beggars, swindlers, and enemy spies. While providing conveniences, services and distractions to the often ornery soldiers, they generally caused more problems than they solved, particularly in slowing an army’s progress. However, they had to be tolerated as much as possible to pacify the army, and Arthur found a way to use them to his advantage, as he described to Gawain:

Arthur chuckled. “Even when we wanted our men to talk, you were silent.” Noting Gawain’s puzzled look, Arthur added, “Gossip, within any army, is the most efficient way to spread news known to mankind. From the beginning, we’ve harnessed this resource by giving out bits of misinformation that we wanted the enemy to learn and believe. If all our men were as tight-lipped as you, our plans would never have worked.” Arthur shook his head with a wry smile.

The Retreat to Avalon, Chapter Nine

If you recall, throughout the story there are references to rumors and gossip. When I was in the army, we joked it was an official office, “Rumor Control”. Soldiers rarely know the big picture, so every scrap of information is analyzed, spread, re-interpreted and twisted as they try to guess the future their leaders have planned for them.

Chess Moves

One of the main rumors that Arthur encouraged was that he had siege engines recovered from Roman armories at Saxon Shore fortresses. This was vital because it changed the way Odoacer would have to defend Nantes. Odoacer had about 5,000 warriors. Not enough to face Arthur’s army openly, but plenty to defend Nantes in a long siege. However, Odoacer knew he couldn’t hold the city if the walls or gates were breached by Arthur’s siege engines. As Gawain would later learn, the siege engines were so old and poorly maintained that they were unusable, yet Arthur made it appear that they were working and carted them to Nantes. Arthur’s ploy pushed Odoacer into looking for a way to trap the Britons. Arthur knew the only likely option Odoacer had, and his spies confirmed Odoacer would use it.

Odoacer would expect the Romanized Britons to follow normal Roman army practice, marching down the Roman road from Rennes (Redones), and building a protective ditch and palisade to protect the siege equipment from attacks from the city. If the Britons really followed Roman procedures, they’d follow that with a second, outer, defensive ditch and palisade to protect against attacks from any Saxon relief forces. Odoacer planned to intervene before that could happen.

Nantes battlefield upon Odoacer’s arrival

Odoacer’s advantage lay in the mobility of his Saxon ships and their control of the river as far as Angers. The walled city of Nantes lay on a peninsula formed by the confluence of the rivers Loire and Erdre. He needed to ambush the Britons.

When news came that Arthur’s army was moving south, Odoacer left about a thousand men in the city and packed the rest into their ships, then sailed upriver to wait near Angers. When the Britons arrived and started their siegeworks, he’d sail quickly downriver and attack the Britons from behind, pinning them between his Saxons in Nantes, and those landing by ship. If things went bad, he had only to retreat to his ships and fight another day as Nantes withstood the siege.

This is what Arthur counted on. He had disguised his numbers by moving people in and out of camps, and had more than enough men to defeat the Saxons, but only in open battle, and only if he could pin them down and prevent their escape. His plan to draw as many Saxons out of Nantes as possible worked. Now he had to keep Bedwyr from being surrounded, and prevent the Saxons from escaping. This is where Arthur’s next bit of trickery came in.

The rumors of the army preparing to move began to swirl as Arthur and the last of the army arrived at Aletum. Gawain wasn’t there long before he and the other cavalry members were rousted late at night and led on a secret forced march about twenty miles east to the isolated cavalry camp. Here they learned Arthur’s plan, and their place in it.

Bedwyr would be leading the majority of the army south to Nantes. It would move slowly, pulling the heavy siege equipment, supplies, spare horses, and the infantry. It would be reported immediately to Odoacer, who would sail upriver to Angers. As Bedwyr plodded southwards, Cei would lead Arthur’s cavalry along a different, hidden route, guided by locals and fed by pre-positioned supplies. They would hide in a wooded valley overlooking the Loire, about 8 miles east of Nantes (near present day Mauves-sur-Loire). When they spotted Odoacer’s fleet sailing south to Nantes, the cavalry would wait until they passed, then ride out after them. Odoacer, expecting to pin the Britons between the walls of Nantes and his army would find himself pinned between Bedwyr’s infantry and Cei’s cavalry. Bedwyr’s fortification wasn’t to protect the siege engines, it was to keep the Saxons in the city from coming to Odoacer’s aid when the trap closed.

Travel routes of the armies: green for the Britons, red for the Saxons.
Brown are Roman roads.

There was still one more key to success. The Saxons must not escape. Before Bedwyr marched, Arthur had already set sail with his fleet around Brittany for the mouth of the Loire. He would ensure no Saxons remained downriver from Nantes, and that none escaped by ship when the battle commenced. During the build up, Arthur had also been quietly sending groups of skirmishers to the west under the command of Drustan. Their job was to make their way secretly to the west of Nantes and wait until Odoacer’s ships had arrived to try and trap Bedwyr’s army. With the Saxons distracted, they would fire the Saxon ships that remained on the western side of the city, sowing confusion amongst the Saxon defenders, and the smoke would alert Arthur that the battle was fully engaged. Arthur would then bring his fleet the rest of the way up the Loire to Nantes, intercepting any Saxons that tried to escape.

If you’ve read The Retreat to Avalon, you know how that turns out. We’ll talk about the results, the fallout, and what came next on the next post. For now, thanks for coming by, I’d love to hear comments and questions, and please remember to help authors by simply leaving a rating or review for their books!

The post Arthur’s Siege of Nantes appeared first on Sean Poage.