‘The Combat of the Thirty’, happened in Brittany on 26th March, 1351. 

Despite being largely irrelevant in military terms, it was referenced for generations as the pinnacle of chivalric honour in France. The fighting was chaotic, brutal, and lasted for hours, but surprisingly, both sides largely adhered to the agreed-upon rules - even taking a half-time refreshment break…

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly dig into the various justifications used to rationalise the combat; ask why you’d send a Squire in to do a Knight’s job; and explain how the evolution of longbows banished battles like this to the past…  

Further Reading:

• ‘The Combat of the Thirty’ (History Today, 2020): https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/combat-thirty

• ‘1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History - By R. G. Grant’ (2017):

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/1001_Battles_That_Changed_the_Course_of/2ZNADwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=combat+of+the+thirty+1351&pg=PA195&printsec=frontcover

‘The Combat of the 30: The Wars of the Breton Succession’ (The History Squad, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiAfs2cCSHc

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

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