The Battle at the Halfway Oak and The Spanish Count

By Steven Muhlberger

A deadly formal combat between two garrisons. Knightly honor in an age when it seemed all honor was gone. Blood and death on both sides.

 

A count hiding in plain sight, awaiting a huge ransom. Bankers, courtesans, and card sharps. Cloak & dagger intrigue in the streets of London.

 

The Hundred Years War was an epic medieval power struggle between England and France that lasted over a century over who should rule the dynasty. Over the decades, alliances shifted, battles were won and lost, and generations were born that included figures like Joan of Arc, Edward the Black Prince, and Shakespeare's famous "Band of Brothers." The conflict for the crown was fought on the battlefield, in the courts of the royal houses, and in the bedrooms. 

 

In front of this backdrop, renowned medieval historian Dr. Steven Muhlberger brings two different stories of The Hundred Years War to life in these scripts of historical fiction about real events: The famous Combat of the Thirty at the Halfway Oak, and the intrigue involved in ransoming the Count of Denia. These scripts bring the focus in to show how nobility, men-at-arms, and common people in the streets struggled to maintain their honor and recall an earlier age of chivalry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Witan Scopcraeft
• Release date: Apr 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201523046

Book preview

The Battle

at the

Halfway Oak

and

The Spanish Count

Two Scripts of Medieval Historical Fiction

by

Steve Muhlberger

Witan Scopcraeft Logo

Copyright © 2022 Witan Scopcræft, Troy, AL, USA

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except as may be expressly permitted by the applicable copyright statutes, or by prior written permission from the publisher.

www.witanpublishing.com/scopcraeft

Cover image courtesy of Maria Pop.

Table of Contents

Introduction to The Battle at the Halfway Oak

The Battle at the Halfway Oak

Introduction to The Spanish Count

The Spanish Count

About the Author

I

Introduction to The Battle at the Halfway Oak

The script treatment that follows was inspired by one of the most dramatic episodes of the Hundred Years War, when England and France fought on and off to establish their superiority over the medieval world. France, the larger of the two countries, and the home of great warriors going back centuries nevertheless suffered famous defeats at such places as Crecy (1346), Poitiers (1356) and, much later, Agincourt (1415). The French monarchs likewise found it difficult to maintain their control of large areas traditionally part of France but now occupied by English troops who were in theory upholding the English king's claim to the French throne. English, Germans and warriors from other countries took advantage of French disorganization, and plundered at will.

The history of the Hundred Years War is as much the history of small actions as it is of impressive battles. Likewise, contemporaries were particularly interested in the accomplishments of individual soldiers. Just as soldiers hoped to profit by gaining ransoms from enemies they had captured, they wanted to be known as champions, who had gained reputations from their performance in war, in jousts, and in other deeds of arms. This was a route to wealth and advancement. A favorite subject for the chroniclers of the era were the deeds for which famous knights were known. The chronicler Jean Froissart, whose massive work was well-known, collected many stories from England, Scotland, Spain, as well as the provinces of France and others, because he and his readers were interested in chivalry wherever he could find it. It didn't matter who did the deeds, as long as they were examples of prowess and the other knightly virtues.

The story of the Combat of the 30, which is based on a real event, is about the meaning of chivalry; this was its appeal in the 14th century and it has maintained that appeal time and again. The protagonists are warriors whose attitudes are realistic even if they differ. They are two garrisons who in theory owe allegiance to rival dukes of Brittany; the dukes in turn are subjects and allies of the kings of England and France. The war has however ground to a halt, and the soldiers - who control the Breton castles of Ploermel and Josselin-- are doing little more than plunder the countryside and harass the other side. It was in this uninspiring environment that the two garrisons challenged each other to a real battle. It was agreed that each side should bring thirty warriors to a chosen field, where they would fight until those on one or the other were dead or captured. Contemporaries were impressed that the combatants actually fulfilled that agreement.

The Combat was recorded several times in the half-century following. The best account is an anonymous verse version that was written by a Breton for his fellow Bretons. The poet knew the combatants and their families and was even able to sketch out the personalities of some of them. The Combat was also interesting to people with no obvious connection to Brittany. We know that men who had fought in it were afterwards celebrities in gatherings of men at arms. In an era where war was omnipresent, the Combat was upheld as an example of how war should really be fought - though not everybody would have agreed, as you will see.

Further Reading

The Combat of the Thirty. Translated and ed. by Steven Muhlberger. Wheaton IL: Freelance Academy Press, 2012.

Muhlberger, Steven. Formal Combats in the Fourteenth Century. Troy AL: Witan Publishing, 2013.

Wright, Nicholas. Knights and Peasants: The Hundred Years War in the French countryside. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1999.

B

The Battle at the Halfway Oak

The year is 1351. The place is Brittany, a coastal province of France across the channel from England. It is a land of stone castles, stone houses and ancient stone monuments. It is a land torn by civil war.

Two dukes claim to rule Brittany and each has his partisans. The two dukes are allied with faraway kings, Edward of England and John of France. Neither king is interested in a decisive, expensive campaign, but each has sent captains to take control of castles. The garrisons, however, have been abandoned to their own devices. The kings and the dukes do not pay them and as a result, the warriors, themselves sometimes on the verge of starvation, make their living not by fighting each other, but by raiding villages for food and money and captives who can be ransomed back to their relatives.

It is a hard time for those who believe in chivalry.

FADE IN:

EXT. village near Castle Josselin - night

We get a glimpse of a sleeping village of stone huts. Suddenly the quiet is broken by the sound of many men on horseback. They are carrying torches and wearing rough armor - helmets and mail shirts. They also wear badges - including the English Cross of St. George - that show their allegiance. A couple of the riders set fire to the roofs of the houses, while the others dismount, break down the doors, and start pulling peasants out of their homes. Some of the soldiers begin ripping the dresses off the younger women, and we began to hear them scream. A few men who try to resist are beaten down, while others have their hands tied behind their