John Bell Henneman, Jr.
[See also: EDWARD III; HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR]
Le Patourel,John. “The Treaty of Bretigny, 1360.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 5th
ser. 10(1960):19–39.
Petit-Dutaillis, Charles, and P.Collier. “La diplomatie française et la traité de Brétigny.” Moyen âge
2nd ser. 1(1897):1–35.
BRIDGES
. See TRAVEL
BRIENNE
. A little town in Champagne, Brienne (Aube), was the seat of an important noble family
that played a prominent role in the Crusades and furnished three constables of France.
Gautier III, count of Brienne (d. 1205), fought in the Holy Land and later claimed the
kingdom of Sicily through his wife. One of his relatives, Jean de Brienne, was elected
king of Jerusalem in 1209. His daughter mar-ried the emperor Frederick II, who forced
him to cede his rights to Jerusalem, but Jean later went to Constantinople, where he ruled
the Latin Empire for a number of years during the minority of Baudouin II. His
descendants Raoul I and Raoul II, counts of Eu and Guines, were constables of France in
1327–44 and 1344–51, respectively. Meanwhile, the senior line of the family, descended
from Count Gautier III, had acquired by marriage the title of duke of Athens. Gautier VI
of Brienne, duke of Athens, became constable of France in 1356 and died in the Battle of
Poitiers in September of that year.
John Bell Henneman, Jr.
BRIGAND/BRIGANDAGE
. In military terminology, the brigand was a professional foot soldier whose protective
garb, a leather jacket covered with metal rings (brigandine), was lighter and cheaper than
the hauberk of chain mail worn by knights. Troops of this sort served in the army of
Philip II and again during the early stages of the Hundred Years’ War. After the mid-14th
century, “brigand” began to acquire the pejorative meaning that it has had ever since.
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 276