Sir Robert Bemborough (d.1351) was a medieval knight who led the Montfortist faction during the Combat of the Thirty. This was an arranged battle between thirty knights from both sides during the Breton War of Succession, a struggle for control of the duchy between the House of Montfort and the House of Blois. Bemborough was killed in the battle.
The battle was greatly renowned. Bemborough was subsequently depicted by chroniclers as a model of chivalry.
Background
Bemborough led the Montfortist faction which controlled Ploërmel. The Montfortists were supported predominantly by English knights. He was challenged to single combat by Jean de Beaumanoir, the captain of Josselin, the nearest stronghold controlled by the French-supported Blois faction. According to the chronicler Jean Froissart, this purely personal duel between the two leaders became a larger struggle when Bemborough suggested a combat between twenty or thirty knights on each side, a proposal that was enthusiastically accepted by de Beaumanoir. They agreed to an arranged fight at a field marked by an oak tree midway between the two fortresses. Bemborough is supposed to have said,
And let us right there try ourselves and do so much that people will speak of it in future times in halls, in palaces, in public places and elsewhere throughout the world. The words are recorded by Froissart: "the saying may not be authentic", Johan Huizinga remarks, "but it teaches us what Froissart thought".
Identity
It is unclear whether Bemborough was English or German. His identity is something of a mystery and his name is spelled in many variant forms. It is given as "Brandebourch" by Froissart, and also appears as "Bembro" and "Brembo". His first name is sometimes given as Robert, sometimes as Richard. The chroniclers Jean Le Bel and Froissart say he was a German knight, but historians have doubted this. The 19th-century writer Harrison Ainsworth, taking his cue from the Breton language version of the name, "Pennbrock", concluded that his actual name was the English "Pembroke". In Breton "Penn-brock", sounds like the phrase "badger-head", which became a derogatory nickname for him.
Henry Raymond Brush also argued that he was probably English. The Dictionary of National Biography noted the possibility that he was Sir Richard Greenacre of Merley, and he may have derived the name by which he is known from Bromborough in Cheshire. The name Bembro appears in chronicles of the war associated with English knights, suggesting that a family of the name served in Brittany. Brush also takes the view that he was probably from Bromborough, as a family using that name appears in local records for the period.
Death
At the battle itself Bemborough was killed. After several hours of fighting there were four dead on the French side and two on the English side. Both sides were exhausted and agreed to a break for refreshments and bandaging of injuries. After the battle resumed, Bemborough was wounded and then killed. Leadership was taken by German warrior called Croquart, but the Anglo-Breton faction was defeated.
The 19th-century Breton historian Arthur de La Borderie gives a highly dramatic account of Bemborough's death, derived from earlier narratives. In this version he died at the hands of a squire, Alain de Keranrais, and Beaumanoir's loyal friend Geoffroy du Bois, who are defending Beaumanoir from the arrogant "Bembro", who has just vowed to capture him:
At the same time, indignant at Bembro's taunts, a Breton squire, Alain de Keranrais, shouted: "How vile glutton, you imagine you can capture a man like Beaumanoir! Well, I challenge you in his name, you'll soon feel the tip of my spear". He thrust at the same time a blow to the face; the spear penetrates under the skull, Bembro falls heavily. While his companions belabour de Keranrais, the English leader makes a desperate effort to rise and seek his opponent; he finds before him Geoffroy du Bois, who in turn launches his axe into his chest. Bembro falls dead. Du Bois triumphantly exclaims: "Beaumanoir, my dear cousin whom God preserves! Where are you? Art thou Avenged!".