By
Editor of Ploërmel
Published on
March 22, 2026 at 7:10 pm
Located near the RN24 between Rennes and Lorient, the Column of the Thirty, erected in the form of a 15-meter obelisk, symbolizes and commemorates the Combat of the Thirty that took place on March 26, 1351. A look back at one of the most memorable episodes of the War of the Breton Succession that inspired the video game Age of Empire IV and a board game of the same name.
The Combat of the Thirty, named after the column’s formal name commemorating the event in Guillac, remains engrained in collective memory. But did you know that in reality, the fighters were actually 31?
We are in the midst of the Hundred Years’ War. A conflict between the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of England at the end of the Middle Ages, which began in 1337 when the King of England claimed the throne of France.
A struggle that also saw, starting in 1341, the War of the Breton Succession. A fratricidal war during which Charles of Blois, supported by Franco-Bretons, and John IV of Montfort, supported by Anglo-Bretons, contested the Duchy of Brittany.
The Truce of Malestroit broken at Auray
Despite being fierce and violent, the War of Succession was interspersed with periods of peace, especially from January 19, 1343, when the Truce of Malestroit was signed at the chapel of La Madeleine.
A ceasefire quickly broken when in Auray, the Englishman Thomas de Dagworth, under Bemborough’s command at the head of Ploërmel, was killed by the French. “A breach of the treaty for which Bemborough quickly sought revenge,” explained Jean-Pierre Bauchet, a local history enthusiast. The result: rape, pillaging, massacres… He savagely attacked the inhabitants of the Ploërmel region.
“Let’s fight together”
Exasperated inhabitants complained to the French, especially Beaumanoir, who was stationed in Josselin. “The latter went to visit Bemborough, in Ploërmel, asking him to stop the massacre: ‘Knight of England, you are committing a great sin by tormenting the people who plow the wheat,'” But Bemborough refused to listen.
Beaumanoir then issued a challenge. “Let’s fight together,” Bemborough accepted the challenge and set the conditions with his opponent. The decision was made: a battle involving 30 ‘companions’, ‘nobles or at least squires’, each wearing armor and a coat of arms. Including Beaumanoir and Bemborough, the two men who would command the troops, there would actually be 31.
The Josselin Victory!
After a pause allowing for wine and wounds to be treated, the clashes resumed. The brutal hand-to-hand combat was detrimental to the English, who lost Bemborough, their commander. “A German mercenary then took command of the troops, changed tactics, and called on the English to group together, making them more difficult to attack.”
The French struggled to ‘hit’ the English. Beaumanoir, wounded, asked for a drink. “Drink your blood Beaumanoir, your thirst will pass,” his teammate Sir Geoffroy, concerned about the lack of progress from the French, said.
The combat result: “between 12 and 17 English dead, and 6 Josselin dead.” Knights who, it is said, were buried nearby.
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