Constantine III's invasion of Europe

Location
Start of the War of the Three Kings
Paulinus' conquest of Armorica
 Kingdom of Britain | Kingdom of Francia
 Constantine III of Britain
Pelagius
Marius
Paulinus Aurelianus
Duke Lothair II of Lotharingia
Belisarius
Bonus
 20,000

Constantine III even before his reign was focused on conquest and expansion, and during his father’s reign and the early years of his own reign his conquests nearly doubled the size of the Kingdom of Britain, and solidified a system of tributaries along its borders. In 1316 Constantine set his eyes on a larger conquest, the Roman Empire. Since his birth Rome, under Emperor Belisarius had been in the process of reclaiming its place in the sun. News and concrete information about the political situation in Rome had been slow to trickle into Britain leaving many to believe Rome was overextended and weak. Constantine III was quoted as saying, “We have only to bite at Rome’s legs and the whole structure will come crashing down”. With his ancestral claim on the Roman Empire Constantine began to plan out his takeover of the empire.

As his forces gathered, Constantine planned to begin his invasion of Rome in Francia, which was recently weakened by civil war, in order to install Childeric, cousin of the current King Clovis II, on the throne. From there he hoped to gather support from Roman military and civilian officials within the empire before marching a combined Franco-British Army on Rome.

After destroying the Frankish fleet at the Battle of Quartensis Constantine made a surprise landing on the nearest part of Francia, the northern Cotentin Peninsula.

The British cut a swath along the coast before reaching the mouth of the Sequana(or Seine) River. After securing the fortress of Caletes on the river's mouth, the British moved up along the river towards Lutetia Parisius. A Frankish force, led in person by Clovis II, moved to block them but was soundly defeated at the Battle of Loviers. Hoping to capture Clovis the British army pursued the fleeing Franks. Two days later the Franks met up with a Roman army that had been quickly assembled and marched North by Belisarius. The two armies met at the Battle of Drocas, where the allied army inflicted a heavy defeat on the British. Constantine himself succumbed to wounds sustained in the battle.

Though a sizable portion of the British army remained Constantine’s sudden death quickly resulted in a succession dispute and civil war between his three sons. The general Marius took command of the majority of the remnants of the army and retreated back to Caletes. Shortly afterward he signed a peace treaty with the Franks and Romans

## Background

Since the defeat of Pelagius by Emperor [[Cleganus]], the kings of Britain had claimed to also be the rightful rulers of the Roman Empire.

## Campaign in Francia

### Capture of Cotentin

The departing English army was 20,000 strong and consisted of both Briton and Anglo-Saxon soldiers combined with specialists and officials. It is considered to have been unusually well equipped and skilled for an army of the period, this was largely due to it being in large part being made up of veteran soldiers from Constantine’s past campaigns as well as contingents from tributary states from all around Britain

The region where they landed, called the land of Constance (or Cotentin Peninsula), was sparsely defended and the English were able to disembark on the long sandy beaches. They spent six days unloading and organizing themselves. This pause was mostly to rest the horses, who would have needed at least this long to recover from being cooped up on board ship for two weeks. The army included a sizable supply train carrying supplies and food; the latter could be replaced from local sources to maintain a reserve for when the army needed to concentrate and was unable to forage. Many of the region's nobles were unhappy with Clovis’ rule and supported the invasion, providing to the army 500 militia and 500 professional mercenaries. They also brought supplies, better regional knowledge, and control of the towns of Valonis and Coriallum.

The British achieved complete strategic surprise and marched south, organized in three divisions. The divisions were under the command of Constantine, Marius, and Paulinus Aurelianus. Constantine’s second eldest son, Pelagius, was given command of the main portion of the cavalry. Constantine’s aim was to capture Lutetia Parisius and install Childeric, Clovis’ cousin who had fled to Britain after the recent Frankish civil war, on the throne.

Constantine issued strict instructions against looting and the harming of civilians. However, once on the march British soldiers looted whatever they could from the populace and frequently raped the women. The towns of Carenton and Briovera were captured with little resistance. The British fleet paralleled the army's route, keeping the army supplied and occasionally raiding inland and taking vast amounts of loot; many ships deserted, their crews having filled their holds. They also captured or burnt over 80 ships; 31 of these had been converted into military vessels. The destruction of these ships much diminished, at least temporarily, Frankish raids against British merchant shipping and British supplies.

Hoping to secure control of the peninsula and further diminish Frankish power at sea, Paulinus Aurelianus was dispatched with 1,800 men(1,000 Britons and the 800 local militiamen and mercenaries) to capture the formidable fortresses of Cosedia and Ingena along the western coast of the Cotentin Peninsula. The two forts were both part of the Saxon Shore, an old system of forts along the coast from Roman times built to defend against Saxon raids from the sea. The Saxon Shore had recently been garrisoned again by the Franks in order to defend against Norse raids on the coast.

### Siege of Caletes

Meanwhile Constantine and the main army moved east along the coast, supported by the fleet, with the goal of capturing the town of Baiocas and the fortress of Grannona, which was another fort of the Saxon shore. Baiocas was captured with little resistance, but regional Frankish forces had gathered at Grannona, and when the British arrived on the morning of 26 July it was defended by 1,500 soldiers and reinforced by local militia, under the command of Audramnus. The British laid siege both from the land and at sea with their fleet. On 20 August, after twenty five days of siege, the garrison surrendered to the British on terms and were treated as prisoners of war.

Constantine sent half his fleet back to Britain, with a letter ordering that reinforcements, supplies and money be sent to rendezvous with his army at Caletes, on the north bank of the mouth of the River Sequana(Seine). Caletes, which effectively controlled the river, needed to be captured in order to allow the fleet to supply the army down the River Sequana as it marched towards and eventually besieged the intended target of Lutetia Parisius. However, fearful of norse attacks down the river, Caletes had been made the most formidable out of all the refurbished forts of the Saxon Shore.