Bertrand du Guesclin assiégeant Hennebont, vers 1370

This illustration depicts Bertrand du Guesclin besieging Hennebont, circa 1370. Bertrand du Guesclin was one of the most famous French military leaders of the 14th century. Closely linked to royal power and a major figure in the Hundred Years’ War, he distinguished himself in campaigns in Brittany and against the English. The scene refers here to the Breton conflicts of the second half of the 14th century, in which Hennebont held strategic importance. Published in Jules Janin’s La Bretagne in 1844, the image also reflects the 19th-century taste for heroic and military episodes from the Breton and French past.