The Battle of Poitiers was a major battle of the Hundred Years' War between
England and France. The battle occurred on 19 September 1356 near Poitiers,
France. Preceded by the Battle of Crécy in 1346, and followed by the Battle of
Agincourt in 1415, it was the second of the three great English victories of the
war. Background
Edward, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King Edward III, began a great
chevauchée on 8 August 1356. He conducted many scorched earth raids
northwards from the English base in Aquitaine, in an effort to bolster his
troops in central France, as well as to raid and ravage the countryside. His
forces met little resistance, burning numerous towns to the ground and living
off the land, until they reached the River Loire at Tours. They were unable
to take the castle or burn the town due to a heavy downpour. This delay allowed
John II, King of France, to attempt to catch Edward's army. The King, who had
been besieging Breteuil in Normandy, arranged the bulk of his army at
Chartres to the north of the besieged Tours, dismissing approximately
15,000–20,000 of his lower-quality infantry to increase the speed of his
forces. Negotiations prior to the Battle of
Poitiers There were negotiations before the
battle of Poitiers that are recorded in the writings of the life of Sir John
Chandos. He records the final moments of a meeting of both sides in an effort to
avoid the bloody conflict at Poitiers. The extraordinary narrative occurred
just before that battle and reads as follows:
The conference attended by the King of France, Sir John Chandos, and many other
prominent people of the period, The King, to prolong the matter and to put
off the battle, assembled and brought together all the barons of both sides.
Of speech there he made no stint. There came the Count of Tancarville, and, as
the list says, the Archbishop of Sens was there, he of Talaru, of great
discretion, Charny, Bouciquaut, and Clermont; all these went there for the
council of the King of France. On the other side there came gladly the Earl of
Warwick, the hoary-headed Earl of Suffolk was there, and Bartholomew de
Burghersh, most privy to the Prince, and Audeley and Chandos, who at that time
were of great repute. There they held their parliament, and each one spoke his
mind. But their counsel I cannot relate, yet I know well, in very truth, as I
hear in my record, that they could not be agreed, wherefore each one of them
began to depart. Then said the prophetic words of Geoffroi de Charny: 'Lords,'
quoth he, 'since so it is that this treaty pleases you no more, I make offer
that we fight you, a hundred against a hundred, choosing each one from his own
side; and know well, whichever hundred be discomfited, all the others, know for
sure, shall quit this field and let the quarrel be. I think that it will be best
so, and that God will be gracious to us if the battle be avoided in which so
many valiant men will be slain. Nobles and men-at-arms who fought with
the Black Prince Jean Froissart states these men fought
at Poitiers: Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, William de Ufford, 2nd
Earl of Suffolk; William de Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, John de Vere, 7th
Earl of Oxford, Reginald de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham, Edward le Despencer, 1st
Baron le Despencer, Lord James Audley, Lord Peter Audley, Lord Berkeley, Lord
Basset, Lord Warin, Lord Delaware, Lord Manne, Lord Willoughby, Lord Bartholomew
de Burghersh, Lord of Felton, Lord Richard of Pembroke, Lord Stephen of
Cosington; Lord Bradetane and other Englishmen; Lord of Pommiers from
Gascon, Lord of Languiran, the captal of Buch, Lord John the 69th of Caumont,
Lord de Lesparre, Lord of Rauzan, Lord of Condon, Lord of Montferrand, the Lord
of Landiras, Lord Soudic of Latrau and other; from Hainowes, Lord Eustace
d'Aubrecicourt; Lord John of Ghistelles, and two other strangers, Lord Daniel
Pasele and Lord Denis of Amposta, a fortress in Catalonia.Edward le
Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer also fought at Poitiers under The Black
Prince. Sir Thomas Felton fought not only at Poitiers but also at the Battle
of Crécy. One of the chief commanders at both Crécy and Poitiers was John de
Vere, Earl of Oxford, mentioned above. Another account states that John of
Ghistelles perished at the Battle of Crécy so there is some ambiguity as to
this man. Nobles and men-at-arms who fought with
King John II at, or just prior to, the battle
Froissart describes, with less specificity in this passage, some of the
nobles that were assembled at, or just prior to the Battle: The Englishmen were
shadowed by some expert French knights, who reported back to the king what the
Englishmen did. The king came to the Haye in Touraine and his men had passed
the river Loire, some at the bridge of Orléans and some at Meung, at Saumur, at
Blois, and at Tours and other places: there were twenty thousand men of arms
and other soldiers. He estimates there were twenty-six dukes and earls, more
than 120 banners, and the four sons of the king, Duke Charles of Normandy, the
Duke Louis, the Duke of Anjou, and John, Duke of Berry, and Lord Philip.
The French army also included a contingent of Scots commanded by Sir
William Douglas. Douglas fought in the King's own Battle, but when the fight
seemed over Douglas was dragged by his men from the melee. Froissart states
that "... the Earl Douglas of Scotland, who fought a season valiantly, but when
he saw the discomfiture he departed and saved himself; for in no wise would he
be taken by the Englishmen, he would rather there be slain".
Others who were either killed or captured in the battle were: King John
II; Prince Philip, Geoffroi de Charny, carrier of the Oriflamme, Peter I, Duke
of Bourbon, Walter VI, Count of Brienne and Constable of France, Jean de
Clermont, Marshal of France, Arnoul d'Audrehem, the Count of Eu, the Count
of Marche and Ponthieu Jacques de Bourbon taken prisoner at the battle and
died 1361, the Count of Étampes, the Count of Tancarville, the Count of
Dammartin, the Count of Joinville, Guillaume de Melun, Archbishop of Sens.
The battle At the beginning of the battle, the
English removed their baggage train leading the French to think they were
about to retreat which provoked a hasty charge by the French knights against the
archers. According to Froissart, the English attacked the enemy, especially
the horses, with a shower of arrows. Geoffrey the Baker writes that the
French armour was invulnerable to the English arrows, that the arrowheads
either skidded off the armour or shattered on impact. Given the following
actions of the archers, it seems likely Baker was correct. The armour on the
horses was weaker on the sides and back, so the archers moved to the sides of the
cavalry and shot the horses in the flanks. This was a popular method of
stopping a cavalry charge, as a falling horse often destroyed the cohesion of
the enemy's line. The results were devastating. The Dauphin attacked
Salisbury and pressed his advance in spite of heavy shot by the English
archers and complications of running into the retreating vanguard of
Clermont's force. Green suggests that the Dauphin had thousands of troops with
him in this phase of the attack. He advanced to the English lines but
ultimately fell back. The French were unable to penetrate the protective hedge
the English were using. This phase of the attack lasted about two hours.
This cavalry attack was followed by infantry attack. The Dauphin's infantry
engaged in heavy fighting, but withdrew to regroup. The next wave of infantry
under Orléans, seeing that the Dauphin's men were not attacking, turned back and
panicked. This stranded the forces led by the King himself. This was a
formidable fighting force, and the English archers were running very low on
arrows; the archers joined the infantry in the fight and some of both groups
mounted horses to form an improvised cavalry.
At about this time, King John sent two sons from the battlefield. His youngest
son, Philip, stayed with him and fought at his side in the final phase of the
battle. When the Dauphin and other sons withdrew, the duke of Orléans also
withdrew. Combat was hard, but the Black Prince still had a mobile reserve hidden
in the woods, commanded by Jean de Grailly, the Captal de Buch; which was
able to circle around and attack the French in the flank and rear. The French
were fearful of encirclement and attempted to flee. King John was
captured with his immediate entourage only after a memorable resistance.
Amongst the notable captured or killed according to Froissart were:
King Jean II of France, captured. Prince Philip, the King's youngest son
and progenitor of the House of Valois-Burgundy, captured
Peter I, Duke of Bourbon, killed. Walter VI, Count of Brienne and
Constable of France, killed. Jean de Clermont, Marshal of France,
killed Arnoul d'Audrehem, Marshal of France,
captured. The Count of Eu, wounded and captured.
The Count of Marche and Ponthieu, captured.
The Count of Étampes, captured. The Count of Tancarville, captured.
The Count of Dammartin, captured. The Count of Joinville, captured.
Guillaume de Melun, Archbishop of Sens, captured
Geoffroi de Charny, carrier of the Oriflamme, killed.
The capture of the French king Froissart again gives us a vivid
description of the capture of King Jean II and his youngest son in this passage:
" ... So many Englishmen and Gascons came to that part, that perforce they
opened the king's battle, so that the Frenchmen were so mingled among their
enemies that sometime there was five men upon one gentleman. There was taken the
lord of Pompadour and the lord Bartholomew de Burghersh, and there was
slain sir Geoffrey of Charny with the king's banner in his hands: also the
lord Raynold Cobham slew the earl of Dammartin. Then there was a great press
to take the king, and such as knew him cried, ' Sir, yield you, or else ye are
but dead.' There was a knight of Saint Omer's, retained in wages with the king
of England, called sir Denis Morbeke, who had served the Englishmen five year
before, because in his youth he had forfeited the realm of France for a
murder that he did at Saint-Omer's. It happened so well for him, that he was
next to the king when they were about to take him: he stept forth into the press,
and by strength of his body and arms he came to the French king and said in good
French, 'Sir, yield you.' The king beheld the knight and said: 'To whom
shall I yield me? Where is my cousin the prince of Wales? If I might see him, I
would speak with him.' Denis answered and said: 'Sir, he is not here; but
yield you to me and I shall bring you to him.' 'Who be you?' quoth the king.
'Sir,' quoth he, 'I am Denis of Morbeke, a knight of Artois; but I serve the king
of England because I am banished from the realm of France and I have forfeited
all that I had there.' Then the king gave him his right gauntlet, saying, 'I
yield me to you.'" ... Aftermath of the battle
As Edward, the Black Prince, wrote shortly afterward in a letter to the
people of London: It was agreed that we should take our
way, flanking them, in such a manner that if they wished for battle or to
draw towards us, in a place not very much to our disadvantage, we should be
the first ... the enemy was discomfited, and the king was taken, and his son; and
a great number of other great people were both taken and slain.
See also Ransom of King John II of France.
Aftermath in France Jean de Venette, a Carmelite friar and
medieval chronicler vividly describes the chaos in France which he states he
himself witnessed, after the time of this Battle. He states:
...From that time on all went wrong with the Kingdom and the state was undone.
Thieves and robbers rose up everywhere in the land. The nobles despised and
hated all others and took no thought for the mutual usefulness and profit of lord
and men. They subjected and despoiled the peasants and the men of the
villages. In no wise did they defend their country from enemies. Rather did
they trample it underfoot, robbing and pillaging the peasants' goods.
Jean is referring here not only to the French Nobles, but to the Companies who
also plundered the peasants and churches.
References Sources
Belloc, Hilaire. Poitiers, London: H. Rees. Via Internet Archive.
Green, David. The Battle of Poitiers 1356. ISBN 0-7524-2557-9.
Hoskins, Peter. In the Steps of the Black Prince, The Road to Poitiers,
1355–1356. Boydell&Brewer. ISBN 978-1-84383-611-7.
Nicolle, David. Poitiers 1356: The Capture of a King. Osprey Publishing.
ISBN 1-84176-516-3. Tuchman, Barbara. A Distant Mirror. ISBN
0-345-34957-1. Further reading
Cornwell, Bernard: 1356, HarperCollins, 2012. ISBN 978-0007478200.
Christian Cameron, The Ill-Made Knight, Orion, 2013.
External links The Chandos Herald: Life of the Black
Prince includes a detailed account of the Battle of Poitiers.
Froissart: The Chronicles of Poitiers including "The Battle of Poitiers" in
Charles W. Elliot: Chronicle and Romance: Froissart, Malory, Holinshed,
1910, The Harvard Classics. ISBN 9780766181885.
On The Hundred Years War, a primary source written by Jean Froissart
Great Battles: The Battle of Poitiers An animated map of the Battle of
Poitiers. By David Crowther An animated map of the Poitiers
Campaign. By David Crowther