The dramatic Battle of Poitiers: Where the Black Prince captured the King of France

After English forces had succeeded in earlier campaigns, including devastating chevauchées that ravaged French lands, the Black Prince led another mounted raid through southern France in 1356.

His force had about 6,000 men, made up of English and Gascon knights, men-at-arms, and longbowmen.

This force lacked the resources to besiege cities, so it advanced through the countryside to pillage and destroy enemy morale.

Edward’s march through the region created panic, forced local militias to scatter, and provoked the French crown into responding with force. 

By mid-September, King John II had gathered a significantly larger force, estimated between 11,000 and 14,000 men, to intercept the Black Prince near Poitiers.

The French army included a high proportion of noble cavalry, dismounted men-at-arms, and municipal militias.

Unlike the French army at Crécy a decade earlier, this one included a greater proportion of experienced commanders and a more organised attack plan.

The French king intended to trap Edward between his main force and the nearby city walls.

Peace talks took place in the days before battle. Edward, aware that his force was smaller, offered to return captured French territory and hand over any loot he had taken in exchange for safe withdrawal.

King John, confident in his position, rejected the offer. 

Before dawn on Sunday, 19 September 1356, the English forces prepared for battle.

Edward placed his troops on high ground, behind a hedge-lined slope flanked by vineyards and thickets, a position that reduced the impact of a direct cavalry charge.

Longbowmen were placed on the flanks, where they could fire into advancing troops with devastating effect.

The French divided into three divisions and advanced in a staggered formation.

The vanguard, which was nominally led by the Dauphin Charles, was commanded in the field by senior nobles such as Jean de Clermont and the Duke of Bourbon.

The dismounted French men-at-arms attempted to cross the uneven terrain on foot, which slowed them down and broke their formation. 

During the first attack, the English longbowmen targeted French troops, which advanced toward them, with deadly aim.

The narrow approach and broken ground forced the French to attack in close groups that faced continuous arrow fire.

The first division fell apart under the attack. A second wave, commanded by the Duke of Orléans, did not fare much better.

Confusion and heavy losses weakened their charge. Only the third division, led personally by King John and his young son Philip, pressed forward and fought the English line at close range. 

At this critical moment, the Black Prince launched a calculated counterattack. He had kept a hidden reserve of mounted knights, commanded by Jean de Grailly, Captal de Buch, out of sight behind the hill.

Once the French centre was fully committed, Edward ordered them to charge downhill and strike the enemy in the flank and rear.

The French line buckled under the shock of this manoeuvre. As more of John’s men were killed or captured, the French resistance crumbled. King John, surrounded by English troops and with no escape, fought bravely, but was eventually forced to surrender.

His youngest son, Philip, accompanied him, but was permitted to escape shortly after the battle.

Many prominent nobles fell into English hands, including the Marshal of France, Jean de Clermont, who was killed in the fighting, and the French standard bearer, Geoffroi de Charny, who died defending the royal banner. 

The capture of the French king sent shockwaves across Europe. For France, the defeat was catastrophic. John II’s captivity left the kingdom in the hands of the Dauphin, who struggled to control rebellious nobles, economic collapse, and social unrest.

The ransom demanded for King John, initially set at three million écus and later reduced to 1.6 million, crippled the French treasury.

It took years of negotiations before the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360 secured the king’s release.

Although the treaty required that Edward III would renounce his claim to the French throne in exchange for full control over extensive territories in Aquitaine and confirmation of his control of Calais, the giving up was never formally enacted. 

For the English, the Battle of Poitiers demonstrated the effectiveness of longbow fire and trained foot soldiers and confirmed the value of tactical planning.

It also strengthened the political standing of Edward III and his son. The Black Prince returned to Bordeaux with reputation and fame; his name was celebrated in both England and Gascony.

However, his growing reputation would also place him under enormous pressure in the years ahead, particularly as his health began to decline. 

The Battle of Poitiers, alongside Crécy and later Agincourt, came to show English control in the early stages of the Hundred Years’ War.

Its outcome changed the political and military balance between the two kingdoms and showed the weaknesses of feudal levies when faced by disciplined and well-prepared opponents.

By capturing King John II on the battlefield, an exceptionally rare event in medieval warfare, the Black Prince dealt a heavy blow to France and secured his place as one of the most strong commanders of medieval Europe.

The aftermath of the battle led to years of unrest in France, including the outbreak of the Jacquerie peasant revolt in 1358, as the monarchy struggled to regain its power amid growing unhappiness.