The Battle of Poitiers 1356 (9 page)

Chris Given-Wilson leant me a copy of his forthcoming book with Françoise Beriac on the prisoners taken at Poitiers for which I’m very thankful.

References have been kept to a minimum and readers are directed to the bibliography if they wish to examine the events of 1355–60 and of the Hundred Years War in more detail. My debt to those authors is clear.

DG

I would like to thank Andy Midgley for his generous help, support and constant criticism.

KG

Note on the 2008

Revised Edition

Some small improvements have been made to the text and minor additions to the Further Reading. Thanks to MTS for the additional table. The interpretation of the battle remains essentially as given in the 2002 edition. For an alternative analysis see Clifford Rogers,
War Cruel and Sharp: English Strategy under Edward III, 1327–1360
(Woodbridge, 2000). For additional information on some of the English, Welsh and Scottish individuals noted in the Appendix readers are directed to the
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
(Oxford, 2004).

APPENDIX I:

Dramatis Personae
¹

Albret family

The Albret family, members of the Gascon aristocratic elite, were intimately involved with the Black Prince’s military and political career. For much of his life they acted as a bulwark against the Valois monarchy in the duchy of Gascony, but in 1368 a number of key figures changed their allegiance and Arnaud-Amanieu d’Albret formed, with Jean, count of Armagnac, the main opposition and rallying point for the rebellion against Edward as prince of Aquitaine.

Amanieu d’Albret, sire de Langoiran

A Gascon noble who fought with the prince at Poitiers and later at the siege of Limoges (1370), he married the daughter of the sire de Langoiran.

Arnaud-Amanieu d’Albret
²

The nephew of Jean I d’Armagnac and brother-in-law of the captal de Buch, he succeeded to his inheritance in 1358. With his father, he fought for the English at Poitiers and was one of the first to pledge homage to the Black Prince when he took up the principality. He had a close, although changeable, relationship with Charles of Navarre. He sent troops against him at the battle of Cocherel (1364), but in February 1365 he became Charles’ lieutenant in France. Relations with the Black Prince worsened during the preparations for the Spanish campaign when the number of troops he had been contracted to bring was summarily reduced from 1,000 to 200. He led the final party over the Pyrenees and fought at Nájera in 1367. On the return from Spain he was not paid the £1,000 he had been granted after Poitiers by Edward III. The proposed
fouage
would further deplete his resources, which had been greatly damaged by the ravages of the Free Companies. In this financial context the overtures of Charles V were difficult to resist, particularly as they included the offer of an alliance with the royal family, through marriage to Marguerite de Bourbon. He was at the forefront of the revolt against the prince and, in 1372, was granted the lands of the sire de Poyanne who was captured at La Rochelle. In 1382 he became grand chamberlain of France. He died in 1401.

Bernard-Ezi d’Albret
³

By 1355 he was a long-standing supporter of the English cause having given allegiance to Edward III in 1339 following his capture by the French and an offer of a pension from the king. He fought at Poitiers and married Marthe d’Armagnac by whom he had thirteen children. One of these, Arnaud d’Albret probably died at the siege of Romorantin in 1356.

Bertucat d’Albret

The illegitimate son of Bernard-Ezi, he led a band of routiers and fought at Cocherel (1364) and at Nájera (1367) with the Black Prince.
⁴
He was recruited by Robert Knolles for further service with the prince in 1370 and later was with Knolles in London at the time of the Peasants’ Revolt.

Guichard d’Angle, earl of Huntingdon c.1323–c.805

As the lord of Pleumartin, Boisgarnault and Rochefort-sur-Charente, he served the French as captain of Niort (from c.1346), seneschal of Saintonge (from 1350), and fought very bravely against the Black Prince at Poitiers where he was captured. However, after Brétigny he gave allegiance to England and after a short break, was returned to his office in Saintonge and later became the prince’s marshal in Aquitaine (1363–71). He was joint-marshal of the army that marched into Spain in 1367, led the vanguard across the mountains, and fought at Nájera. He was involved in the defence against the French after the resumption of the war in 1369. He became a knight of the Garter in 1372 and was captured with Pembroke at La Rochelle but released in 1374. In 1376 he became governor of Richard, Prince of Wales and, in the following year was granted the title of earl of Huntingdon, which had been left vacant since William Clinton’s death in 1354.

Jean d’Armagnac, count of Fezensac and Rodez, 1311–73
⁶

He was lieutenant of the king of France in Languedoc from 1352-7 and thus was held partly responsible for the defeat at Poitiers. He had failed to attack the prince during the 1355 raid in which his estates had been the main focus of destruction. His ongoing feud with Gaston Fébus was instrumental in the continuing discord which undermined the prince’s rule in Aquitaine. Armagnac was defeated by the count of Foix at Launac in 1362 and forced to pay a very large ransom with which the prince assisted him. He gave homage to the prince after Brétigny and fought alongside him at Nájera. On returning however, and after having repaid the prince his ransom loan, he was instrumental in organising the appeal to Charles V, resulting from the imposition of the
fouage
, and the subsequent rebellion. He was appointed captain general of the Rouergue on 8 October 1369 by King Charles. He died in 1373 after war had again broken out between himself and the count of Foix. He married first Régine Gut, vicomtesse de Lomagne, and secondly Beatrix de Clermont.

Eustace d’Aubrechicourt
⁷

Originating in Hainault, the son of Nicholas, he captained a Free Company, often in the service of England. He fought in the 1355–7 campaigns and was unfortunate enough to be captured at Poitiers, although he was held only briefly. He is said to have led an attack against a German knight called Louis de Recombes. Both were unhorsed but d’Aubrechicourt was overpowered by five German men-at-arms who tied him on a baggage-cart with their spare gear. He was later rescued and took advantage of the prisoners and plunder that were on offer. In the confusion following the battle Eustace established himself in Champagne and led raids to both sides of the Seine and the Marne. He joined the Reims campaign and raided around Autry and Manre in late December 1359. He observed the signing of the treaty at Calais in 1360 and married Isabelle of Juliers, Queen Philippa’s niece. He fought with Chandos at the battle of Auray and returned at the Black Prince’s summons after serving under du Guesclin in Spain and fought to restore Pedro at Nájera. He continued in English service after the resumption of the war, was at the siege of Limoges and died at Carentan in 1373.

Sir James Audley
⁸

The eldest son of James Audley of Stratton-Audley, Oxford, and Eva, daughter of Sir John Clavering, he was a companion and brother-in-arms of John Chandos and one of the leading chivalric figures of his generation. In 1346, during the Crécy campaign he fought in the Black Prince’s retinue. His service there and at Calais may have ensured his membership in the Order of the Garter. In 1350 he may have fought at the naval battle of Les Espagnols-sur-Mer. In addition to military service Audley also sat on the prince’s council. By 1355, when he and his brother, Peter, accompanied the prince to Gascony, he was already receiving an annuity of £80. He played a major role in the ensuing campaign and in that of the following year. His valour at Poitiers and the wounds he received there were noted by Froissart and confirmed by the prince’s grant of £400 per year for life in December 1356. He was later granted 600 écus on the customs of Marmande. He may have fought at the siege of Rennes but was certainly involved in the Reims campaign leading a number of sorties with Chandos. He was present at Calais to witness the treaty of 1360. In 1363 he accompanied the prince to Gascony and in February 1364 was at Poitiers during an attempt to settle the question of the Breton succession. Audley did not participate in the Nájera campaign as he was appointed by the prince to remain as governor of Aquitaine. When the war resumed in 1369 Audley acted as the prince’s lieutenant in Poitou and the Limousin. With the earl of Cambridge he took la Roche-sur-Yon but after its capture he retired to Fontenay-le-Comte where he died.

Arnoul d’Audrehem, b.c.1300
⁹

His father was probably Beaudoin, lord of Audrehen/m, near Ardres and, somewhat unusually for a Frenchman, he first saw military service in Scotland in 1335 and again in support of David Bruce in 1340. In 1342 he was appointed captain of Brittany. He was part of the defence of Calais against the English siege and was captured when it fell in 1347. After his release he became captain in the Angoumois first for the king and then for Charles ‘d’Espagne’ from whom he received considerable patronage.

He fought at Taillebourg (1351) and then became marshal of Beaujeu. In January 1355 he rose to the offices of king’s lieutenant in Artois, Picardy and in the Boulonnais. He took violent reprisals against the people of Arras when they refused to pay the salt tax.

He was a marshal of the army that met with the Black Prince outside Poitiers in 1356 where he argued with Jean de Clermont over the best plan of attack. This provoked the disorganised first assault on the English position in which Audrehem was taken captive.

He was part of the diplomatic and negotiation process leading to the failed treaties of London and after Brétigny (1360) was delegated to raise money for the king’s ransom. Somewhat peculiarly, he was granted an annuity by the English king. It cannot be said whether he won the esteem of Edward III or whether he was merely trying to buy Audrehem’s support.

He became closely involved in Iberian affairs and supported Enrique of Trastamara in the deposition of his half-brother, Pedro the Cruel of Castile. In this he worked with du Guesclin and negotiated with the papacy for the campaign that masqueraded as a crusade and sought to remove the Free Companies from France where they were doing a great deal of destruction during the lull in hostilities between England and France.

He fought against the Black Prince at Nájera in 1367 and was again captured and brought before a court of chivalry since he had not yet paid all his ransom from Poitiers and had sworn never to take up arms against England. Audrehem escaped punishment pleading that he was fighting against Pedro not Edward. With du Guesclin he was freed in 1368.

Charles V did not employ Audrehem again in the office of marshal but appointed him keeper of the gates of Paris with a substantial pension although he continued to campaign with du Guesclin who was now constable of France.

He retired to Saumur and died soon after the beginning of 1371. He was buried in the church of the Celestines in Paris.

Ralph Lord Basset of Drayton
¹⁰

He was born in 1334/5, the only son of Ralph Basset and Alice, daughter of Nicholas Lord Audley of Helegh. He fought at Crécy and Calais and in 1355 gave proof of his age and did homage for his estates. He also joined the prince’s army. His association with the prince during this period may have secured for him a matrimonial alliance with Joan of Brittany, the sister of the prince’s brother-in-law, Jean de Montfort. He was involved in the skirmish at Romorantin and fought at Poitiers. On 25 December 1357 he was summoned, for the first time, to parliament. He was involved in the Reims campaign and thereafter served in Normandy. In 1361 he was granted a licence to travel to the Holy Land. In 1365–6 he joined the prince’s retinue in Gascony, and perhaps was involved in the Spanish campaign. He returned to England in 1368 and was admitted to the Order of the Garter on the death of Lionel of Clarence. In 1369 he was again in France then in the service of the duke of Lancaster. He returned to England but was again fighting in France in 1372–3. Basset was again in arms in 1377–8. In December 1379 he sailed in the fleet under Sir John Arundel, which suffered greatly from the weather. In 1380 he was once more in service in France then under the command of Thomas of Woodstock with a personal retinue of 200 men-at-arms, 200 archers and eight other knights. In 1385 he served with Gaunt in his disastrous expedition to Spain. On 30 October 1386 he was a deponent at the Scrope-Grosvenor controversy. He died, leaving no children, on 10 May 1390.

Thomas Beauchamp, earl of Warwick d. 1369
¹¹

He was born on 14 February 1313/14 and succeeded his father, Guy, as earl of Warwick in 1315. His first military experience was gained in the Scottish campaigns of the late 1330s. He participated in the Cambrésis campaign of 1339 and was at the failed siege of Tournai. In 1344 he was appointed marshal of England and it was as such that he fought in the 1346 campaign and was one of those who led the attack to cross the Somme. At Crécy he may have fought in the first division with the Black Prince. During the siege at Calais he rode and sacked Thérouanne (19 September 1346). He was among the founder knights of the Order of the Garter. In 1352 he became admiral of the Fleet in the south-west. He was constable of the prince’s army on the 1355-6 campaigns and at Poitiers he captured the archbishop of Sens for whom he received £8,000 ransom from Edward III. He married Katherine, daughter of Roger Mortimer, earl of March and their daughter, Philippa, married another of the Black Prince’s military associates, Hugh, earl of Stafford. He died of plague in Calais in 1369.