Qualla: Battle of Poitiers

Battle of Poitiers: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. The French king rode into battle with the sacred Oriflamme unfurled, the ancient banner that signaled no quarter would be given and no prisoners taken. By nightfall on September 19, 1356, King John II was himself a prisoner, captured alongside his fourteen-year-old son Philip and some 2,500 men-at-arms. The Battle of Poitiers was the second of three catastrophic French defeats during the Hundred Years' War, and arguably the most humiliating: a defensive force of roughly 6,000 Anglo-Gascons, short on food and water, broke an army of 14,000 to 16,000 French soldiers who attacked them across open ground south of Poitiers.

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Image: Unknown author | Public domain

Battle of Poitiers: The Prince Who Burned His Way North

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit 08pb802, CC BY-SA 3.0. Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince, arrived in Bordeaux in September 1355 with 2,200 English soldiers and immediately set about making France suffer. Gascon nobles reinforced him to nearly 6,000 men, and he launched a chevauchee, a devastating mounted raid that marched 675 mil...

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Image: 08pb802 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Battle of Poitiers: A Cat-and-Mouse Across the Loire

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Battle_of_Poitiers_1356_map-de.svg: *Battle_of_Poitiers_1356_map-en.svg: Sémhur (talk) derivative work: Lokiseinchef derivative work: Lokiseinchef, CC BY-SA 3.0. King John had spent weeks besieging the fortress of Breteuil in Normandy while the Black Prince ravaged the southwest. By August 1356 the pressure became unbearable, and John bribed the Breteuil garrison to surrender so he could march south. At Chartres he received reinforcements...

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Image: Battle_of_Poitiers_1356_map-de.svg: *Battle_of_Poitiers_1356_map-en.svg: Sémhur (talk) derivative work: Lokiseinchef derivative work: Lokiseinchef | CC BY-SA 3.0

Battle of Poitiers: Four Waves, Four Failures

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Boccace, de casibus, Public domain. The Anglo-Gascons dug in on a wooded hill five miles south of Poitiers, digging pits and trenches, forming barricades, and positioning archers along hedgerows. The French attacked in four successive waves. Two groups of mounted knights charged first, one on each flank, hoping to ...

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Image: Boccace, de casibus | Public domain

Battle of Poitiers: A King in Chains

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit John Richard Green, Public domain. John gathered his remaining forces for a fourth and final assault. The Oriflamme flew overhead. The exhausted Anglo-Gascons, many wounded and nearly out of arrows, braced for what looked like the end. The fighting was fierce, and the French slowly gained the upper hand. Then a sm...

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Image: John Richard Green | Public domain

Battle of Poitiers: The Field That Changed Europe

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Loyset Liédet, Public domain. Poitiers broke more than an army. With the king captive in London, France descended into chaos. Populist revolts erupted across the kingdom, the Estates General seized power, and the Dauphin struggled to govern a country that had lost faith in its aristocracy. The battle demonstr...

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Image: Loyset Liédet | Public domain