Battle of Poitiers
Hundred Years' War · Nouaillé-Maupertuis, near Poitiers (France)
Summary
On 19 September 1356 at Nouaillé-Maupertuis near Poitiers, John II the Good attempted to intercept the chevauchée of Edward, the Black Prince. Despite clear numerical superiority, the French army attacked a strong Anglo-Gascon defensive position and suffered catastrophic defeat: the king was captured with his son Philip and many great lords.
Historical context
After the failure of the Treaty of Guînes (6 April 1354), not ratified by John II, war resumed. The Black Prince led a major chevauchée from Bergerac toward the Loire. John II gathered a mobile army and pursued the English, who entrenched south of Poitiers after unsuccessful negotiations.
Tactics
John II led most of his army (~14,000–16,000 men) on foot, keeping only an elite force of ~500 knights to charge the English longbow archers. The French attacked in successive waves; the Black Prince counter-attacked on the rear and flanks, causing the fatal encirclement of the king, captured on the Maupertuis battlefield.
Consequences
The king's capture paralyzed the monarchy: the dauphin Charles had to govern through crisis, face the Jacquerie in 1358, and a humiliated nobility. The Treaty of Brétigny (1360) confirmed the first phase of the Hundred Years' War as an undeniable English victory, with major territorial cessions to England.