September 19, 1356 · Western France Theater
September 19, 1356
A decade after Crécy, the Black Prince repeated his father's triumph at Poitiers with a smaller English force of roughly 8,000 against a French army of perhaps 20,000. Again, English longbowmen on a ridge tore apart French cavalry charges. When the French dismounted to advance on foot, the Black Prince launched a devastating counterattack that shattered the French army. King John II of France himself was captured on the battlefield — a shocking humiliation. John was taken to London and held for a ransom of three million gold crowns, approximately twice the annual revenue of France.
Commanders