The Black Prince and the Capture of a King
Poitiers 1356
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- £10.99
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- £10.99
Publisher Description
This “taut narrative” of the fourteenth-century conflict between England and France offers “a detailed, climactic account of a legendary battle” (Publishers Weekly).
The epic fourteenth-century Battle of Poitiers marked a major turn in the Hundred Years’ War between England and France. Prince Edward, known to all as the Black Prince, not only won a surprising victory in his first campaign as commander, but managed the nearly impossible feat of taking the French monarch, King Jean II, prisoner.
In the summer of 1356, Prince Edward drove toward the Loire Valley, deep in French territory. There, he met the full French army led by King Jean and a number of French nobles, including veterans of the defeat at Crécy ten years before. Outnumbered, the Prince fell back, but in September, he turned near the city of Poitiers to make a stand.
Historians Witzel and Livingstone provide a day-by-day description of the campaign of July to September 1356, climaxing with a vivid description of the Battle of Poitiers itself. The detailed account and analysis of the battle and the campaigns that led up to it has a strong focus on the people involved in the campaign: ordinary men-at-arms and noncombatants, as well as princes and nobles.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Witzel and Livingstone (The Road to Crecy) successfully analyze the surprising English victory at Poitiers, a significant achievement that nearly crushed medieval France decades before Joan of Arc's valiant anti-English crusade. This highly focused military history details how the "almost cat-like" Prince Edward chose highly capable soldiers to carry out his risky yet well-reasoned strategies on a battlefield where French forces outnumbered the English three to one. Campaign resources were so scarce at one point that horses died of alcohol poisoning because wine was more readily available than water. While the battle resulted in great potential for a future kingdom combining England and France, it also cemented the Black Prince's reputation as a chivalrous warrior because of his respectful treatment of the captured French king. In this account, the military movements (organized by date) and engagement remain primary, but the authors also offer clear descriptions of the chaotic French monarchy, including King Jean's patricidal heirs, and the unusually respectful and collaborative partnership between Edward III and the popular Black Prince. Ideal for military historians, this taut narrative provides clear political context and a detailed, climactic account of a legendary battle.
