The Black Prince! To the French, the true Prince of Darkness!
Prince Edward, the Black Prince.
Edward, King Edward III’s eldest son, was everything that a monarch could have hoped for in an heir to the throne. He had been born at Woodstock palace in Oxfordshire in June 1339.
Woodstock Palace, Oxfordshire, birth place of the Black Prince.
At the tender age of sixteen, he had shown himself to be an able and valiant military commander at Crecy in 1346.
King Edward congratulates Prince Edward on his leadership at Crecy.
Now, in 1355 at the age of twenty-five, he would make his destructive mark against the French people. Edward III, having decided to once again claim the French crown by force, sent Prince Edward to Aquitaine in the summer of 1355.
Prince Edward becomes the Black Prince.
‘Edward, the Black Prince disembarks at Bordeaux!
To the people of France, he proves himself to be a most terrible foe!
Upon southern France, he launched a brutal, unprovoked attack!
His only concern was plunder, and many said that his heart was hard and black!’
In late 1355, Prince Edward spent his time cutting a swathe of destruction across southern France. This was total war. The Black Prince and his army sallied forth through the lush landscape, yet they possessed no eye for beauty. They wanted only plunder, and their savagery knew no bounds. Everything and anything of value was taken and that which could not be carried was destroyed. Castles, towns and villages were burnt and their inhabitants slain without mercy. Male or female, young or old, their lives, if considered necessary, were forfeit.
‘The poor people could do nothing, save in anguish and agony, howl!
They were helpless in the face of an enemy so horrifically foul!’
This bloodthirsty action had very little to do with securing the French throne for his father. His purpose in doing so was simply to enrich himself, and his followers, the material rewards were immense.
A medieval city being plundered.
In a mood of great satisfaction, Prince Edward and his allies returned to Bordeaux. The French could only look on sullenly, and tearfully contemplate rebuilding their shattered lives. Apart from the human carnage, the economic cost was enormous and the region took a long time to recover. To the people of southern France in late 1355, Prince Edward was truly the very Blackest of princes, a veritable prince of darkness.
In August 1356, the Black Prince led his army from Bordeaux northwards to join forces with Henry, Duke of Lancaster in Normandy. As he travelled north, the prince of course engaged in chevauchee, the practice of pillaging and then destroying everything that you could not physically carry.
‘In the summertime, we English go out into southern France and plunder the pickings so rich!
What we can’t carry back to Bordeaux is destroyed and thrown in to the nearest ditch!’
This of course had two advantages. Firstly, it was a method of enriching himself and it also served to damage the economy which sustained the king of France, John II and his military machine. In the event, King John had managed to check Lancaster’s advance, so Prince Edward decided to retreat back to Bordeaux. King John, with a huge army of some 35,000, rode swiftly southwards in order to intercept the Black Prince and his much smaller force of 7,000 men.
The Battle of Poitiers September 19th 1356.
The French and English armies met near Poitiers on the 18th September 1356 and at first the papal legate, Cardinal Talleyrand de Perigord attempted to negotiate between the two sides, but to no avail, and both sides prepared for battle on the next day. The Black Prince positioned his men on some high ground and adopted a defensive stance. King John’s commanders recommended that the enormous French army surround the English position and starve them into submission. But the king refused, saying:
‘You say surround them totally and then through starvation they will, to me submit!
No, no! Hurl our huge army at them, thereby destroying them in one big hit!’
King John was confident that the large French force would easily crush the much smaller English army. This was not to be. The young prince was now to gain a victory over the French, which would cement his reputation as a great military commander.
The Black Prince.
‘ By taking on an army of a much greater size!
The Black Prince wins a totally unexpected, and very valuable prize!’
The battle commenced and just as at Crecy, the skill of the English bowmen proved crucial. The French had some archers but they depended on crossbowmen.
Close quarter combat at Poitiers.
However, the crossbow did not fire anything like as rapidly as the longbow and was therefore not as lethal. The arrows of the English archers rained down on the French and the casualties were many. King John proved himself a poor commander and the French soon found themselves being pushed back. Indeed, King John to his great shame was captured, along with his fourteen year old son Philip, by the English. The capture of King John II was a huge bonus for Edward, because he could now demand a huge ransom for his safe return.
King John and his son Philip being captured by English soldiers.
The Black Prince was elated at this unexpected, astonishing victory. He must have been ecstatic as he contemplated the mouth-watering sum that he could negotiate for the person of King John. Poitiers was a shattering defeat for the French. English deaths in the battle numbered in the hundreds, whereas the French dead totalled many thousands.