The English triumph at the Battle of Poitiers

Early in the morning of 19 September 1356, the thunder of hoofbeats rang out close to the French town of Poitiers. Some 300 mounted knights were charging uphill, stampeding towards the English forces. The English were ranged behind a hedgerow that stretched across the top of the slope, accessible only by a small gap in the foliage. The sound of hoofbeats grew even more frantic; the knights spurred their mounts into a gallop as they flew towards the hedgerow.

When the knights were close enough to make out figures through the gap in the leaves, the whine of arrows filled the air. The skilled archers loosed a barrage of deadly arrows from their longbows. Any knights who survived the onslaught were bundled down from their horses and butchered, or else kept as prisoners to be ransomed. Of course, the most famous prisoner from the battle – taken into English custody later that day – was the French monarch, King John II. With France’s army defeated and its king imprisoned, the battle was a resounding success