Battle of Poitiers

The Battle of Poitiers was fought on 19 September 1356 during the Hundred Years' War between a French army under King John II and an Anglo-Gascon force led by Edward, the Black Prince. Fought roughly five miles south of Poitiers in western France, the battle saw about 14,000 to 16,000 French troops attack around 6,000 Anglo-Gascons holding a fortified defensive position. The battle consisted of four major French assaults, with the Anglo-Gascons fighting mostly on foot, until a small mounted Anglo-Gascon force of 160 men under Jean, Captal de Buch, appeared behind the French lines and caused the French ranks to collapse, resulting in an English victory. King John II and his fourteen-year-old son Philip were captured, along with between 2,000 and 3,000 other men-at-arms, and the battle's aftermath eventually led to the Treaty of Bretigny in 1360.