Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries.) POITIERS [Illustration] POITIERS BY HILAIRE BELLOC LONDON HUGH REES, LTD. 5 REGENT STREET, PALL MALL, S.W. 1913 CONTENTS PART PAGE INTRODUCTION 9 I. THE CAMPAIGN 18 II. THE PRELIMINARIES OF THE ACTION 33 III. THE TERRAIN 47 IV. THE ACTION 68 V. THE ASPECT OF THESE BATTLES 102 VI. THE RESULTS OF THE BATTLE 115 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Coloured Plan of the Battle _frontispiece_ Plan No. 1 _page_ 12 " No. 2 " 32 " No. 3 " 49 " No. 4 " 61 POITIERS INTRODUCTION The Battle of Poitiers was fought ten years and four weeks after that of Crécy. The singular similarity between the two actions will be pointed out upon a later page. For the moment it must suffice to point out that Poitiers and Crécy form unique historical parallels, distinguishing like double summits the English successes of Edward III.'s army upon the Continent and of the first part of the Hundred Years' War. For the political situation which had produced that conflict, and for the objects which Edward III. had in provoking it, I must refer my reader to the first section of my little book upon Crécy in this series; as also for the armament and organisation of the forces that served the English crown. There remain to be added, however, for the understanding of Poitiers and its campaign, two features which differentiate the fighting of 1356 from that of ten years before. These two features are: first, the character of the commander; and secondly, the nature of the regions from which he started and through which he proceeded, coupled with the political character of the English rule in the South of France. I will take these points in inverse order.