Charles V of France - War Resumes

War Resumes

After the Castillan campaign, the Black Prince was invalid and heavily in debt. His rule in Gascony became increasingly autocratic. Nobles from Gascony petitioned Charles for aid, and when the Black Prince refused to answer a summons to Paris to answer the charges, Charles judged him disloyal and declared war in May 1369. Legally, Charles had every right to do this—the renunciation of sovereignty by Charles was never made and therefore Gascony was still legally land held by the King.

Instead of seeking a major battle, as his predecessors had done, Charles chose a strategy of attrition, spreading the fighting at every point possible. The French and Castillan navies destroyed an English fleet at la Rochelle in 1372. Then, du Guesclin launched destructive raids against the coasts of England, naval represals to the English chevauchees. Bertrand du Guesclin, appointed Constable of France in 1370, beat back a major English offensive in northern France with an unnerving combination of raids, sieges and pitch battles. He notably crushed Robert Knolles at the Battle of Pontvallain.

Most of the major English leaders were killed in a few months and the Black Prince fled to England, where he died in 1376. By 1374, Charles had recovered all of France except Calais and Aquitaine, effectively nullifying the Treaty of Bretigny.