Ransom of King John II of France - The Ransom

The Ransom

Now in English captivity, King John began the challenging task of negotiating a peace treaty, which would likely require the payment of a large ransom and territorial concessions. Meanwhile in Paris, the Dauphin, Prince Charles, was facing his own difficulties in his new position as regent. Charles had returned to Paris with his honour intact, but popular feelings over a second French military disaster were running high. Charles summoned the Estates-General in October to seek money for the defense of the country, but furious at what they saw as poor and secretive management under King John, many of those assembled organized into a body led by Etienne Marcel, the Provost of Merchants. Marcel demanded widespread political concessions - Charles refused the demands, dismissed the Estates-General and left Paris.

Political strife ensued. In an attempt to raise money, Charles tried to devalue the currency; Marcel ordered strikes, and the Dauphin was forced to cancel his plans and recall the Estates in February, 1357. The Third Estate - the townsfolk - with support from many nobles, presented the Dauphin with a Grand Ordinance, a list of 61 articles that would have severely restricted royal powers. Under pressure from the mob, Charles eventually signed the ordinance as Regent, but when news of the document reached King John, still at this point imprisoned in Bordeaux, he immediately renounced the ordinance. During the summer, Charles began to successfully enlist support from the provinces against Marcel and the Parisian mob, successfully breaking back into Paris. The final act of violence was the murder by the mob of key royal officials; Charles fled the capital, but the attack broke the temporary alliance between townsfolk and nobility. By August 1358, Marcel was dead and Charles was, once more, able to return to his capital.

Back in England, King John signed a treaty in 1359 that would have ceded most of western France to England and involved a colossal ransom of 4 million écus for his freedom. Charles had little choice but to reject the treaty as invalid, and King Edward used this as an excuse to reinvade France later that year. Edward reached Reims in December and Paris in March, but Charles, trusting on the improved defences around Paris, refused to give battle. Edward pillaged and raided the countryside but could not bring the French to a decisive battle, and eventually agreed to reduce his terms. The Treaty of Brétigny, signed on 8 May 1360, ceded a third of western France — mostly in Aquitaine and Gascony — to the English, and lowered the King's ransom to a still extortionate 3 million crowns.