Editing Edward the Black Prince (section)

== War in Aquitaine (1366–70) ==
Some time after he had returned to Aquitaine the free companies, some 6,000 strong, also reached Aquitaine, having passed through [[Kingdom of Aragon]]. As they had not received the whole of the money Edward had agreed to pay them, they took up their quarters in his country and began to do much mischief. Edward persuaded the captains to leave Aquitaine, and the companies under their command crossed the Loire and did much damage to France. This greatly angered Charles V, who about this time did the prince serious mischief by encouraging disaffection among the Gascon lords.{{sfn|Hunt|1889|p=98}}

When Edward had been gathering his army for his Spanish expedition, the [[Arnaud Amanieu d'Albret|Lord of Albret]] had agreed to serve with 1,000 lances. Considering, however, that he had at least as many men as he could find provisions for, Edward on 8 December 1366 had written to him requesting that he would bring only 200 lances. The Lord of Albret was much incensed at this, and, though peace was made by his uncle the Count of Armagnac, did not forget the offence, and Froissart speaks of it as the "first cause of hatred between him and the prince".{{sfn|Hunt|1889|p=98}} A more powerful cause of this lord's discontent was the non-payment of an annual pension which had been granted him by Edward. About this time he agreed to marry [[Margaret of Bourbon, Lady of Albret|Margaret of Bourbon]], sister of the queen of France. Edward was annoyed at this betrothal and, his temper probably being soured by sickness and disappointment, behaved with rudeness to both Albret and his intended bride. On the other hand, Charles offered the lord the pension which he had lost, and thus drew him and his uncle, the Count of Armagnac, altogether over to the French side.{{sfn|Hunt|1889|pp=98–99}}

The immense cost of the late campaign and his constant extravagance had brought Edward into financial difficulties, and as soon as he returned to Bordeaux he called an assembly of the estates of Aquitaine (Parliament) to meet at [[Saint-Émilion]] to obtain a grant from them. It seems as though no business was done then, for in January 1368 he held a meeting of the estates at Angoulême and there persuaded them to allow him a [[hearth tax]] of ten sous for five years. An edict for this tax was published on 25 January 1368.{{sfn|Hunt|1889|p=99}} The chancellor, Bishop [[John Harewell]], held a conference at [[Niort]], at which he persuaded the barons of Poitou, Saintonge, Limousin, and Rouergue to agree to this tax, but the great vassals of the high marches refused, and on 20 June and again on 25 October the Counts of Armagnac, [[Périgord]], and [[Comminges]], and the lord of Albret laid their complaints before the king of France, declaring that he was their lord paramount.<ref>{{harvnb|Hunt|1889|p=99}} cites ''Froissart'', i. 548 ''n''., Buchon.</ref> Meanwhile, Chandos, who strongly urged Edward against imposing this tax, had retired to his Norman estate.{{sfn|Hunt|1889|p=99}} 

Charles took advantage of these appeals, and on 25 January 1369 sent messengers to Prince Edward, who was then residing at Bordeaux, summoning him to appear in person before him in Paris and there receive judgment. He replied: "We will willingly attend at Paris on the day appointed since the king of France sends for us, but it shall be with our helmet on our head and sixty thousand men in our company".{{sfn|Hunt|1889|p=99}} Prince Edward caused the messengers to be imprisoned, and in revenge for this the Counts of Périgord and Comminges and other lords set on Sir Thomas Wake,{{sfn|Johnes|1848|p=398}}{{efn|"Whiteval. Q. if not Whitwell. Barnes calls him sir Thomas Wake" {{harv|Johnes|1848|p=411}}.}} the high-steward of Rouergue, slew many of his men, and put him to flight. The prince sent for Chandos, who came to his help, and some fighting took place, though war was not yet declared. His health was now so feeble that he could not take part in active operations, for he was swollen with dropsy and could not ride. By 18 March 1369 more than nine hundred towns, castles, and other places signified in one way or another their adherence to the French cause.<ref>{{harvnb|Hunt|1889|p=99}} cites ''Froissart'', vii. Pref. p. lviii.</ref>

Prince Edward had already warned his father of the intentions of the French king, but there was evidently a party at Edward III's court that was jealous of his power, and his warnings were slighted. In April 1369, however, war was declared. Edward sent the Earls of Cambridge and Pembroke to his assistance, and Sir Robert Knolles, who now again took service with him, added much to his strength. The war in Aquitaine was desultory and, though the English maintained their ground fairly in the field, every day that it was prolonged weakened their hold on the country.{{sfn|Hunt|1889|p=99}}

On 1 January 1370, Prince Edward sustained a heavy loss in the death of Chandos. Several efforts were made by Edward to conciliate the Gascon lords,<ref>For more details of how Edward tried to conciliate the Gascon lords see {{cite DNB|wstitle=Edward III|volume=17|page=66 |short=x}}</ref> but they were fruitless and can only have served to weaken the prince's authority. It is probable that John of Gaunt was working against him at the English court, and when he was sent out in the summer to help his elder brother, he came with such extensive powers that he almost seemed as though he had come to supersede him.{{sfn|Hunt|1889|p=99}}

In the spring, Charles raised two large armies for the invasion of Aquitaine; one, under [[Louis I, Duke of Anjou]], was to enter Guyenne by [[La Reole]] and Bergerac, the other, under [[John, Duke of Berry]], was to march towards Limousin and [[Quercy]], and both were to unite and besiege the prince in Angoulême. Ill as he was, Edward left his bed of sickness<ref>{{harvnb|Hunt|1889|p=99}} cite Chandos, 1. 4043.</ref> and gathered an army at [[Cognac, France|Cognac]] where he was joined by the Barons of Poitou and Saintonge, and the Earls of Cambridge, Lancaster, and Pembroke. The two French armies gained many cities, united and laid siege to Limoges, which was treacherously surrendered to them by the bishop, [[Jean de Murat de Cros]], who had been one of the prince's trusted friends.<ref name="Hunt 1889, p. 99">{{harvnb|Hunt|1889|p=99}} cites ''Froissart'', i. 620, Buchon; ''Cont''. Murimuth, p. 209.</ref>

[[File:Siege of Limoges.jpg|thumb|upright=1.05|The [[siege of Limoges]] in 1370]]
When Prince Edward heard of the surrender of Limoges to the French, he swore "by the soul of his father" that he would have the place again and would make the inhabitants pay dearly for their treachery.<ref name="Hunt 1889, p. 99"/> He set out from Cognac with an army of about 4,000 men. Due to his sickness he was unable to mount his horse, and was carried in a litter. During the [[siege of Limoges]], the prince was determined to take the town and ordered the undermining of its walls. On 19 September, his miners succeeded in demolishing a large piece of wall which filled the ditches with its ruins. The town was then stormed, with the inevitable destruction and loss of life.<ref name="Hunt 1889, p. 100">{{harvnb|Hunt|1889|p=100}} cites ''Froissart'', i. 620, Buchon; ''Cont''. Murimuth, p. 209.</ref>

The Victorian historian [[William Hunt (priest)|William Hunt]], author of Prince Edward's biography in the ''[[Dictionary of National Biography]]'' (1889), relying on Froissart as a source,{{efn|[[Jean Froissart]] (1337 – {{circa|1405}}), a contemporary court historian and a major historical source of the Prince's campaigns}} wrote that when the bishop (who was the most responsible for the surrender) was brought before Edward, he told the bishop that his head should be cut off (Lancaster persuaded him not to carry out the deed), but that the city was nevertheless pillaged and burnt, and that 3,000 persons of all ranks and ages were massacred.<ref name="Hunt 1889, p. 100"/> However, modern scholarship, including the historian [[Richard Barber]] writing in 2008 in the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' and drawing on a wider range of evidence, places casualties much lower than Froissart did – around 300 garrison soldiers and civilians in total.<ref>{{harvnb|Barber|2008}}; and {{harvnb|Jones|2017|pp=365–367}}</ref> Edward returned to Cognac; his sickness increased, and he was forced to give up all hope of being able to direct any further operations and to proceed first to Angoulème and then to Bordeaux.{{sfn|Hunt|1889|p=100}}