Editing Battle of Poitiers (section)

===Fourth attack===
[[File:Battle of Poitiers.jpg|thumb|right|alt=a contemporary image of French and English knights confronting each other on foot|{{center|The Battle of Poitiers; the {{lang|fr|Oriflamme}} can be seen on the top left.}}]]

John's fourth French division had started the battle with 2,000 men-at-arms,{{sfn|Livingstone|Witzel|2018|p=217}} including 400 picked men under his personal command.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|p=380}} Many of the surviving men-at-arms of the first two attacks had rallied to the King, as had many of those from the third division who had not withdrawn with Orléans. Some survivors of the botched third assault also fell back to join the King.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|p=380}} These reinforcements probably brought the number of men-at-arms in the division to about 4,000. John's division also had a large but unspecified number of crossbowmen attached to it,{{sfn|Livingstone|Witzel|2018|p=217}} and they had been joined by many surviving crossbowmen from the first attack.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|p=381}} Modern scholars differ as to whether the French or the Anglo-Gascons had more men at this stage of the battle.{{sfn|Jones|2019|p=189}}{{sfn|Green|2013|p=45}} This very large division marched across the {{convert|1|mi|m|sigfig=2|adj=mid|spell=in|-wide}} gap{{sfn|Hindley|1971|p=93}} towards the by now exhausted Anglo-Gascons,{{sfn|Livingstone|Witzel|2018|p=217}} again all as infantry.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|pp=380–381}} The King ordered the French sacred banner, the {{lang|fr|[[Oriflamme]]}}, to be unfurled, which signalled that no prisoners were to be taken, on pain of death.{{sfn|Hoskins|2011|p=188}}{{#tag:ref|One contemporary chronicler wrote that John ordered that the Black Prince alone was to be spared.{{sfn|King|2017|pp=108–109}}|group=note}}

It was normal for medieval armies to form up in three divisions; having overcome three French divisions, many in the Anglo-Gascon army thought the battle was over.{{sfn|Hoskins|2011|p=188}} The sight of a further major force, under the royal standard and with the {{lang|fr|Oriflamme}} flying, dispirited them.{{sfn|Hoskins|2011|p=188}}{{sfn|Rothero|1995|p=69}} One chronicler reports the Black Prince prayed aloud as this last division approached.{{sfn|Jones|2019|p=190}} The Prince harangued his exhausted men in an attempt to stiffen their [[morale]], but they remained doubtful of their ability to repulse the approaching force.{{sfn|Jones|2019|pp=189–190}} The Anglo-Gascon command group conferred. It seemed probable that if they stood to face a fourth attack they would be defeated. They decided to attempt a [[Ruse de guerre|stratagem]]. Perhaps remembering a similar ploy by a French force at the 1349 [[Battle of Lunalonge]] it was agreed to send a small mounted group under the Gascon lord Jean, the Captal de Buch, on a circuitous march around the French flank in an attempt to launch a surprise attack on the French rear. The account by one contemporary chronicler that all of the Anglo-Gascon men-at-arms remounted at this point is generally discounted by modern historians.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|p=382}}{{sfn|Hoskins|2011|p=189}} Some modern sources have a force of volunteers led by the wounded Audley mounting and being tasked with launching an attack against King John personally once the two forces came to battle{{snd}}only 4 men by some modern accounts, 400 in others.{{sfn|Jones|2019|p=190}}{{sfn|Livingstone|Witzel|2018|p=218}} The modern historian Michael Jones describes this as a "suicide mission".{{sfn|Jones|2019|p=191}} Other modern sources maintain that other than the Captal de Buch's small force all of the Anglo-Gascons remained dismounted.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|p=382}}{{sfn|Hoskins|2011|p=189}}
[[File:Capture de Jean le Bon.jpg|thumb|alt=part of an illuminated manuscript showing King John being captured|{{center|John II being captured}}]]

The sight of the Captal de Buch and his men making for the rear further disheartened the Anglo-Gascons, who believed that they were fearfully escaping an inevitable defeat. Some men fled. Concerned his army would break and rout in the face of the French assault, the Black Prince gave the order for a general advance. This bolstered Anglo-Gascon morale and shook the French.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|pp=382–383}} Discipline reasserted itself and the Anglo-Gascons moved forward, out of their defensive positions.{{sfn|Hoskins|2011|pp=188–189}} The French crossbowmen advanced in front of their men-at-arms, and as the English longbowmen on the flanks of the Anglo-Gascon men-at-arms came within range they attempted to establish fire superiority. The French crossbow bolts are said to have "darkened the sky". The men firing them were able to shelter behind [[pavise]]s and the English archers were running short of arrows after the desperate fighting of the morning. Nevertheless, the English were able to largely suppress this fire until the crossbowmen drew aside to let the French men-at-arms through for their final charge.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|p=382}}{{sfn|Rothero|1995|pp=69, 72}} As the English archers expended the last of their ammunition these 4,000 or so men-at-arms attempted to use their shields, ducked their heads against the arrows and charged home into the survivors of the 3,000 English and Gascon men-at-arms who had started the battle. The longbowmen threw their bows aside and joined the [[melee]] armed with swords and hand axes.{{sfn|Hoskins|2011|p=189}}{{sfn|Rogers|2014|p=383}}

Battle was again joined, with fierce fighting. The impetus of the Anglo-Gascon charge was halted by the French, who slowly got the better of the struggle. Rogers is of the opinion that the French would have won this fight if no other factors had intervened. The Anglo-Gascon line was starting to break when it was reinforced by men of Warwick's division returning from their pursuit. This heartened the Anglo-Gascons and discouraged the French.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|p=383}} If it occurred, it was at this point that Audley led a cavalry charge aimed directly at the French king.{{sfn|Livingstone|Witzel|2018|p=219}}{{sfn|Jones|2019|p=192}} The fighting continued, with the French focused on the opponents in front of them. With the battle in the balance, the Captal de Buch's 160 men arrived undetected in the French rear. His 100 archers{{efn|Modern accounts differ as to whether these were longbowmen{{sfn|Rogers|1998|p=238}} or Gascon crossbowmen.{{sfn|Rothero|1995|p=69}} Many simply describe them as "archers".{{sfn|Sumption|1999|p=242}}{{sfn|Rogers|2014|pp=382–383}}|group=note}} dismounted and opened an effective fire into the French rear{{sfn|Rogers|2014|p=383}}{{snd}}a contemporary account states they "greatly and horribly pierced" the French{{sfn|Rogers|1998|p=238}}{{snd}}and his 60 mounted men-at-arms charged into the rear of the French line.{{sfn|Sumption|1999|p=242}}

{{Quote box|width=25em|align=left|quote=Then the standards wavered and the standard-bearers fell. Some were trampled, their innards torn open, and others spat out their own teeth. Many were stuck fast to the ground, impaled. Not a few lost whole arms as they stood there. Some died, swallowing in the blood of others, some groaned, crushed beneath the heavy weight of the fallen, mightly souls gave forth fearful lamentations as they departed from wretched bodies.|source=[[Geoffrey le Baker]]{{sfn|Rothero|1995|p=77}}}}

The 2,000 men who had originally made up John's division were all assigned to its front line when it advanced. Men who joined after their original divisions had been defeated in one of the previous three attacks filled in behind them. They were more tired than those in the front ranks and, having already having taken part in a failed assault, their morale was brittle. Dismayed by Warwick's reinforcement and shocked by the Captal de Buch's sudden arrival behind them, some started to run from the field. Once this movement had started others copied them and the division fell apart. Most of the first to run were able to reach their horses and escape, as the Anglo-Gascons concentrated on dealing with their enemies who were still fighting. These were pushed back as the Anglo-Gascons were reinvigorated by the prospect of victory.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|pp=381, 383}} The French still fighting around their King were forced into a loop of the River Miosson, known as the Champ d'Alexandre. By now they had been surrounded and split into small groups.{{sfn|Rothero|1995|p=77}}

Many of these men were the elite of the French army: John's personal bodyguards, senior nobles or members of the [[Order of the Star (France)|Order of the Star]]. (The latter had all sworn not to retreat from a battle.{{sfn|Kaeuper|Kennedy|1996|p=11}}{{efn|The order was all but wiped out at Poitiers.{{sfn|Kaeuper|Kennedy|1996|p=12}}|group=note}}) The fighting was brutal as these men refused to surrender.{{sfn|Livingstone|Witzel|2018|p=220}} Their cause was clearly hopeless and the Anglo-Gascons were eager to take them prisoner{{snd}}in order that they could be ransomed{{snd}}rather than kill them, so many were captured.{{sfn|Livingstone|Witzel|2018|p=220}} The standard-bearer of the {{lang|fr|Oriflamme}} was killed and the sacred banner captured.{{sfn|Kaeuper|Kennedy|1996|pp=36–37}} Surrounded by enemies, John and his youngest son, Philip, surrendered.{{sfn|Rogers|2014|pp=383–384}}