The Black Prince and the Capture of a King: Poitiers 1356

by Morgen Witzel, Marilyn Livingstone

The capture of a king in the course of a battle was a relatively rare event. This, the climactic event of the Black Prince's first campaign as commander, came at the end of nearly of a year of campaigning across the southwest of France.

The battle of Poitiers in 1356 is less well known than more famous clashes such as Agincourt, however, Poitiers was no less dramatic, and equally important in terms of the course of the Hundred Years War. The capture of King Jean brought France to the brink of total defeat, and led to one of the most devastating and destructive periods in French history. It is not exaggeration to say that the battle of Poitiers changed the course of history for both France and England.

In the summer of 1356 the Prince and his army drove northward towards the Loire, attacking once again deep into French territory. This time he met real opposition: the full French army led by King Jean and many of the leading nobility of France, some of them veterans of the defeat at Crecy ten years before. Outnumbered, the Prince fell back, but in September he turned near the city of Poitiers to make a stand.

The battle that followed was a tense encounter. The French had learned much from the disastrous defeat at Crecy, and took time to organise and prepare before attacking. Their advance was deliberate and well planned. Yet the result was the same. Once again, English and Welsh archers wrought mayhem among the French ranks. The French formations disintegrated, and a violent counter-attack by English men-at-arms caused it to dissolve entirely. King Jean and his eldest son made a final stand with some of their followers, but in the end they were forced to surrender and were taken back to England as prisoners.

The core of the book is a day-by-description of the campaign of July-September 1356, climaxing with a detailed description of the Battle of Poitiers itself. The detailed account and analysis of the battle and the campaigns that led up to it has a strong focus on the people involved in the campaign: ordinary men-at-arms and non-combatants as well as princes and nobles.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, France, Medieval, British Literature, War

222 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Anna Wade · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars (I hate that I can't give partial stars!)

I bought this book expecting something a bit more dramatized, written by someone smitten with James Purefoy's portrayal of The Black Prince in A Knight's Tale. It's not dramatized at all, but it's still a pretty fair read. If you read nonfiction regularly, you will like it; If you read mainly fiction, you may get bored.

I suspect this book is a dissertation. It starts a bit dry, like a textbook, but about 10% in, the author found her voice and the reading becomes a bit more engaging. There are a few typos, and sometimes the syntax confused me, but it rarely interrupted the reading.

I appreciate the author's repetition of who people are ("so-and-so, duke of such-and-such, who did this thing we read about earlier"). With a smaller cast, this would be irritating, but it is quite a boon, since there are so many players in the almost-40-year span of the narrative.

The book is littered with little treasures of information that I found fascinating or useful, such as how Prince Edward regarded King Jean after his capture, and how someone can buy another's hostage (similar to a loan collector buying someone's loan). I especially appreciated the author's parting shot as she recounted Charles of Navarre's fate.

The first appendix is a fascinating look in how the author chose to illustrate certain narratives when there is contradicting information. I highly recommend continuing to read through it upon finishing the book.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This study of the Battle of Poitiers was surprisingly enjoyable. I was initially cautious about reading it, given some of the reviews here suggesting that it was perhaps badly organised and overly academic. However, I didn’t really have those issues – maybe it’s because I’m reading the published book while the other reviews seem to be for the ARC. On the whole, I found the book a smooth read, not too stuffy or an overload of information, and a sometimes tongue-in-cheek demeanour (admittedly, I wasn’t too sure how appropriate that was). It is academic is set-up – the sources are clearly cited, there is clear engagement with other historians and the sources – but the tone itself was light and informative. It is clearly well-researched, not relying on the accepted narrative but making use of current and up-to-date understanding with the first half of the Hundred Years War and the personages involved, albeit with a few blips on that radar. I did enjoy the way both Edward of Woodstock (the Black Prince) and Jean II of France were characterised.

[Alyson Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book: The Black Prince and the Capture of a King: Poitiers, 1356
Author: Morgan Witzel and Marilyn Livingstone
Rating: 2 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, Castmate UK, for providing me with this ARC.

Sighs….Let me start out by saying that I love the Middle Ages and reading about the Black Prince. With that being said, I do actually know a lot about the subject and when that happens, I do tend to be really, really picky on books. I will admit that I do tend to nitpick when that happens.

So, I find the Hundred Year war to be a very exciting and interesting time in history. So much happens and there are so many key players. There are battles, social changes, and more; so any book about this war should be very exciting. Well, not here. There was no excitement, no nothing. While reading, it really did feel like the authors were just spitting out facts with no passion. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that they are very passionate about the subject, but that passion just not come across the page. It was dull and very textbook like, which is something that is getting to be more and more frowned on in nonfiction.

I also thought that the book wasn’t very organized. There was too much opinion writing and too many referrals to go back to other chapters or jump to this chapter to read more about an event. I don’t mind opinion writing, but I mostly see it in memoirs, autobiographies, and biographies-all of which are supported by known fact. Here, it just seemed to kind of mender and was more based on “supposedly” than what we actually know about the Battle of Poitiers. Again, it’s okay, but it just wasn’t well presented here. The referring to other chapters really bothered me the most. It’s just sloppy and really shouldn’t be done in books.


I did like the focus on the day to day life of the army. However, it focused on the nobles and not the common soldiers. I know that most of what we know about the Middle Ages is based on the nobles, but there is information out that. It really did feel like the authors just focused on a few sources instead of taking the time to really dive into the events. Trust me, I have been researching the Middle Ages and I know there is information out there on the “little people.”

Now, this is a short read, so if you are looking for something quick, then this may be the book for you. However, just be aware that it does have issues-at least if you are picky on nonfiction.
This book comes out July 31, 2018. If you can’t wait until then to read it, head on over to Netgalley and see if you can get an ARC.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

During the One Hundred Years War between England and France, three battles stand out - Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt - as great English victories over larger French forces. When Edward, the Prince of Wales was 16, he stood in the front lines at Crecy. Ten years later, now known as the Black Prince, Edward led English and Gascony forces on a series of extended raids in southern and central France. The battle of Poitiers resulted in the capture of the French king and temporary ascendance for England.

Witzel and Livingstone provide an excellent sense of context and importance to the campaigns that lead to the battle of Poitiers. They carefully set the stage for the battle with a look at opposing forces, the terrain, the fighting the preceded the battle, and then a look at the result of the English victory.

Witzel and Livingstone provide as much detail as is available in regard to the battle itself.. They look at the layout of the terrain, the position of forces, the way that French attacks developed and the counterattacks of the English. They discuss and speculate where details are sparse, but are careful to cite what sources are available while examining the validity of those sources.

If the reader is looking for a readable yet scholarly examination of the Battle of Poitiers in context, The Black Prince and the Capture of a King is the book to read.

[Ionia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had its good points and some that were less than great, in my opinion. I picked this Galley copy up because I was interested in the part of the book that promised to be about the day to day life of the soldiers and the planning of the attack at Poitiers, but what I found was less about the common people and the soldiers themselves, than about royals and certain select noblemen.

This is a well-researched book, but at times if felt to me as if it could have been better organised, as if the facts being put forth were done so in helter-skelter fashion rather than with any real intent. Whilst I learned a few things and found some new areas of interest whilst reading this, I didn't feel that it held my attention as well as it should have, being a subject that I am highly interested in.

I believe this book does have its valuable points, and would be a good starting point for someone wishing to know more about a battle that has not been written about as much as some of the others from a similar period in history. I recommend it to those who are curious about the Black Prince and the wars with France that are often neglected in other writings.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

[Gary Loewy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a riveting read.

What really good book this is. I have always been interested in the hundred years war, but did know much about Prince Edward, The Black Prince.
Normally it seems, after a strong king comes a weak son. Not in this case.
If he had lived he would have been a force to reckon with, cut from the same cloth as his farther.
The battle of Crecy and Againcourt are remembered as great victories against overwhelming odds.Rightly so but the battle of Poitiers in my mind was the greatest.
Not only where the forces of the Prince heavily outnumbered, but they couldn't rely on the French to mess it up.
This was a close run thing and if not for the courage and adaptability of the prince and his "band of brothers", could easily have been lost.
This book covers all of the Prince's campaigns. It is written with knowledge and fairly flys along.
One of the best little books I have read on the subject.

[Darcysmom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.
The Black Prince and the Capture of a King: Poitiers 1356 is a short and highly focused book exploring the significant results of the battle at Poitiers, which lead to the capture of King Jean. There were several things I particularly liked about the book:
The day-by-day description of the campaign.
The lens getting turned on ordinary people (men-at-arms and noncombatants) as well as on the royalty/nobles.
The effectiveness of the English and Welsh archers was recognized as a key element in a successful battle strategy.
The focus was on a battle that is not as widely known as Agincourt.
I found the overall tone was often dry, making this book harder to read than it should have been.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and informative book. The narration of the battles at Crecy, Poiters and other cities is exciting and well described but the rest of the book is not quite as well written. The details on how the armies were funded, resourced, composed and tranported are thorough. The names of the known people involved are listed. However, the listed and descriptions can be a little long winded and dry. Also, there appears to me (as the reader) that there may have been a lot of tangential information that was not included and would have made the book more interesting. At least there were a lot of places in the book where I wanted the author to expand on what he had written. Overall it is a solid work of history and should be read by anyone interested in the period or the main actors.

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was interesting but, because I don't read or speak French, I would probably have been better off listening to this as an audio book. Too many French names and places were a distraction for me, as was the minute detail of the logistics of the English and French armies. I was expecting a more generalized story of the Black Prince and his Poitiers victory. However, the general, overall information was worth the reading, though at times I felt I was slogging through the mud along with the troops.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contrary to some of the other reviews, I thought this brief account of the Black Prince's expedition through central France in 1356 AD was very much in the "you are there" mode. I may not be as well-versed in medieval history as some other reviewers, but for me, this book by authors Marilyn Livingstone and Morgen Witzel was not only highly readable but gives a detailed explanation of what the authors believe occurred, based on their research and knowledge of other writers. Highly recommended.

[Stu Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, well researched history of the early part of the 100 years war leading up to the battle of Poitiers and the Capture of the French King. It also serves as a history of the Black Prince, one of the best military leaders of the Middle Ages. If you've been on a Middle Ages kick like me, it's essential reading

[Barry K. Petty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very educational

I have been learning the accounts of the hundred years war for some time now, and the details of this book have greatly enhanced my modest knowledge of this period. This work has helped to fill in the amazing power struggles during the period between the battles at Crecy and Agincourt. These were truly fascinating times. Good book.

[Thomas Polk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well Done!

A much researched depiction of the events, conditions and activities leading up to and including Edward III’s son’s campaign that retook the Aquitainian inheritance for the Plantagenets: a great, good read.

[Al Berry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Merely an okay book on this campaign, gets very repetitive, the army moved to this small town and sacked it, then it moved to this town and they paid tribute, the actual focus on the battle is pretty minimal, I think I would have preferred an Osprey book on this topic.

[Lyn Sweetapple · Rating 5 out of 5]

I has not known how great a military tactician he was. I just knew of his early death. This book covers his military career from Crecy to just after Poitiers and explains the shifting loyalties of the Norman and Gascon families. Gascon is the area formerly called Aquitaine. Any inferences based on conflicting reports are well reasoned. This is a good book to get the behind the scenes history if you enjoyed Cornwell's Archer series.