The English defeat at Pontvallain ended their reputation for invincibility in open battle that had persisted since the Hundred Years' War began in 1337.
Key Facts
- Date
- 4 December 1370
- French force size
- 5,200 men
- English force size
- Approximately 5,200 men
- French commander
- Bertrand du Guesclin, Constable of France
- Secondary engagement
- Battle of Vaas, same day, led by Louis de Sancerre
- Context
- Part of the Hundred Years' War (began 1337)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
An English army led by Sir Robert Knolles had plundered and burnt its way across northern France from Calais toward Paris. With winter approaching, the English commanders quarreled and split their army into four separate contingents, leaving individual divisions exposed and vulnerable to French counterattack.
On 4 December 1370, Bertrand du Guesclin executed an overnight forced march to surprise a major English contingent at Pontvallain, effectively wiping it out. Simultaneously, his subordinate Louis de Sancerre defeated a smaller English force at the nearby town of Vaas in a coordinated attack, resulting in two crushing French victories in a single day.
French forces harried the surviving English troops into 1371, recapturing substantial lost territory. Though the battles were relatively small in scale, they shattered the English reputation for invincibility in open field battle, a perception that had held since the outbreak of the Hundred Years' War in 1337, shifting the strategic momentum toward France.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Bertrand du Guesclin, Louis de Sancerre.
Side B
1 belligerent
Sir Robert Knolles.