Key Facts
- Duration
- 6 days (29 Aug – 3 Sep 1356)
- French prisoners taken (skirmish)
- 150
- French scouting force size
- ~300
- Distance to refuge town
- 5 miles (8 km)
- Weeks before Battle of Poitiers
- ~2 weeks
Strategic Narrative Overview
The French scouting force was overwhelmed, with many killed and 150 captured. Boucicaut and Craon, on the fastest horses, escaped to the walled town of Romorantin. The Anglo-Gascons took the town, then the castle, but the garrison retreated into the strong keep and repulsed repeated assaults. The besiegers ultimately set the keep ablaze, forcing the defenders to abandon resistance after six days.
01 / The Origins
During the Hundred Years' War, the Black Prince — eldest son of Edward III of England — led a major chevauchée through south-west France in 1356. While raiding, part of his Anglo-Gascon force encountered a 300-strong French scouting party led by Marshal Jean Boucicaut and Amaury of Craon near Romorantin, reflecting the broader English strategy of pressuring France through destructive mounted raids deep into French territory.
03 / The Outcome
The French garrison surrendered on 3 September 1356. Two weeks later the Anglo-Gascons won the Battle of Poitiers, capturing King John II of France. After three years of negotiations, England invaded again in 1359, and the 1360 Treaty of Brétigny ceded vast French territories to England and ransomed John II for three million gold écu.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Edward of Woodstock (the Black Prince).
Side B
1 belligerent
Jean Boucicaut, Amaury of Craon.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.