On This Day In History: Battle of Castillon Ended Of ‘Hundred Years’ War – On July 17, 1453

MessageToEagle.com – On July 17, 1453, Battle of Castillon was fought between the forces of France and England.

On this day, this crucial battle – a decisive French victory – marked the end of the so-called ’Hundred Years’ War (1337 to 1453)

After the 1451 French capture of Bordeaux by the armies of Charles VII, the Hundred Years’ War appeared to be at an end. The English primarily focused on reinforcing their only remaining possession, Calais.

The French had won Guyenne and Gascony (southwestern France) back from English rule in 1451, but many of the inhabitants were sceptical to their unfamiliar regime.

After three hundred years of Plantagenet rule, the citizens of Bordeaux considered themselves subjects of the English monarch and sent messengers to Henry VI of England demanding that he recapture the province.

Therefore, the arrival of an English army with a force of 3,000 men under the Earl of Shrewsbury (John Talbot) in October 1452 to Bordeaux was welcomed.

Talbot easily took the city on October 23. The English subsequently took control over most of Western Gascony by the end of the year, but he still needed reinforcements.

The French knew an expedition was on its way, but had expected it to come through Normandy. Charles VII surprised them; he prepared his forces over the winter, and by the spring of 1453 he was ready to counter-attack.

Talbot left Bordeaux on July 16. The following day, his force defeated a small French detachment of archers stationed at a priory near Castillon.

Despite earlier plans to wait for reinforcements, Talbot – who believed that his reinforcements would arrive soon – ordered his men to attack the French camp and so they did.

They made a terrible mistake and ran into the full force of the French army. In the end, the French routed the English. Both Talbot and his son died in the battle. The garrison in Castillon surrendered the next day,

The capitulation of Bordeaux, which took place in October restored Guyenne and Gascony to France and effectively ended the ’Hundred Years’ War. The French retook Bordeaux on 19 October 1453. The English Crown lost all its possessions on the continent except for the Pale of Calais.

Calais was finally lost in 1558.

Weakened and traumatised by the defeat, the English never attacked France without the support of a strong coalition.

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