The
ransom of King John II of France was an incident during the
Hundred Years War between
France and
England. Following the English capture of the French king during the
Battle of Poitiers in 1356, John was held for ransom by the English crown. The incident had serious consequences for later events in the
Hundred Years War.
Context
By the time of his capture in 1356, King John II's reign had been marked by tensions both within in his kingdom, and threats from outside. John's
Valois claim on French territories was disputed by both
Charles II of Navarre and
Edward III of England. Vital provinces such as
Normandy maintained a high level of autonomy from the crown and frequently threatened to disintegrate into private wars. Worse, many nobles had closer links to the English crown than to Paris. The
Hundred Years War that had begun nineteen years before was not a modern war of nations; as one scholar has put it, it was 'an intermittent struggle... a coalition war, with the English often supported by
Burgundians and Gascons, and even a civil war, whose combatants looked back to a heritage that was partly shared.'
The French defeat at
Crecy under John's father,
Philip VI of France and the loss of
Calais had increased the pressures on the Valois family to achieve military success. John himself was an unlikely candidate as a warrior...
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