Castillon

The Last Battle of the Hundred Years War

Stuart Ellis-Gorman

• Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781399068741
• Edition: 0
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

Examines the 1453 battle ending English Gascony rule, reshaping warfare and unifying France.

The Battle of Castillon, fought outside the French city of the same name on 17 July 1453,  was the final battle in the Hundred Years War. It was also a disastrous defeat for the English monarchy. It saw the death of one of England’s most famous medieval commanders and the complete collapse of the last vestiges of English rule in Gascony, which had been a possession of the English monarchy for nearly three centuries. The French King Charles VII completed his unification of his kingdom, once riven by a civil war that had forced him to flee Paris, and left England with only Calais as a toe-hold in France.

Castillon drew together a wide cast of characters who had defined the end of the Hundred Years War. John Talbot and the Gascon nobility represented the English but against them were men who had fought alongside Jeanne d’Arc, mercenary captains, and soldiers from across France. The French were also supported by the cannons and defences of the Bureau brothers, who had risen from relatively modest backgrounds to become some of the defining military men of their era. It has sometimes even been seen as a transformative battle – the last medieval battle which ushered in a more modern form of warfare.

Despite its importance, and Castillon is easily a rival to Crécy and Agincourt in terms of significant battles of the Hundred Years War, Castillon has been largely neglected in English language scholarship. This book is the most substantial study of the battle to date and aims to correct this oversight by examining not just the battle but how the war reached the point of being decided in Gascony in 1453 and its aftermath and legacy.

Castillon: The Last Battle of the Hundred Years War covers the origins of the Hundred Years War, the Edwardian and Lancastrian phases of the war, the Military Revolution of the fourteenth century and Charles VII’s radical restructuring of the French military in the fifteenth century, as well as a detailed study of the battle and how we can know what happened on that day in Gascony. It is far reaching and comprehensive in how it analyses this key battle and will give readers a substantial understanding in not just Castillon but in late medieval Anglo-French warfare in general.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-Title Page
• Dedication
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Plates
• Acknowledgements
• A Note on Names and Terminology
• Introduction
• Maps
• Chapter 1 Origins of the Hundred Years War
• Chapter 2 The Outbreak of the Hundred Years War and the Edwardian Phase
• Chapter 3 The Return of War
• Chapter 4 The Military Revolution of the Fourteenth Century
• Chapter 5 The Lancastrian Phase of the Hundred Years War
• Chapter 6 Once More unto the Breach: Siege Warfare in the Fifteenth Century
• Chapter 7 Military Technology in the Fifteenth Century
• Chapter 8 The High-Water Mark and La Pucelle
• Chapter 9 The French Revival, 1430–1444
• Chapter 10 The Truce of Tours
• Chapter 11 Charles VII Plans for War
• Chapter 12 The French Reconquest
• Chapter 13 Cade’s Rebellion
• Chapter 14 The First Conquest of Gascony
• Chapter 15 Talbot’s Invasion
• Chapter 16 The Build-Up Before the Storm
• Chapter 17 The Sources
• Chapter 18 Reconstructing the Battle of Castillon
• Chapter 19 The War Ends
• Chapter 20 Castillon and The End of the Middle Ages
• Chapter 21 Castillon in Modern Memory
• Conclusion
• Appendix: The Personages of the Castillon Campaign
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index