Bataille de Cocherel

This miniature depicts the Battle of Cocherel, a decisive engagement of 1364 in which the French forces commanded by Bertrand du Guesclin won an important victory over the troops associated with Charles the Bad, king of Navarre. The composition brings together several moments of the event within a single visual space: it shows the main battle, cavalry charges, bloody hand-to-hand fighting, and, in the upper section, a scene of devotion or ceremony that recalls the political and symbolic dimension of the war. The image emphasizes the density of the clash, the violence of close combat, and the central role of chivalry in the medieval representation of battle. As is often the case in historical illumination, this is not an exact realistic reconstruction, but a visual narration of a major episode in the restoration of French royal authority during the Hundred Years’ War.