1356–1360: John II's Captivity, Treaties of London, and the Road to Brétigny

After Poitiers, France enters a governance crisis: the king is captive, but the war continues. The ransom becomes a matter of state, and negotiation with England overlays internal conflicts (Paris, Navarre, Estates).

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🏰 Bordeaux Then England: A “Royal” Captivity

John II and his son Philip are first detained at Bordeaux, with the honors of their rank: the king can hold court and organize aristocratic sociability. But the political stakes lie elsewhere: Edward III wants to control his prisoner directly, while the Black Prince and Guyenne elites have their own interests.

In spring 1357, the king is transferred to England. Conditions remain privileged, but captivity becomes a diplomatic weapon.

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✍️ Treaties of London: Ransom and Concessions

In captivity, John II accepts very heavy agreement plans:

• a gigantic ransom;
• discussion of vast territorial and sovereignty concessions.

These plans offend political opinion in France. The Estates and cities do not want to pay without control, and many judge the concessions impossible without triggering a legitimacy crisis.

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🔒 1359–1360: Hardened Detention and Accelerated Negotiation

After the rejection of London plans, captivity conditions harden. In 1359, John II is more closely watched and his movements limited. He is then transferred to more austere residences, until the Tower of London in 1360.

This “tightening of control” is also a political message: the royal prisoner must not become the center of uncontrollable intrigues. Captivity thus moves from honorific treatment to more coercive detention.

At the same time, France’s political situation has stabilized: the risk of power seizure by rival factions is lesser. The king then intends to retake the initiative, even at distance, to prevent the defensive success against England from being captured by regency alone.

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🏛️ The Royal Party “Retakes Control”

Those close to the king seek to control the council and neutralize tensions at the top, notably between John II and the Dauphin. In this sequence, the archbishop of Sens William of Melun appears as a central actor of the royal party, charged with holding the political line and locking in decision.

Negotiation then moves quickly, on a less extreme basis: the ransom is brought down to around three million crowns, at the cost of concessions deemed humiliating by part of the elites.

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🏛️ France Without the King: Regency, Paris, and Political Fracture

The Dauphin Charles governs amid a trust conflict: levying taxes, stabilizing currency, holding garrisons. Parisian tensions sharpen, and competition with the Navarrese faction complicates everything. The king’s captivity becomes an accelerator: each can claim to embody the kingdom’s salvation.

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🐎 1359–1360: Edward III’s Great Raid and Attrition

In 1359, England attempts to impose a solution by force: a great raid aims to strike political imagination and obtain capitulation. French response privileges attrition: avoiding pitched battle, harassing, depriving of supplies, protecting fortified places.

In spring 1360, extreme weather events strike the English army, which accelerates the decision to negotiate. The war of attrition and internal crisis make peace necessary.

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🧠 To Remember

• The king’s captivity transforms the war into a regime crisis.
• London plans are politically explosive in France.
• The 1359–1360 invasion does not obtain decision: negotiation returns.