by the footmen, charged at a gap in the hedge, but the hedge
on either side was lined with English bowmen, and men and horses were
struck down. Those who survived fled and scattered their countrymen
behind. Seeing the disorder, the Black Prince ordered the few knights
whom he had kept on horseback to sweep round and to fall upon the
confused crowd in the flank. The archers advanced to second them,
and, gallantly as the French fought, their unhorsed knights could
accomplish nothing against the combined efforts of horse and foot.
King John was taken prisoner and the battle was at an end.

22. =The Courtesy of the Black Prince.=--The Black Prince had been
cruel to townsmen and peasants, but he was a model of chivalry, and
knew how to deal with a captive king. At supper he stood behind John's
chair and waited on him, praising his bravery. "All on our side," he
said, "who have seen you and your knights, are agreed about this, and
give you the prize and the chaplet if you will wear it." After the
astounding victory of Poitiers, the Black Prince, instead of marching
upon Paris, went back to Bordeaux. In =1357= he made a truce for two
years and returned to England with his royal captive.

23. =Misery of France. 1356--1359.=--In =1356=, the year in which the
Black Prince fought at Poitiers, his father ravaged Scotland. Edward,
however, gained nothing by this fresh attempt at conquest. In his
retreat he suffered heavy loss, and in =1357=, changing his plan, he
replaced David Bruce (see p. 242) on the throne, and strove to win the
support of the Scots instead of exasperating them by violence. In the
meanwhile the two years' truce brought no good to France. The nobles
wrung from the peasants the sums needed to redeem their relatives, who
were prisoners in England, and the disbanded soldiers, French and
English, formed themselves into free companies and plundered as
mercilessly as the Black Prince had done in time of war. Worn down
with oppression, the French peasants broke into a rebellion known as
the Jacquerie, from the nickname of Jacques-Bonhomme, which the gentry
gave to them. After committing unheard-of cruelties the peasants were
repressed and slaughtered. An attempt of the States-General--a sort of
French Parliament which occasionally met--to improve the government
failed. Peace with England was talked of, but Edward's terms were too
hard to be accepted, and in =1359= war began again.

24. =Edward's Last Invasion. 1359--1