19 September in military history: the Battle of Poitiers, 1356

It was fought on 19 September 1356 near the hamlet of Maupertuis, southeast of Poitiers in France, during the Hundred Years' War. Froissart's chronicle gives 22 September, but the Black Prince's own letter dates it to the eve of the day before St Matthew's feast (21 September in Riley's edition), and Oman and Tout give the 19th.

England. Edward the Black Prince's outnumbered Anglo-Gascon army beat off the French attacks from behind hedges, and a small force under the Captal de Buch struck King John II's division from the rear and broke it.

Yes. According to Froissart, John II surrendered to Denis de Morbeke, a knight of Artois in English service, and gave him his right gauntlet. He and his young son Philip were taken to Bordeaux, and Tout writes that the king was later led through the streets of London.

The sources differ. Oman puts the prince's army at 3,000 to 4,000 men-at-arms, 2,500 to 3,000 archers and a thousand light troops, and the French at about 16,000 cavalry and 4,000 to 5,000 foot; Tout writes that 7,000 men followed the prince when he set out in August and calls the French host enormously superior in numbers.

With David II of Scotland also his prisoner, Edward III held two kings. In 1360 the peace terms agreed at Brétigny gave England Calais, Ponthieu and a much enlarged Aquitaine, in return, according to Tout, for Edward III's promise to give up his claim to the French crown.