Siege of Limoges

The Siege of Limoges in 1370 was laid by the English troops after the town had opened its gates to the Duke of Berry. According to Jean Froissart, the Bishop of Limoges played a large role in assisting the surrender. Sir John Villemur, Hugh de la Roche and Roger Beaufont are described in terms of putting up a last stand against the English.

The town of Limoges had been under English control but in 1370 it surrendered to the French. Froissart alleges that Edward was put into a ‘violent passion’ in which he declares that regaining Limoges and punishing the French for its capture will be his singular goal. When the city wall fell, Froissart mentions the massacre of three thousand inhabitants, men, women and children, breaching the rules of chivalry and Edward still, ‘inflamed with passion and revenge’. Three captured French knights appealed to John of Gaunt and the Earl of Cambridge for being treated 'according to the law of arms' and turned prisoners.

Froissart's account is sometimes challenged as French bias. Author Jim Bradbury does not dispute Froissart's account but simply states that Limoges was "not an exceptional atrocity."