On November 13, 2023, La Poste issues a block of the Grandes Heures de l'Histoire de France series, initiated in 2012, on the Battle of Castillon, a decisive victory for the French, which marks the end of the Hundred Years' War. King Charles VII and the grand master of artillery Jean Bureau are the emblematic figures.
The conquest of Guyenne by Dunois and the capitulation of Bordeaux on June 12, 1451, should have ended the Hundred Years' War. But the blunders of the new French administration provoked a reaction from those loyal to the English king from whom they obtained help. An expedition, led by John Talbot, landed south of Soulac and, on October 23, 1452, the English entered Bordeaux where the population had chased out the French. Secondary towns, including Castillon, quickly rallied.
In the spring of 1453, Charles VII fought back. Four army corps are heading towards Bordeaux, one of which, along the Dordogne, accompanied the artillery of Jean Bureau. The French arrived in front of Castillon on July 13. The residents call Talbot for their help. The captain left Bordeaux on the 16th, with his cavalry, and, on the morning of the 17th, he surprised a body of French archers north of Castillon who lost around two hundred men. Talbot decides to take a break.
From the top of the ramparts, residents saw a cloud of dust rising from the French camp and deduced that they were fleeing. They warn the English. Talbot immediately decides to attack. He's counting on surprise to end things quickly. Arriving there, he was surprised by the depth of the ditch which protected the place and ordered them to attack the entrance to the camp on foot. A tough fight lasting about an hour ensued. The French resisted well and Bureau's guns thinned the Anglo-Gascon ranks which withdrew to reform. The French decide to leave the camp with the help of the Breton corps which has not yet fought. It is then that a cannonball hits Talbot's hack: half crushed by his mount, the captain will be massacred by the archers. The English flee. Guyenne once again becomes definitively French.
