The chevauchée conducted by John Chandos and Robert Knolles in the spring of 1369 is known to us, in its broad outlines, through the account of it presented by Jean Froissart in his chronicles. The details, the military objectives, and the tactics of this operation, however, remain less than clear. Historians have shown little interest in it. Guillaume Lacoste, in the brief narrative contained within his monumental Histoire générale de la province de Quercy, often contradicts both Froissart and the archival documents regarding the chronology of the operation, which proves that he did not devote sustained attention to the campaign. A closer look makes it clear that although the objectives assigned to John Chandos and Robert Knolles were of very great importance, the results did not match the expectations, so that their expedition fell into the obscurity reserved for grand enterprises concluded without success.

In order to define properly the goals of this chevauchée, it is necessary to situate it correctly in the general context of the troubled events of the years 1368–69. This done, it will be possible to take into account its strategic objectives and the role that was expected for it, and thereby to observe the mismatch between the operation and the mission it was intended to fulfill. Finally, the study of the actions taken by the French in opposition to it will show that they possessed a clear awareness of the Anglo-Aquitanian objectives, and that they had taken them fully into account as they launched their riposte. This first major military action of the resumption of Anglo-French conflict bore within itself the factors which explain the future successes of the armies of Charles V.

General Political Context

Since the conclusion of the treaty of Brétigny in 1360, Quercy, like Poitou, Saintonge, the Agenais, Périgord, the Limousin, Bigorre, the Angoumois and Rouergue, had been living under English domination, and had been integrated into the principality of Aquitaine, under the rule of the prince of Wales. The people of Quercy endured this subjugation with resignation. It was not that they felt any more-or-less “nationalistic” aversion to Plantagenet power, but the Treaty of Brétigny, which had separated them from the authority of the king of France, had not brought with it the peace and the return to prosperity they so longed for: mercenary companies continued to live off the land, and the economic situation remained abysmal.