To Win and Lose a Medieval Battle

L.J. Andrew Villalon earned his Ph.D. in history at Yale University and, after a long career at the University of Cincinnati, is now an independent scholar in Austin, Texas. He has published seven books and many articles on military history in major academic journals and has served as the president of the Texas Medieval Association and De Re Militari.Donald J. Kagay earned his Ph. D. in medieval history at Fordham University, and after a long career at Albany State University, currently serves as a part-time professor at the University of Dallas. He has published twelve books and many articles on medieval legal and military history and is the founder and former president of the Texas Medieval Association.

Winner of the 2019 Brigadier General James L. Collins Jr. Prize, awarded by the U.S. Commission on Military History for the best book on military history published in 2017 or 2018. The awarding committee praised the volume as ‘a genuinely original scholarly contribution... comprehensive, balanced, and insightful... this 600-page magnum opus will significantly enhance our understanding of military history during a seminal period of human development.’"This is an immensely thorough and detailed study of the battle of Najera. The event itself is often dismissed by modern writers as an exotic adventure by the Black Prince, a mere adjunct, and a futile one, to the ‘real substance’ of the ‘Hundred Years War’ which remains such a focus for historians, and especially those interested in military development. But this book is much more than simple ‘metal-bashing’ […] In this valuable analysis of the battle of Najera, its causes and consequences, the authors discuss topics of wide general interest to military historians, notably the problems of logistics and the desirability (or otherwise) of battle. The great virtue of the account is that it is built upon the sources which are discussed and evaluated throughout. But its greatest value undoubtedly lies in the translations of sources in the appendices. This is an important book based on solid and careful scholarship". John France, in De Re Militari April 2019.

• AcknowledgementsAuthors’ Academic BiographiesList of Maps, Tables and GenealogiesIntroductionPart 1: Background1 Intersecting Conflicts1 Introduction2 The Reconquista3 Hundred Years War2 Three Who Ruled1 Introduction2 Pedro “the Cruel”3 Pere “the Ceremonious”4 Enrique “the Bastard”3 A Clash of Kings1 Introduction2 The Spark3 A War of Words4 Aragon’s Attempt to Avoid Conflict5 Opening Stages6 Failure of Papal Diplomacy7 Castilian Motives8 Escalating Hostilities9 The Castilian Exiles10 Pedro’s Alliances and the Role of Granada11 An Increasingly Brutal Conflict4 Foreign Policy and Foreign Intervention (1365–1366)1 Introduction2 Collecting Foreign Enemies: France and the Papacy3 An English Alliance4 The French Intervention That Wasn’t5 The Rise of the Free Companies6 The Companies enter Iberia (1365–1366)7 A Royal Loss of Nerve? (Spring, 1366)8 Aragonese Reclamations9 A Triumph and a FlightPart 2: Campaign and Battle5 Preparations for Invasion (1366–1367)1 Introduction2 Journey to Aquitaine3 An English Welcome4 Winning English Aid5 Recruitment and Preparation6 Events at Angoulême7 The Diplomatic Chessboard: Trilateral Negotiations8 Aragonese Indecision9 The Muster at Dax10 England’s Strategic Conundrum11 Castilian Moves and Countermoves (1366–Spring, 1367)6 The Campaign (February–April 2, 1367)1 Introduction2 A Mountain Crossing3 Campaigning in “the Hungry Season”4 Marching to Vitoria: Feint or Blunder?5 A Royal Defection6 England’s Hour of Discontent7 Facing Starvation8 To Fight or not to Fight: The Crucial Question9 End Run To Logroño10 The War of Words7 The Battle of Nájera (April 3, 1367)1 Introduction2 The Castilian Army3 English Advantages and an “English Bow”4 The Numbers Game5 English March to the Battlefield6 Chivalric Niceties and Knightly Housekeeping7 The Battle Begins8 The Wager of Battle9 The Role of the Longbow10 The Face of Battle11 Learning from Discrepancies?12 Defeat, Pursuit, and Massacre13 The Reason WhyPart 3: Aftermath8 Defeat from the Jaws of Victory1 Introduction2 An Unusual Court of Chivalry3 The Initial Quarrel4 Non-Payment of War Debts5 Live to Fight Another Day6 The King is Dead/Long Live the King7 The Hundred Years War Renewed: The First Period of English Defeat8 The Turning Wheel of FortuneConclusionAppendix A: Lists of Participants from Five SourcesA.1 Pedro López de Ayala, Crónica de Pedro IA.2 The Chandos HeraldA.3 Jean Froissart’s ChronicleA.4 John of ReadingA.5 Anonymous Canterbury ChronicleAppendix B: Document TranslationsB.1 Treaty of Alliance between Pedro I of Castile and the Crown of England (June 22, 1362)B.2 Pere III’s Secret Agreement at Monzón to Support Enrique de Trastámara’s Bid for the Castilian Crown (March 31, 1363)B.3 Royal Letter of Pedro I Conferring upon Fernando de Castro the Lands and Titles of Count of Castañeda, Lemos, and Sarria (June, 1366)B.4 Agreement between Pedro I of Castile, Edward, Prince of Wales and Aquitaine, and King Charles II of Navarre allowing an Anglo-Gascon Army to Traverse Navarre (Fall, 1366)B.5 Letters of Pedro I to the City of Murcia (Spring, 1367)B.6 Letter of the Black Prince to his Wife, Joan of Kent, Concerning the Victory at Nájera (April, 1367)B.7 English Response to Pedro I’s Appeal for Renewed English Aid (1368)Appendix C: Chronicle TranslationsC.1 Pedro López de Ayala’s Crónica de Pedro IC.2 The Chandos Herald’s Life of the Black PrinceC.3 The Chronicles of Jean FroissartC.4 Crónica of Pere III [Pedro IV]C.5 The DuGuesclin MemoirsC.6 Chronique des Quatre Premiers ValoisC.7 The Anonymous Chronique NormandeC.8 Chronique des Regnes de Jean II et Charles VC.9 Latin Poem by Walter of PeterboroughC.10 Latin Poem by an Anonymous pro-English AuthorC.11 Chronicle of King Fernando by Fernão LopesC.12 Monastic ChroniclesAppendix D: Western European Royal Dynasties of the Fourteenth CenturyKings of EnglandKings of FranceKings of CastileKings of Crown of AragonKings of NavarreKings of PortugalBibliographyIndex