ZZZEVENTBattle of Patay
Chapter 44. The Battle of Patay for the French.
[18th June 1429] About an hour after those English had departed under safe-conduct to go away, certain news came into the French host that the Englishman Lord Talbot, Lord Scales, Sir John Fastolf, and several other lords and captains of England, numbering up to four to five thousand, had passed through Janville in Beauce, in order to come straight to Meung-sur-Loire. At once horsemen were set on the road to learn the truth of this more fully; and meanwhile the said Duke of Alençon, the Count of Richemont, Constable of France, the Count of Vendôme, and the said Joan the Maid always had the said host drawn out into the fields outside the said town of Beaugency and put into battle array. Soon afterwards those horsemen returned, reporting that they had seen the said English near Meung-sur-Loire, and that those of the said town of Meung had departed from it and had left and abandoned that town of Meung, and were going away with the others. The said English were making straight for Janville in Beauce.
When this came to the knowledge of the Duke of Alençon, the Count of Richemont, Constable of France, the Count of Vendôme, the Bastard of Orléans, Joan the Maid, and the other chiefs of war and captains, it was decided to move hastily towards the place where it was said that the English were, and to fight them wherever they could find them. At once they broke up their battle formations and rode diligently, making towards a fortified church named Patay in Beauce. There the English were found and overtaken, going on foot and on horseback, and while they were still marching on their way they were found by the scouts and vanguard of the French. And by the time the battle in which were the said Lord of Alençon, the Constable of France, the Count of Vendôme, the Bastard of Orléans, Joan the Maid, and others was approaching very closely, they could plainly see the English. The English then moved out of formation in order to take up a position on the edge of a wood near a village.
At that hour the said scouts and vanguard of the French, in which were the Lord of Beaumanoir, Sir Ambroise de Loré, La Hire, Poton de Xaintrailles, and other captains, struck upon the English in such a manner that those who were on horseback, or the greater part of them, began to flee. Those on foot, who were in great number, thrust themselves into that wood and village. At that hour the French main battle arrived, and finally the English were defeated. There were about two to three thousand of them dead, and a great number of prisoners. Lord Talbot, Lord Scales, Sir Walter Hungerford, and several other great lords of England were taken there. The pursuit lasted as far as Janville in Beauce. That town of Janville, which had been held by the said English, was at that hour surrendered and placed in the obedience of the King of France, together with several other fortresses of the said country of Beauce. Sir John Fastolf and several Englishmen who were able to escape from the affair returned to Corbeil. And the aforesaid French lodged the following night at the said place of Patay.