Capture of French King John II

Timeline

1. 1356Battlefield southeast of Poitiers · Vienne departmentThe French army routed at Poitiers, and John II was captured by English forces amid the melee — an extremely rare 'king captured on the battlefield' event in medieval Western European history that shocked the whole Christian world.
2. 1356–1359London · Greater LondonJohn II was taken to England, treated courteously but deprived of liberty. France was governed by the Dauphin Charles amid noble feuds, fiscal exhaustion, and peasant uprisings, leaving the state in long-term paralysis.
3. 1358–1360Brétigny and Calais · FranceThe two sides agreed to exchange territory for ransom; the Treaty of Brétigny stipulated a ransom of three million gold crowns. John II was released and returned to France in 1360, but with the prince and others held as hostages to guarantee performance, at an extremely heavy financial and political cost to France.