Prisoners of war in the Hundred Years War

by Rémy Ambühl

"The status of prisoners of war was firmly rooted in the practice of ransoming in the Middle Ages. By the opening stages of the Hundred Years War, ransoming had become widespread among the knightly community, and the crown had already begun to exercise tighter control over the practice of war. The resulting tensions between public and private interests over ransoms and prisoners of war were apparent. Historians have long emphasised the significance of the French and English crowns' interference in the issue of prisoners of war, but this original and stimulating study questions whether they...