the English king demanded as the price of peace. The Peace of Bretigny
permitted King John to ransom himself, but resigned to England the
sovereignty over the duchy of Aquitaine, and left Calais and Ponthieu in
the hands of Edward III. John died in 1364, before his ransom was paid,
and his son mounted the throne as _Charles V_. Charles showed himself
from this time a wary, able man, and did much to regain what had been
lost by craftily watching his opportunity. The war went on between the
allies of each party, though the French and English kings professed to
be at peace; and at the battle of Cocherel, in 1364, Charles the Bad was
defeated, and forced to make peace with France. On the other hand, the
French party in Brittany, led by Charles de Blois and the gallant Breton
knight, Bertrand du Guesclin, were routed, the same year, by the English
party under Sir John Chandos; Charles de Blois was killed, and the house
of Montfort established in the duchy. These years of war had created a
dreadful class of men, namely, hired soldiers of all nations, who, under
some noted leader, sold their services to whatever prince might need
them, under the name of Free Companies, and when unemployed lived by
plunder. The peace had only let these wretches loose on the peasants.
Some had seized castles, whence they could plunder travellers; others
roamed the country, preying on the miserable peasants, who, fleeced as
they were by king, barons, and clergy, were tortured and murdered by
these ruffians, so that many lived in holes in the ground that their
dwellings might not attract attention. Bertrand du Guesclin offered the
king to relieve the country from these Free Companies by leading them to
assist the Castilians against their tyrannical king, Peter the Cruel.
Edward, the Black Prince, who was then acting as Governor of Aquitaine,
took, however, the part of Peter, and defeated Du Guesclin at the battle
of Navarete, on the Ebro, in 1367.