Lancaster's chevauchée of 1346 was a series of offensives directed by Henry, Earl of

Lancaster, in southwestern France during autumn 1346, as a part of the Hundred Years' War.

The year had started with a "huge"[1] French army under John, Duke of Normandy, the
French king's son and heir, besieging the strategically important town of Aiguillon in
Gascony. Lancaster refused battle and harassed the French supply lines while preventing
Aiguillon from being blockaded. After a five-month siege the French were ordered north to
confront the main English army, which on 12 July had landed in Normandy under Edward III
of England and commenced the Crécy campaign.

This left the French defences in the southwest both weak and disorganised. Lancaster took
advantage by launching offensives into Quercy and the Bazadais and himself leading a third
force on a large-scale mounted raid (a chevauchée) between 12 September and 31 October
1346. All three offensives were successful, with Lancaster's chevauchée, of approximately
2,000 English and Gascon soldiers, meeting no effective resistance from the French,
penetrating 160 miles (260 kilometres) north and storming the rich city of Poitiers. His force
then burnt and looted large areas of Saintonge, Aunis and Poitou, capturing numerous towns,
castles and smaller fortified places as they went. The offensives completely disrupted the
French defences and shifted the focus of the fighting from the heart of Gascony to 50 miles
(80 kilometres) or more beyond its borders.

Since the Norman Conquest of 1066, English monarchs had held titles and lands within
France, the possession of which made them vassals of the kings of France. By 1337 only
Gascony in southwestern France and Ponthieu in northern France were left.[2] The
independent-minded Gascons preferred their relationship with a distant English king who left
them alone to one with a French king who would interfere in their affairs.[3][4] Following a
series of disagreements between Philip VI of France (r. 1328–1350) and Edward III of
England (r. 1327–1377), on 24 May 1337 Philip's Great Council agreed that Gascony should
be taken back into Philip's hands, on the grounds that Edward was in breach of his obligations
as a vassal. This marked the start of the Hundred Years' War, which was to last 116 years.[5]

France in 1330.
Under French royal control in 1214
Gained from English control by 1330
England and English-controlled Gascony in 1330

Before the war commenced well over 1000 ships a year departed from Gascony for England.
Among their cargoes were over 200,000,000 imperial pints (1,100,000 hectolitres;
240,000,000 US pints) of locally produced wine.[6][7] The duty levied by the English Crown
on wine from Bordeaux was more than all other customs duties combined and by far the
largest source of state income. Bordeaux, the capital of Gascony, had a population of over
50,000, greater than London's,[8] and was possibly richer. However, by this time English
Gascony had become so truncated by French encroachments that it relied on imports of food,
largely from England. Any interruptions to regular shipping were liable to starve Gascony
and financially cripple England; the French were well aware of this.[9]

The border between English and French territory in Gascony was extremely unclear. Many
landholders owned a patchwork of widely separated estates, perhaps owing fealty to a
different overlord for each. Each small estate was likely to have a fortified tower or keep,
with larger estates having castles. Fortifications were also constructed at transport choke
points, to collect tolls and to restrict military passage; fortified towns grew up alongside all
bridges and most fords over the many rivers in the region. Military forces could support
themselves by foraging so long as they moved on frequently. If they wished to remain in one
place for any length of time, as was necessary to besiege a castle, then access to water
transport was essential for supplies of food and fodder and desirable for such items as siege
equipment.[10]

Although Gascony was the cause of the war, in most campaigning seasons the Gascons had
had to rely on their own resources and had been hard pressed by the French.[11][12] In 1339 the
French besieged Bordeaux, the capital of Gascony, even breaking into the city with a large
force before they were repulsed.[13] Typically the Gascons could field 3,000–6,000 men, the
large majority infantry, although up to two-thirds of them would be tied down in garrisons.[14]
Warfare was usually a struggle for possession of castles and other fortified points, and for the
mutable loyalty of the local nobility.[15][16]