while he personally directed the forces of disorder in the south, his agents united with the English condottieri in Normandy.  John Jowel still held tight to his Norman conquests, and was, by Edward’s direction, fighting openly for Charles of Navarre.  The Captal de Buch, the hero of Poitiers, hurried from Gascony to protect the Navarrese lands from the invasion of Bertrand du Guesclin.  On May 16, 1364, the little armies of the Captal and the Breton partisan met at Cocherel on the Eure, where Du Guesclin cleverly won the first important victory gained by the French in the open field during the whole course of the war.  The Captal was taken prisoner, and the establishment of Du Guesclin in some of Charles of Navarre’s Norman fiefs deprived the intriguer of his opportunities to do mischief in the north.  Charles of Navarre’s career was not yet over; but henceforth his chief field was his southern kingdom.

The victorious Du Guesclin turned his attention to his native Brittany, where the war of Blois and Montfort still went on, for Joan of Penthievre insisted so strongly upon her rights that the efforts of Edward and John to end the contest had been without result.  In 1362 John de Montfort was at last entrusted with the government of Brittany, and Du Guesclin quitted the service of France for that of Charles of Blois, that the treaty of 1360 might remain unbroken.  But as in the early wars, the army of Blois was mainly French, and the host of Montfort was commanded by the Englishman, John Chandos, and largely consisted of English men-at-arms and archers.  Calveley, Knowles, and the Breton Oliver de Clisson were among the captains of Duke John’s forces.

The decisive engagement took place on September 29, 1364, on the plateau, north of Auray, which is still marked by the church of St. Michael, erected as a thank-offering by the victor.  It was another Poitiers on a small scale.  The Anglo-Breton army held a good defensive position, facing northwards, with its back on the town of Auray.  The troops of Charles of Blois and Du Guesclin advanced to attack them with more ardour than discipline or skill.  Both sides fought on foot.  The French knights had at last learnt to meet the storm of English arrows by strengthening their armour and by protecting themselves by large shields.  Thus, as at Poitiers, they had little difficulty in making their way up to the enemy’s ranks.  But their order was confused, and they thought of nothing but the fierce delights of the melee.  The Montfort party showed more intelligence, and Chandos, like the captal at Poitiers, fell suddenly upon the flank of one of the enemy’s divisions.  This settled the fight; Charles of Blois was slain, Du Guesclin taken prisoner, and their army utterly scattered.  Auray ended the war of the Breton succession.  Even Joan of Penthievre was at last willing to treat.  In 1365 the treaty of Guerande was signed, by which.  Montfort was recognised as John IV. of Brittany, and