The English were strangely inactive.  The Black Prince lay sick at Cognac, and of his subordinates Chandos, now seneschal of Poitou, alone showed vigour.  Chandos, finding the lords of Poitou much more loyal to the English connexion than those of the south, was able to take the aggressive by invading Anjou.  He was, however, soon recalled to protect Poitou, and on January 1, 1370, was mortally wounded at the bridge of Lussac.  James Audley had already died of disease in another Poitevin town.  While England was losing her best soldiers, Du Guesclin began a fresh series of raids in the Garonne valley.  Soon the banner of the lilies waved within a few leagues of Bordeaux, and ancient towns of the English obedience, like Bazas and Bergerac, fell into the enemy’s hands.  With the capture of Perigueux, the Limousin was isolated from Gascon succour.  In August the Duke of Berri appeared before the walls of the cite, or episcopal quarter, of Limoges, and the bishop promptly handed it over to him.

Disasters at last stirred up the English to action.  In 1370 John of Gaunt was sent with one army to Gascony and Sir Robert Knowles with another to Calais.  The Black Prince, though unable to ride, was eager to command.  It was arranged that while Lancaster led one force from Bordeaux to Limoges, Edward should accompany another that marched from Cognac towards the same destination.  To resist this combination Du Guesclin strove to combine the separate armies of the Dukes of Anjou and Berri.  However, he failed to prevent the junction of Lancaster and Edward, and their advance to Limoges.  On September 19, the anniversary of Poitiers, the city of Limoges opened its gates after a five days’ siege.  The English took a terrible revenge.  Not a house in the cite was spared, and the cathedral rose over a mass of ruins.  The whole population was put to the sword, the Black Prince in his litter watching grimly the execution of his orders.  A few gentlemen alone were saved for the sake of their ransoms.  Among them was the brother of Pope Gregory XI., who not unnaturally became a warm friend of the patriotic party.  The sack of Limoges was the last exploit of the Black Prince.  Early in 1371, he returned to England, partly because of his state of health, and partly because he had no money to pay his soldiers.  It is not unlikely that he was already on bad terms with John of Gaunt, who had necessarily taken the chief share in the campaign and was nominated his successor.  Too late, efforts were made to conciliate the Gascons; in 1370 a supreme court was set up at Saintes to save the necessity of appeals to London which had become as onerous as the ancient frequency of resort to the parliament of Paris; and the hearth-tax, the ostensible cause of the rising, was formally renounced.