The Gascon campaign of 1345 was conducted by Henry, Earl of Derby, as part of the Hundred Years' War. The whirlwind campaign took place between August and November 1345 in Gascony, an English-controlled territory in south-west France. Derby, commanding an Anglo-Gascon force, oversaw the first successful English land campaign of the war. He twice defeated large French armies in battle, taking many noble and knightly prisoners. They were ransomed by their captors, greatly enriching Derby and his soldiers in the process. Following this campaign, morale and prestige swung England's way in the border region between English-occupied Gascony and French-ruled territory, providing an influx of taxes and recruits for the English armies. As a result, France's ability to raise tax money and troops from the region was much reduced.
A battle between French and English armies, as imagined by a contemporary chronicler
Henry of Lancaster, Earl of Derby
Miniature from Froissart's Chronicle illustrating his fanciful account of a messenger from Auberoche being fired back into the castle by a trebuchet.
A contemporary portrait of the Duke of Normandy (later King of France)
Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford
Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, 2nd Baron Stafford, KG, of Stafford Castle and Madeley Castle in Staffordshire, was an English nobleman and a notable soldier during the Hundred Years' War against France.
Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, KG. Illustration from the Bruges Garter Book, c. 1430. He displays the arms of Stafford on his tunic.
Remains of Madeley Castle in Staffordshire, now known as "Madeley Old Manor", for which the 1st Earl received a licence to crenellate in February 1347/8, together with Stafford Castle, "and to make castles of them". Red Sandstone ashlar blocks with external doorway with portcullis groove and chamfered arch at its north end. This fragment is believed to have formed part of the 1st Earl's castle, namely the west external wall and gateway.
