title: United States Air Force Thunderbirds

text: The "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" were a group of four C-130 pilots and their planes who were officially recognized as an aerial demonstration team by the USAF's Tactical Air Command in 1957. They flew as an aerial demonstration team until 1960.


title: United States Air Force Thunderbirds

text: The Air Force maintains a Thunderbirds Museum covering the history of the demonstration team. The museum is located at Nellis Air Force Base and includes a full size F-16 "Gate Guard" on display (in full Thunderbird paint scheme).


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The Battle of Poitiers was fought on 19September 1356 between a French army commanded by King JohnII and an Anglo-Gascon force under Edward, the Black Prince, during the Hundred Years' War. It took place in western France, south of Poitiers, when approximately 14,000 to 16,000 French attacked a strong defensive position held by 6,000 Anglo-Gascons.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: Nineteen years after the start of the war the Black Prince, the eldest son and heir of the English King, set out on a major campaign in south-west France. His army marched from Bergerac to the River Loire, which they were unable to cross. John gathered a large and unusually mobile army and pursued the Anglo-Gascons, whom he brought to battle. The Anglo-Gascons established a strong defensive position near Poitiers and after unsuccessful negotiations were attacked.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The first French assault included two units of heavily armoured cavalry, a strong force of crossbowmen and many infantry and dismounted men-at-arms. They were driven back by the Anglo-Gascons, who were fighting entirely on foot. A second French attack by 4,000 men-at-arms on foot under John's son and heir Charles, the Dauphin, followed. After a prolonged fight this was also repulsed. As the Dauphin's division recoiled there was confusion in the French ranks: about half the men of their third division, under Philip, Duke of Orléans, left the field, taking with them all four of John's sons. Some of those who did not withdraw with Philip launched a weak and unsuccessful third assault. Those Frenchmen remaining gathered around the King and launched a fourth assault against the by now exhausted Anglo-Gascons, again all as infantry. The French sacred banner, the , was unfurled, the signal that no prisoners were to be taken. Battle was again joined, with the French slowly getting the better of it. Then a small, mounted, Anglo-Gascon force of 160 men, who had been sent earlier to threaten the French rear, appeared behind the French. Believing themselves surrounded, some Frenchmen fled, which panicked others, and soon the entire French force collapsed.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: John was captured, as was one of his sons and between 2,000 and 3,000 men-at-arms. Approximately 2,500 French men-at-arms were killed. Additionally, either 1,500 or 3,800 French common infantry were killed or captured. The surviving French dispersed, while the Anglo-Gascons continued their withdrawal to Gascony. The following spring a two-year truce was agreed and the Black Prince escorted John to London. Populist revolts broke out across France. Negotiations to end the war and ransom John dragged out. In response Edward launched a further campaign in 1359. During this, both sides compromised and the Treaty of Brétigny was agreed in 1360 by which vast areas of France were ceded to England, to be ruled by the Black Prince, and John was ransomed for three million gold écu. At the time this seemed to end the war, but the French resumed hostilities in 1369 and recaptured most of the lost territory. The war eventually ended with a French victory in 1453.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: 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 the first quarter of the fourteenth century, the only significant French possession still held by the English in France was Gascony in the south west. But Gascony was disproportionately important: duty levied by the English Crown on wine from Bordeaux, the capital of Gascony, was more than all other English customs duties combined and by far the largest source of state income. Bordeaux had a population of more than 50,000, greater than London's, and Bordeaux was possibly richer. Following a series of disagreements between Philip VI of France () and Edward III of England (), on 24 May 1337 Philip's Great Council agreed that the lands held by EdwardIII in France should be taken back into Philip's hands on the grounds that EdwardIII was in breach of his obligations as a vassal. This marked the start of the Hundred Years' War, which was to last 116 years.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: Although Gascony was the cause of the war, EdwardIII was able to spare few resources for its defence. In most campaigning seasons the Gascons had to rely on their own resources and had been hard-pressed by the French. Typically the Gascons could field 3,000 to 6,000 men, the large majority infantry, although up to two-thirds of them would be tied down in garrisoning their fortifications. In 1345 and 1346 Henry, Earl of Lancaster, led a series of successful Anglo-Gascon campaigns in Aquitaine and was able to push the focus of the fighting away from the heart of Gascony.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The French port of Calais fell to the English in August 1347 after the Crécy campaign. Shortly after this the Truce of Calais was signed, partially the result of both countries being financially exhausted. The same year the Black Death reached northern France and southern England and is estimated to have killed a third of the population of Western Europe; the death rate was over 40% in southern England. This catastrophe, which lasted until 1350, temporarily halted the fighting. The treaty was extended repeatedly over the years; this did not stop ongoing naval clashes, nor small-scale fightingwhich was especially fierce in south-west Francenor occasional fighting on a larger scale.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: A treaty to end the war was negotiated at Guînes and signed on 6 April 1354. However, the composition of the inner council of the French king, JohnII (), changed and sentiment turned against its terms. John decided not to ratify it, and it was clear that from the summer of 1355 that both sides would be committed to full-scale war. In April 1355 EdwardIII and his council, with the treasury in an unusually favourable financial position, decided to launch offensives that year in both northern France and Gascony. John attempted to strongly garrison his northern towns and fortifications against the expected descent by EdwardIII, at the same time as assembling a field army; he was unable to, largely because of a lack of money.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: In 1355 EdwardIII's eldest son, Edward of Woodstock, later commonly known as the Black Prince, was given the Gascon command and began assembling men, shipping and supplies. He arrived in Bordeaux on 20September accompanied by 2,200 English soldiers. The next day he was formally acknowledged as the king's lieutenant in Gascony, with plenipotentiary powers, by the Gascon officials and dignatories. Gascon nobles reinforced him to a strength of somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 and provided a bridging train and a substantial supply train.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: Edward set out on 5October on a , which was a large-scale mounted raid. The Anglo-Gascon force marched from Bordeaux to Narbonnealmost on the Mediterranean coast and deep in French-held territoryand back to Gascony. They devastated a wide swathe of French territory and sacked many French towns on the way. John, Count of Armagnac, who commanded the local French forces, avoided battle, and there was little fighting. While no territory was captured, enormous economic damage was done to France; the modern historian Clifford Rogers concluded "the importance of the economic attrition aspect of the can hardly be exaggerated." The expedition returned to Gascony on 2December having marched .


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The English troops resumed the offensive from Gascony after Christmas to great effect. More than 50 French-held towns or fortifications were captured during the following four months, including strategically important towns close to the borders of Gascony, and others more than away. Local French commanders did not attempt countermeasures. Several members of the local French nobility changed allegiance to the English; the Black Prince received homage from them on 24April 1356.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: Money and enthusiasm for the war were running low in France. The modern historian Jonathan Sumption describes the French national administration as "fall[ing] apart in jealous acrimony and recrimination". A contemporary chronicler recorded "the King of France was severely hated in his own realm". The town of Arras rebelled and killed loyalists. The major nobles of Normandy refused to pay taxes. On 5April 1356 John arrested the notoriously treacherous CharlesII, king of Navarre, one of the largest landholders in Normandy and nine more of his more outspoken critics; four were summarily executed. The Norman nobles who had not been arrested turned to Edward for assistance.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: Seeing an opportunity, Edward III diverted an expedition planned for Brittany under Henry of Lancaster to Normandy in late June. Lancaster set off with 2,300 men and pillaged and burnt his way eastward across Normandy. King John moved to Rouen with a much stronger force, hoping to intercept Lancaster. After relieving and re-victualling the besieged fortifications of Breteuil and Pont-Audemer the English stormed and sacked the town of Verneuil. John pursued, but bungled several opportunities to bring the English to battle and they escaped. In three weeks the expedition had, with few casualties, seized a large amount of loot including many horses, cemented new alliances, and damaged the French economy and prestige. The French King returned to Breteuil and re-established the siege, where he continued to be distracted from the English preparations for a greater from south-west France.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: On 4August 1356 a combined force of 6,000 Gascon and English fighting men headed north from Bergerac. They were accompanied by approximately 4,000 non-combatants. All of the fighting men were mounted, including those who would always fight on foot, such as the archers. On 14August the Anglo-Gascon army separated into three divisions, which moved north abreast of each other and began to systematically devastate the countryside. There would be approximately between the flanking units, enabling them to devastate a band of French territory more than 50 miles (80 km) wide, yet be able to unite to face an enemy at approximately a day's notice. They advanced slowly, to facilitate their tasks of looting and destruction. The modern historian David Green describes the progress of the Black Prince's army as "deliberately destructive, extremely brutal... methodical and sophisticated." Several strong castles were assaulted and captured. The populaces of most towns fled, or surrendered at the first sight of Anglo-Gascon troops. Overall, there was little French resistance. If a French field army had been in the area, the Anglo-Gascon forces would have had to stay relatively close together, ready to support each other if attacked. The absence of any such French force enabled the Prince's formations to disperse widely to maximise their destructive effect on the French countryside.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The main French army remained in Normandy. Despite it being clear that Breteuil could be neither stormed nor starved, John felt unable to abandon its siege as this would undermine his prestige as a warrior-king. He declined to march against the Black Prince, declaring that the garrison of Breteuil posed a more serious threat. At some point in August an unusually large belfry, or mobile siege tower, was pushed up to the walls of Breteuil and a full-scale assault launched. The defenders set fire to the belfry and repulsed the attack. Sumption describes the French losses in this attack as "terrible" and the entire second siege as "a pointless endeavour". The historian Kenneth Fowler describes the siege as "magnificent but archaic". Eventually John had to give way to the pressure to do something to prevent the destruction being inflicted in south-west France. Sometime around 20August he offered the garrison of Breteuil free passage, a huge bribe and permission to take with them their valuables and goods, which persuaded them to vacate the town. The French army promptly marched south, as all available forces were concentrated against the Black Prince.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: Hearing on 28August that John was marching on Tours and was prepared to give battle, the Black Prince moved his three divisions closer together and ordered them to move towards Tours. He was also willing to fight an open battle, if he could do so under the right circumstances. He still hoped to cross the Loire River, both to be able to come to grips with the French army and to link up with either Edward III's or Lancaster's army, if they were in the area. The French royal army from Breteuil had moved to Chartres, where it received reinforcements, particularly of men-at-arms. John sent home nearly all of the infantry contingents, which reduced the French wage bill and left an entirely mounted force that had the mobility and speed to match that of the Black Prince's all-mounted army. Two hundred Scottish picked men-at-arms under William, Earl of Douglas, joined John at Chartres. Once John felt he had an overwhelmingly strong force it set off south towards the Loire, and then south west along its north bank. Early on 8September the Black Prince's army reached Tours, where he received news that Lancaster was not far to the east, on the other side of the Loire, and hoped to join him soon. The Anglo-Gascons prepared for battle and expected the imminent arrival of the French. But John had crossed the Loire at Blois, to the east of Tours, on 10September, where he was joined by the army of his son John, Count of Poitiers.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: Meanwhile, the anticipated support from England failed to materialise. In early August an Aragonese galley fleet, which had sailed from Barcelona in April, arrived in the English Channel. The fleet hired by the French only contained nine galleys, but it caused panic among the English. Edward's attempts to raise an army to send to France were still underway and shipping was being assembled. The troops gathered were split up to guard the coast and the ships sailing to Southampton to transport the army were ordered to remain in port until the galleys had left. At some point in August Lancaster marched south from eastern Brittany with an army of 2,500 men or more. The unusual height of the Loire and the French control of its bridges meant Lancaster was unable to cross and effect a junction. In early September he abandoned the attempt to force a crossing at Les Ponts-de-Cé and returned to Brittany where he laid siege to its capital, Rennes.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The Anglo-Gascon army was treading a balance. While there were no large French forces facing them they spread out to loot and despoil the land. But their primary objective was to use the threat of devastation to force, or perhaps persuade, the French army to attack them. The Anglo-Gascons were confident that fighting defensively on ground of their choosing they could defeat a numerically superior French force. In the event of the French being too numerous they were equally confident that they could avoid battle by manoeuvring. The French, aware of this approach, usually attempted to isolate English forces against a river or the sea, where the threat of starvation would force them to take the tactical offensive and attack the French in a prepared position. Once he crossed the Loire, John repeatedly attempted to interpose his army between the Anglo-Gascons and Gascony, so they would be forced to try and fight their way out. Meanwhile the Black Prince did not wish to rapidly retreat to the safety of Gascony, but to manoeuvre in the vicinity of the French army so as to persuade it to attack on unfavourable terms, without himself becoming cut off. He was aware that John had been eager to fight Lancaster's force in Normandy in June and anticipated this enthusiasm for battle would continue.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: Once he had crossed the Loire on 10September and been reinforced John moved to cut off the Anglo-Gascon line of retreat. Hearing of this, and losing hope that Lancaster would be able to join him, the Black Prince moved his army some south to Montbazon where he took up a fresh defensive position on 12September. The same day John's son and heir, Charles, the Dauphin, entered Tours, having travelled from Normandy with 1,000 men-at-arms, and Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord, Cardinal of Périgord, arrived at the Black Prince's camp to attempt to negotiate a two-day truce on behalf of Pope Innocent VI. According to differing sources this was to be followed by peace negotiations or an arranged battle. The Black Prince dismissed Talleyrand and, happy to do battle, but concerned that a two-day delay would leave his army with its back to the Loire in an area with few supplies, marched hard and crossed the River Creuse at La Haye on 13September, to the south. John, aware he outnumbered the Anglo-Gascons, was also eager to wipe them out in battle and so similarly ignored Talleyrand. The French army continued to march south parallel to the English, rather than moving directly towards them, with the aim of cutting their lines of retreat and supply. On 14September the English marched south west to Châtellerault on the Vienne.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: At Châtellerault the Black Prince felt there were no geographical barriers against which the French could pin his army and that he was occupying an advantageous defensive position. He arrived there on 14September, the day Talleyrand had proposed for the two armies to engage in battle, and waited for the French to come to him. Two days later his scouts reported that John had bypassed his position and was about to cross the Vienne at Chauvigny. At this point the French had lost track of the Anglo-Gascon army and were unaware of its position, but were about to position themselves south of the Anglo-Gascons and directly in their path back to friendly territory. The Black Prince saw an opportunity to attack the French while they were on the march, or possibly even while crossing the Vienne, and so set off at first light on 17September to intercept them, leaving his baggage train behind to follow on as best it could.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: When the Anglo-Gascon vanguard reached Chauvigny most of the French army had already crossed and marched on towards Poitiers. A force of 700 men-at-arms of the French rearguard was intercepted near Savigny-Lévescault. Contemporary accounts note that they were not wearing helmets, suggesting they were completely unarmoured and not expecting battle. They were rapidly routed with 240 killed or captured, including 3 counts taken prisoner. Many Anglo-Gascons pursued the remaining, fleeing, French, although the Black Prince held back most of his army, not wishing to scatter it in the close vicinity of the enemy, and camped at Savigny-Lévescault. In response, John drew up his army outside Poitiers in battle order.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: On 18September the Anglo-Gascons marched towards Poitiers arrayed for battle. They took up a strong, carefully-selected position south of Poitiers on a wooded hill in the and began preparing it for a defensive battle: digging pits to impede the French advance (especially that of mounted troops) and trenches, and forming barricades to fight behind. They hoped that the French would launch an impromptu assault. Instead, Talleyrand rode up to negotiate. The Black Prince was initially disinclined to delay any battle. He was persuaded to discuss terms after Talleyrand pointed out that the two armies were now so close that if the French declined to attack, the Anglo-Gascons would find it almost impossible to withdraw. If they attempted to the French would attack, aiming to defeat them in detail, and if they stood their position they would run out of supplies before the French. The Anglo-Gascons need to stay concentrated in the presence of the French army and several days' hard marching had reduced the opportunities to forage. Because of this, food was almost exhausted. Unknown to Talleyrand the Anglo-Gascons were already unable to find sufficient water for their horses.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: After lengthy negotiations the Black Prince agreed extensive concessions in exchange for free passage to Gascony. However, they were dependent on the agreement being ratified by his father, EdwardIII. Unknown to Talleyrand or the French, Edward had given his son written permission to, in such circumstances, "help himself by making a truce or armistice, or in any other way that seems best to him." This has caused modern historians to doubt the Prince's sincerity. The French discussed these proposals at length, with John in favour. Several senior advisers felt it would be humiliating to, as they saw it, have at their mercy the Anglo-Gascon army which had devastated so much of France and to tamely allow it to escape. John was persuaded and Talleyrand informed the Black Prince he could expect a battle. Attempts to agree a site for the battle failed, as the French wished the Anglo-Gascons to move out of their strong defensive position and the English wished to remain there. At dawn on 19September Talleyrand again attempted to arrange a truce, but as his army's supplies were already running out the Black Prince rejected this.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The Anglo-Gascon army is generally considered by modern historians to have consisted of 6,000 men: 3,000 men-at-arms, 2,000 English and Welsh longbowmen and 1,000 Gascon infantry. The latter included many equipped with either crossbows or javelins, both classed as light infantry. Some contemporary accounts give lower numbers of 4,800 or 5,000. The division of the men-at-arms between English and Gascons is not recorded, but the previous year, when campaigning with a similarly sized army, 1,000 of the Prince's men-at-arms had been English. All of the Anglo-Gascons travelled on horses, but all or nearly all of them dismounted to fight.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The men-at-arms of both armies were, broadly, knights or knights in training. They were drawn from the landed gentry and ranged from great lords to the relatives and attendants of minor landowners. They needed to be able to equip themselves with a full suit of armour and a warhorse. They wore a quilted gambeson under mail (armour) which covered the body and limbs. This was supplemented by varying amounts of plate armour on the body and limbs, more so for wealthier and more experienced men. Heads were protected by bascinets: open-faced military iron or steel helmets, with mail attached to the lower edge of the helmet to protect the throat, neck and shoulders. A moveable visor (face guard) protected the face. Heater shields, typically made from thin wood overlaid with leather, were carried. The English men-at-arms were all dismounted. The weapons they used are not recorded, but in similar battles they used their lances as pikes, cut them down to use as short spears, or fought with swords and battle-axes.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The longbow used by the English and Welsh archers was unique to them; it took up to ten years to master and an experienced archer could discharge up to ten arrows per minute well over . Computer analysis by Warsaw University of Technology in 2017 demonstrated that heavy bodkin point arrows could penetrate typical plate armour of the time at . The depth of penetration would be slight at that range; predicted penetration increased as the range closed or against armour of less than the best quality available at the time. At short range longbow arrows could pierce any practicable thickness of plate armour if they struck at the correct angle. Archers carried one quiver of 24 arrows as standard. There may have been a resupply of ammunition from the wagons to the rear during the battle to at least some longbowmen; the archers also ventured forward during pauses in the fighting to retrieve arrows.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The Anglo-Gascons were divided into three divisions or "battles". The one on the left was commanded by Thomas, Earl of Warwick, marshal of England and a veteran of the Battle of Crecy, where he had been guardian to the Black Prince. He had as deputies John, Earl of Oxford, and the Gascon lord Jean, Captal de Buch; they were assisted by mostly Gascon lords. As well as 1,000 men-at-arms, Warwick's division contained approximately 1,000 archers. The archers were positioned to the left of the men-at-arms. The right flank was under William, Earl of Salisbury, deputised by Robert, Earl of Suffolk, and Maurice, Baron Berkeley. Salisbury's division, like Warwick's, consisted of about 1,000 men-at-arms and 1,000 Welsh and English longbowmen. Again the archers were positioned on the flank of the men-at-arms, in this case the right. The Black Prince took command of the centre division, which consisted of men-at-arms and Gascon infantry: about 1,000 of each, only the flanking divisions contained longbowmen. He had two veteran campaigners, John Chandos and James Audley, as his deputies. Initially the Prince's force was held back behind the other two divisions as a reserve. Each division deployed four to five men deep. It is possible a further, small, reserve was held back behind the Prince's division.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The French army was made up of between 14,000 and 16,000 men: 10,000 to 12,000 were men-at-arms, 2,000 were crossbowmen and 2,000 were infantrymen who were not classed as men-at-arms. Although most or all of the French had travelled mounted, they all fought dismounted at Poitiers except for two small groups of mounted knights, totalling either 300 or 500. These were selected from the Frenchmen who had the best armour, especially on their horses; horse armour is known as barding and the use of plate armour for this was a recent innovation in Western Europe. Their riders were equipped as the dismounted men-at-arms, apart from the superior quality of their armour. They wielded wooden lances, usually ash, tipped with iron and approximately long; their dismounted colleagues retained their lances, but cut them down to in order to use them as short spears. The crossbowmen wore metal helmets, brigandines (thick leather jerkins with varying amounts of small pieces of plate armour sewn to them) and possibly chain-mail hauberks. Crossbowmen usually fought from behind pavisesvery large shields with their own bearers, behind each of which three crossbowmen could shelter. A trained crossbowman could shoot his weapon approximately twice a minute and had a shorter effective range than a longbowman of about .


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The French army was divided into four battles. The foremost division was led by the constable of France, Walter, Count of Brienne. As well as a large core of French men-at-arms it included 200 Scottish men-at-arms under William Douglas, most of the French infantry and crossbowmen and all of their cavalry. The two small groups of cavalry were each led by one of the two marshals of France: Arnoul d'Audrehem and Jean de Clermont. The leading French were approximately from the English. Behind this was a division led jointly by John's 19-year-old son and heir and John's uncle: Charles, the Dauphin, and Peter, Duke of Bourbon, respectively; Charles was experiencing his first taste of war. This formation consisted entirely of dismounted men-at-arms, 4,000 of them. The third division was led by John's younger brother, Philip, Duke of Orléans, also inexperienced in war, and was made up of approximately 3,200 men-at-arms. The rearmost division, of 2,000 men-at-arms and an uncertain number of crossbowmen, was commanded by the King himself.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The English had slept in or near their defensive positions and just after dawnwhich would have been at 5:40 amthe French drew themselves up in battle order with their leading men about from the English positions. After the two armies had been facing each other for about two hours the French detected movement among the English, and believed the Black Prince's personal standard was withdrawing. There is modern debate as to what movement took place. Some scholars have proposed that the movement was of wagons, escorted by cavalry from Warwick's division; the wagons may have been empty and returning to their laager in the rear, or full and moving to a safer position away from the front line, or both and the start of a staged withdrawal by the English. If the latter their escort may have been most or all of Warwick's division and the movement of the standard was possibly his being mistaken for the Prince's or the Prince moving back as the second part of the disengagement. Another proposal is that the Black Prince deliberately had his troops move to simulate a withdrawal and provoke a French attack. The commanders of the leading French division took the movement to be a full-scale English withdrawal and ordered their men to advance, thinking this movement would effectively be a pursuit, thus starting the fighting.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: Audrehem's cavalry attacked Warwick's division on the English left, while Clermont charged Salisbury's on the right. In both cases the French plan was that they clear away the English archers, while given fire support by their own crossbowmen. However, the archers in Warwick's division were positioned in the edge of a marsh and this terrain prevented the French cavalry from getting to grips with them. The archers in turn found that the French armour and barding prevented them from firing effectively. To get close enough to penetrate the French armour, the longbowmen would have had to leave the protection of the marsh, which would have exposed them to the risk of being ridden down by the French. Instead, they turned their fire on the supporting crossbowmen and, having a superior rate of fire, were able to suppress them. Oxford realised the French horses were mostly only barded on their forequarters. He led some of the archers along the edge of the marsh to a position from which they could shoot into the horses' unprotected hindquarters. The French cavalry took heavy casualties and withdrew; Audrehem was captured.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: On the English right Clermont advanced more cautiously, not far ahead of Brienne's dismounted troops. He discovered that Salisbury's men were defending a thick hedge with a single passable gap, wide enough for four horses abreast. Already committed to the attack, the French attempted to smash through the men-at-arms defending the gap. The English archers positioned in trenches near and to the right of the hedge are calculated to have fired 50 arrows per second at Clermont's group of cavalry. Gascon crossbowmen joined in; although they had a much lower rate of fire, they could penetrate plate armour at longer ranges. Despite this fire, the cavalry were able to reach the gap in the hedge with few casualties. Here a fierce melee broke out. With the French now halted and at close range, the longbowmen were more effective against them. The French were also heavily outnumbered by the English men-at-arms and were forced back with heavy losses, including Clermont killed.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The sources contain only details concerning the rest of the attack by the first French division, made up of a mixed force of French and foreign men-at-arms, and common heavy infantry. The bolts from their supporting crossbowmen were recorded as falling thickly, but with the cavalry repulsed the longbowmen turned against them and, having a superior rate of fire, were able to force them to withdraw in spite of their use of pavises. The division's leader, Brienne, the constable of France, was killed, as was one of Talleyrand's nephews, Robert of Durazzo, who had accompanied the Cardinal during his negotiations. Douglas either fled to save his life or was badly wounded and carried from the field. Given the heavy French casualties, it is assumed the attack was strongly pressed. As some contemporary sources summarise this phase of the fighting with "the first French division was defeated by the arrows of the English" it is also assumed by many modern historians that the longbowmen, still well supplied with ammunition able to punch straight through armour at close range, played a prominent part in the attack's repulse. The Black Prince was infuriated by the participation of Talleyrand's relatives and companions, and when told that a relative of the Cardinal, the châtelain d’Emposte, had been captured he ordered him beheaded; he was rapidly persuaded to withdraw the order by his advisers.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: There was no pursuit of the French survivors of the first attack as they retreated. The English were ordered to hold their positions and to take the opportunity to reform, as the next French division was already moving towards them. This, 4,000 strong, attacked vigorously. The French advanced against the steady fire of the English and Welsh archers, which caused many casualties, and were disordered by the retreating members of the first assault. The French had to force their way through the hedge the English were defending, which put them at a disadvantage, but they closed with the Anglo-Gascons in ferocious hand-to-hand fighting which went on for two hours.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: They massed against two gaps in the hedge, on one occasion succeeding in driving back their opponents and breaking through; a force of archers had been deployed to cover this position and their fire cut down the leading Frenchmen, giving the Anglo-Gascons the opportunity to counter-attack and reform their line. Suffolk, aged almost 60, rode behind the Anglo-Gascon line, shouting encouragement, directing reinforcements to threatened points and telling the archers where to direct their fire. Throughout the battle the experienced English and Gascon commanders were able to manoeuvre and redeploy their troops in a way the French were not. The French commanders, mostly, carried out their orders and their men fought with reckless bravery, but they were inflexible. The Anglo-Gascons were able to respond in the heat of battle to French threats. Sumption describes this as "remarkable", David Green refers to "an extremely flexible tactical response". The historian Peter Hoskins states that most of the Anglo-Gascons having served together for a year "contributed to the discipline that the Anglo-Gascons displayed" and suggests that the French attack was ineptly handled.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: A contemporary French chronicler described this second attack as "more amazing, harder and more lethal than the others". An English account states "Man fought frenziedly against man, each one striving to bring death to his opponent so that he himself might live." As the fighting went on, the Black Prince was forced to commit almost all of his reserves to reinforce weak spots. Both sides suffered many casualties. Audley was noted for being wounded in the body, head and face, and fighting on for the English. One of the French joint commanders, Bourbon, was killed, and the Dauphin's standard-bearer was captured. The Dauphin was accompanied by two of his brothers, Louis and John, and the trio's advisers and bodyguards were perturbed by the intensity of the fighting in their vicinity and forced them to withdraw from the front line to a safer position. Seeing this, the rest of the division, exhausted after two hours fighting and already demoralised by the death of Bourbon and the loss of the Dauphin's standard, withdrew as well. There was no panic and the disengagement was orderly. The senior surviving commanders of the division confirmed the movement and the surviving men-at-arms marched away from the Anglo-Gascons.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: It is unclear if the Anglo-Gascons pursued the French, and if so, to what extent. Some modern historians state that the Anglo-Gascons again remained in their positions, as they had after the repulse of the first French division. Others write of a limited pursuit by individuals breaking ranks or of a full-blooded one by Warwick's division causing many French casualties. In any event, most of the Anglo-Gascons stood their ground, tended their wounded, knifed the French wounded and stripped their bodies and those of the already dead, and recovered what arrows they could find in the immediate vicinity, including those impaling dead and wounded Frenchmen. There were many English and Gascons wounded or dead and those still standing were exhausted from three hours of ferocious and near-continuous fighting.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: As the Dauphin's division recoiled there was confusion in the French ranks. The third French division contained 3,200 men-at-arms. Their commander, John's brother the Duke of Orléans, marched away from the battle with half of them and many of the survivors of the first two attacks. The contemporary sources contradict each other regarding the reasons for this. Orléans may have thought that the orderly withdrawal of the Dauphin's division marked a general retreat. There were official accounts after the battle that John had ordered Orléans to escort his four sons to safety, but these were widely disbelieved and rumoured to have been invented after the event to excuse the behaviour of Orléans and the men who had retreated with him. Three of John's four sons, including the Dauphin, did leave the field at this point; one, Philip, returned to his father's side and took part in the final attack. Of the 1,600 men who did not flee the scene, who included some from Orléans' inner circle, many joined the King's division behind. The rest advanced against the Anglo-Gascons and launched a feeble attack, which was repelled easily.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: In the aftermath of this failure a number, possibly a large number, of men from Warwick's division left their positions and pursued the French. One motivation for this would have been their intention to take prisoners, the ransoming of whom could be extremely lucrative. Many of the English and Welsh archers again scavenged longbow arrows from the immediate vicinity. Of those men-at-arms who did not pursue, the majority were carrying wounds of varying degrees of severity and treating them was a preoccupation.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: John's fourth French division had started the battle with 2,000 men-at-arms, including 400 picked men under his personal command. Many of the surviving men-at-arms of the first two attacks had rallied to the King, as had many of those from the third division who had not withdrawn with Orléans. Some survivors of the botched third assault also fell back to join the King. These reinforcements probably brought the number of men-at-arms in the division to about 4,000. John's division also had a large but unspecified number of crossbowmen attached to it, and they had been joined by many surviving crossbowmen from the first attack. Modern scholars differ as to whether the French or the Anglo-Gascons had more men at this stage of the battle. This very large division marched across the gap towards the by now exhausted Anglo-Gascons, again all as infantry. The King ordered the French sacred banner, the , to be unfurled, which signalled that no prisoners were to be taken, on pain of death.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: It was normal for medieval armies to form up in three divisions; having overcome three French divisions, many in the Anglo-Gascon army thought the battle was over. The sight of a further major force, under the royal standard and with the flying, dispirited them. One chronicler reports the Black Prince prayed aloud as this last division approached. The Prince harangued his exhausted men in an attempt to stiffen their morale, but they remained doubtful of their ability to repulse the approaching force. The Anglo-Gascon command group conferred. It seemed probable that if they stood to face a fourth attack they would be defeated. They decided to attempt a stratagem. Perhaps remembering a similar ploy by a French force at the 1349 Battle of Lunalonge it was agreed to send a small mounted group under the Gascon lord Jean, the Captal de Buch, on a circuitous march around the French flank in an attempt to launch a surprise attack on the French rear. The account by one contemporary chronicler that all of the Anglo-Gascon men-at-arms remounted at this point is generally discounted by modern historians. Some modern sources have a force of volunteers led by the wounded Audley mounting and being tasked with launching an attack against King John personally once the two forces came to battleonly 4 men by some modern accounts, 400 in others. The modern historian Michael Jones describes this as a "suicide mission". Other modern sources maintain that other than the Captal de Buch's small force all of the Anglo-Gascons remained dismounted.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The sight of the Captal de Buch and his men making for the rear further disheartened the Anglo-Gascons, who believed that they were fearfully escaping an inevitable defeat. Some men fled. Concerned his army would break and rout in the face of the French assault, the Black Prince gave the order for a general advance. This bolstered Anglo-Gascon morale and shook the French. Discipline reasserted itself and the Anglo-Gascons moved forward, out of their defensive positions. The French crossbowmen advanced in front of their men-at-arms, and as the English longbowmen on the flanks of the Anglo-Gascon men-at-arms came within range they attempted to establish fire superiority. The French crossbow bolts are said to have "darkened the sky". The men firing them were able to shelter behind pavises and the English archers were running short of arrows after the desperate fighting of the morning. Nevertheless, the English were able to largely suppress this fire until the crossbowmen drew aside to let the French men-at-arms through for their final charge. As the English archers expended the last of their ammunition these 4,000 or so men-at-arms attempted to use their shields, ducked their heads against the arrows and charged home into the survivors of the 3,000 English and Gascon men-at-arms who had started the battle. The longbowmen threw their bows aside and joined the melee armed with swords and hand axes.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: Battle was again joined, with fierce fighting. The impetus of the Anglo-Gascon charge was halted by the French, who slowly got the better of the struggle. Rogers is of the opinion that the French would have won this fight if no other factors had intervened. The Anglo-Gascon line was starting to break when it was reinforced by men of Warwick's division returning from their pursuit. This heartened the Anglo-Gascons and discouraged the French. If it occurred, it was at this point that Audley led a cavalry charge aimed directly at the French king. The fighting continued, with the French focused on the opponents in front of them. With the battle in the balance, the Captal de Buch's 160 men arrived undetected in the French rear. His 100 archers dismounted and opened an effective fire into the French reara contemporary account states they "greatly and horribly pierced" the Frenchand his 60 mounted men-at-arms charged into the rear of the French line.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The 2,000 men who had originally made up John's division were all assigned to its front line when it advanced. Men who joined after their original divisions had been defeated in the previous three attacks filled in behind them. They were more tired than those in the front ranks and, having already having taken part in a failed assault, their morale was brittle. Dismayed by Warwick's reinforcement and shocked by the Captal de Buch's sudden arrival behind them, some started to run from the field. Once this movement had started others copied them and the division fell apart. Most of the first to run were able to reach their horses and escape, as the Anglo-Gascons concentrated on dealing with their enemies who were still fighting. These were pushed back as the Anglo-Gascons were reinvigorated by the prospect of victory. The French still fighting around their King were forced into a loop of the River Miosson, known as the Champ d'Alexandre. By now they had been surrounded and split into small groups.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: Many of these men were the elite of the French army: John's personal bodyguards, senior nobles or members of the Order of the Star. (The latter had all sworn not to retreat from a battle.) The fighting was brutal as these men refused to surrender. Their cause was clearly hopeless and the Anglo-Gascons were eager to take them prisonerin order that they could be ransomedrather than kill them, so many were captured. The standard-bearer of the was killed and the sacred banner captured. Surrounded by enemies, John and his youngest son, Philip, surrendered.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: Frenchmen who had fled soon after the Captal de Buch's force arrived generally reached their horses and were able to escape. Once John's division was clearly retreating many Anglo-Gascons mounted and pursued. A large number pursued the Frenchmen fleeing towards what they thought was the safety of Poitiers. Its citizens, fearing the Anglo-Gascons, had closed the gates and manned the walls, and refused access. The mounted Anglo-Gascons caught the French soldiers as they milled outside the gate and slaughtered them. The lack of mention of any quarter being offered suggests that the French were common soldiers, rather than men-at-arms whom it would have been financially advantageous to capture in order to hold for ransom. The French camp was overrun by Anglo-Gascon cavalry. Elsewhere the Anglo-Gascons spread out in a helter-skelter chase. French men-at-arms who failed to reach their horses were captured or, occasionally, killed. Those who did mount were frequently pursued: some were caught and captured, some fought off their pursuers, while most escaped. It was evening before the last Anglo-Gascons returned to their camp with their prisoners.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: According to different modern sources 2,000 to 3,000 French men-at-arms and either 500 or 800 common soldiers were taken prisoner during the battle. As well as the King and his youngest son they included the archbishop of Sens, one of the two marshals of France, and the seneschals of Saintonge, Tours and Poitou. Approximately 2,500 French men-at-arms were killed, as were 3,300 common soldiers according to English accounts or 700 by French ones. Among the slain were the French King's uncle; the grand constable of France; the other marshal; the Bishop of Châlons; and John's standard bearer, Geoffroi de Charny. A contemporary opined that the French had suffered "a great harm, a great pity, and damage irreparable". The Anglo-Gascons suffered many wounded but reported a mere 40 to 60 killed, of whom only 4 were men-at-arms. Hoskins comments that these "seem improbably low". Modern sources estimate Anglo-Gascon fatalities at about 40 men-at-arms and an uncertain but much larger number of bowmen and other infantry.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The French were concerned the victorious Anglo-Gascons would attempt to storm Poitiers or other towns, or continue their devastation. The Black Prince was more concerned with getting his army with its prisoners and loot safely back to Gascony. He was aware many Frenchmen had survived the battle, but unaware of their state of cohesion or morale. The Anglo-Gascons moved south on 20September and tended the wounded, buried the dead, paroled some of their prisoners, and reorganised their formations. On 21September the Anglo-Gascons continued their interrupted march south, travelling slowly, overladen as they were with plunder and prisoners. On 2 October they entered Libourne and rested while a triumphal entrance was arranged at Bordeaux. Two weeks later the Black Prince escorted John into Bordeaux amid ecstatic scenes.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: The Black Prince's is described by Rogers as "the most important campaign of the Hundred Years' War". In its aftermath English and Gascon forces raided widely across France, against little or no opposition. With no effective central authority France dissolved into near anarchy. In March 1357 a truce was agreed for two years. In April the Black Prince sailed for England, accompanied by his prisoner, John, and landed at Plymouth on 5 May. They proceeded to London and a rapturous reception. Protracted negotiations between John and Edward III led to the First Treaty of London in May 1358, which would have ended the war with a large transfer of French territory to England and the payment of a ransom for John's freedom. The French government was unenthusiastic and was anyway unable to raise the first instalment of the ransom, causing the treaty to lapse. A peasant revolt known as the broke out in northern France during the spring of 1358 and was bloodily put down in June. At length John and Edward agreed the Second Treaty of London, which was similar to the first except that even larger swathes of French territory would be transferred to the English. In May 1359 this was similarly rejected by the Dauphin and the Estates General.


title: Battle of Poitiers

text: In October 1359 Edward III led another campaign in northern France. It was unopposed by French forces but was unable to take any strongly fortified places. Instead the English army spread out and for six months devastated much of the region. Both countries were finding it almost impossible to finance continued hostilities, but neither was inclined to change their attitude to the proposed peace terms. On 13 April 1360, near Chartres, a sharp fall in temperature and a heavy hail storm killed many English baggage horses and some soldiers. Taking this as a sign from God, Edward reopened negotiations, directly with the Dauphin. By 8 May the Treaty of Brétigny had been agreed, which largely replicated the First Treaty of London or the Treaty of Guînes. By this treaty vast areas of France were ceded to England, to be personally ruled by the Black Prince, and John was ransomed for three million gold écu. Rogers states "Edward gained territories comprising a full third of France, to be held in full sovereignty, along with a huge ransom for the captive King Johnhis original war aims and much more." As well as John, sixteen of the more senior nobles captured at Poitiers were finally released with the sealing of this treaty. At the time it seemed this was the end of the war, but large-scale fighting broke out again in 1369 and the Hundred Years' War did not end until 1453, with a French victory which left only Calais in English hands.


title: Kerr Smith

text: Kerr Van Cleve Smith (born March 9, 1972) is an American actor known for playing Jack McPhee on The WB drama series "Dawson's Creek", Kyle Brody in The WB supernatural drama "Charmed", Robert in Freeform's "The Fosters" and Axel Palmer in "My Bloody Valentine 3D". He is also known for portraying Carter Horton in "Final Destination" (2000). He starred in the movie "Where Hope Grows" (2014).


title: Kerr Smith

text: Smith was born in Exton, Pennsylvania, the son of Barbara (Hess) and a father who works as a financial advisor.


title: Kerr Smith

text: He has a sister named Allison. He attended Peirce Middle School and he graduated from Henderson High School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, then studied at the University of Vermont, where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. He was also top of his class senior year.


title: Kerr Smith

text: Smith began acting with roles on "As the World Turns" as Ryder Hughes from 1996 to 1997, the films "Final Destination" (2000) and a cameo in "The Broken Hearts Club" (2000), written and directed by "Dawson's Creek" writer Greg Berlanti and as a guest star in The WB's hit show "Charmed" as Agent Kyle Brody, a love interest for the fourth sister, Paige.


title: Kerr Smith

text: When he first appeared as Jack McPhee in the second season of the WB's "Dawson's Creek", Smith portrayed a 16-year-old high school student; in reality, the actor was 26. Smith was 31 when the series ended its six-year run in 2003. He was the first man to have an on-screen gay kiss on U.S. television, in season three of "Dawson's Creek".


title: Kerr Smith

text: In 2002, Kerr Smith starred in the TV film "Critical Assembly," alongside Katherine Heigl. The film depicts young activists against trying to stop a catastrophic nuclear explosion.


title: Kerr Smith

text: Smith was the last person ever to be pranked on the original run of the MTV show "Punk'd". In 2007, he appeared in several episodes of the popular TV series "" as Andrew "Drew" Bedford, the 333 stalker. He also played the radio host Ryan Thomas on The CW's drama series "Life Unexpected".


title: Kerr Smith

text: Smith guest-starred on the television show "NCIS", where he played Jonas Cobb, a naval officer who was the "Port-to-Port Killer," a serial killer who targets Navy personnel. He made his last appearance on the 8th season finale.


title: Kerr Smith

text: As of 2014, Smith plays Robert Quinn on "The Fosters". The same year, he starred in the acclaimed movie "Where Hope Grows". He also played Frank Cowles in episode X of Criminal Minds.


title: Kerr Smith

text: Smith debuted on CW’s Riverdale, as the principal of Riverdale High, in season 4, replacing Mr. Weatherbee, who “ascended” with the rest of the cult followers known as “The Farm”. His character name was Mr. Honey.


title: Kerr Smith

text: Smith married actress Harmoni Everett on June 7, 2003. He filed for divorce on March 20, 2009. Smith is a certified pilot and enjoys motocross.


title: Kiran Abbavaram

text: Kiran Abbavaram (born 15 July 1992) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu films. He made his debut with a love story "Raja Vaaru Rani Gaaru" in 2019, and wrote and starred in the film "SR Kalyanamandapam" (2021).


title: Kiran Abbavaram

text: Kiran Reddy Abbavaram was born on 15 July 1992 in Rayachoti, Andhra Pradesh. He is a B. Tech graduate and worked as a network consultant for 2-and-a-half years in Chennai and Bangalore. He started doing short films while working and later left his job to pursue a full-time career in films. One of his short films, "Sreekaram" was remade into a feature film with the same name in 2021.


title: Kiran Abbavaram

text: KiranAbbvaram made his debut with "Raja Vaaru Rani Gaaru" (2019). Sangeetha Devi of "The Hindu" in her review stated: "Abbavaram shows he is no longer a mere YouTube or a short film sensation — he has the looks and promises to be a part of good stories and movies." He got greater recognition and appreciation with his second film "SR Kalyanamandapam", which he also wrote. The film received positive reviews from the critics and was a box office success.


title: Kiran Abbavaram

text: In 2022, Abbavaram had two releases—"Sebastian P.C. 524" and "Sammathame". Murali Krishna CH of "The New Indian Express" called "Sebastian" a half-hearted drama but opined Abbavaram's performance was its biggest strength.


title: Mark Owen

text: Mark Owen (born 27 January 1972) is an English singer and songwriter best known for being a member of pop group and band Take That; as of 2019, the group have sold 14 million albums and 11.4 million singles in the UK. In Owen's solo career, he has released five studio albums: "Green Man" (1996), "In Your Own Time" (2003), "How the Mighty Fall" (2005), "The Art of Doing Nothing" (2013) and his most recent, "Land of Dreams", which was released in September 2022 and debuted at number 5 on the UK Official Albums Chart.


title: Mark Owen

text: Owen lived in a small council house with his mother Mary, his father Keith, brother Daniel, and sister Tracey in Oldham. His father was a decorator, later getting a job at a police station. His mother was a supervisor in a bakery. Owen was educated at Holy Rosary Primary and St Augustine's Catholic Schools, both in Oldham. He had little interest in music and played football briefly for Chadderton F.C., in addition to having trials at Manchester United and Rochdale. Prior to auditioning for Take That, he worked at Barclays in Failsworth.


title: Mark Owen

text: After selecting Gary Barlow as the group's lead singer in 1989, Nigel Martin-Smith introduced Owen, Howard Donald, Jason Orange and finally Robbie Williams to the fold. The group were signed to RCA records, and after a number of top 40 hits, eventually secured their first number one with Barlow's "Pray". Previous hits included "A Million Love Songs", "It Only Takes a Minute" and "Could It Be Magic".


title: Mark Owen

text: The band's debut album "Take That & Party" was released on 17 August 1992. It reached number two on the UK Album Chart. The following year saw the release of their second album, "Everything Changes". It went straight in at number one on the UK Albums Chart and spawned four number-one singles, as well as "Why Can't I Wake Up with You" and "Love Ain't Here Anymore" hitting number two and three respectively. Owen sang lead vocals on "Babe", which was released in December 1993. Their third album "Nobody Else" went straight to number 1 and was to be their last studio album of the '90s. The album had three number-one singles, including "Back for Good" which peaked at number seven on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and was brought forward an unprecedented six weeks before its official release such was the demand for the single. Owen also sang lead vocals on "The Day After Tomorrow" from the album. A "Greatest Hits" collection followed again reaching number one. The album featured the band's eighth number-one single "How Deep Is Your Love". This was to be the first single released by Take That as a four piece (without Williams) and it was their last single until they reformed in 2005.


title: Mark Owen

text: Although Owen's vocal contributions were limited in Take That's original run, he was arguably the most popular member of the group, on account of his boyish good looks and sweet demeanour, regularly earning awards such as Smash Hit's "Most Fanciable Male in the World" and "Best Haircut".


title: Mark Owen

text: Owen returned to the spotlight in the TV documentary, "" in 2005. Following this success and renewed interest, Take That experienced a career renaissance in 2005 when the post-Williams line-up reformed for a sell-out stadium tour. The band released their comeback single "Patience" which went to number 1 for four weeks while also topping the charts across Europe. Patience was also voted The Record of the Year in 2006 and won a Brit for single of the year. This was followed with "Shine" which featured Owen on lead vocals and became the band's tenth number-one single. Take That's first album of new material in over ten years, "Beautiful World", was released on 24 November 2006. The album peaked at number 1 in the UK Album Chart selling over 2.8 million copies in the UK alone to date. It was re-released as a tour edition with hit single "Rule the World" in 2007 and peaked again at number 1.


title: Mark Owen

text: In June and July 2009, Take That performed the record breaking tour throughout the United Kingdom which sold over one million tickets in five hours.


title: Mark Owen

text: It was announced that the group was in the process of writing Take That's sixth studio album, set for release in late 2010. The album, "Progress", was the first to feature the original line-up since their 1995 album, "Nobody Else". The band also announced a stadium tour entitled Progress Live which took place in 2011. The tickets for the tour went on sale on 29 October 2010. Due to unprecedented high public demand for tickets, ticketmaster websites across the UK and Ireland crashed and all initial tour dates sold out in under 15 minutes. It was reported that a record breaking one million tickets were snapped up on the first day of sale, resulting in Take That smashing the previous box office record of tickets sold which was set in 2008 by Take That Present: The Circus Live.


title: Mark Owen

text: The lead single from "Progress" was announced as "The Flood". The single debuted at number 2, selling over 500,000 copies since release. On the first day of the release of "Progress", the album sold over 235,000 copies across the UK, making it the fastest selling record of the century.


title: Mark Owen

text: On 21 November 2010, "Progress" debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, becoming the band's seventh number-one album. By the end of its first week on sale the album sold over 520,000, making it the second fastest-selling album of all-time in UK chart history. To date "Progress" has sold 2.8 million copies in the UK and has achieved similar chart success across Europe. In June 2011, Take That released their first extended play collection entitled Progressed which returned the band to number 1 in the UK on its first week of release as well as charting across Europe.


title: Mark Owen

text: After Take That split, Owen became the first of the band's ex-members to release a solo record. He reached number three in the UK Singles Chart with his debut single, "Child". His second single, "Clementine", also went to number three. In 1996 his album "Green Man" was released, charting at a number 33. After another single, "I Am What I Am", charted at number 29, Owen was dropped by BMG Records in late 1997.


title: Mark Owen

text: Owen won the second series of "Celebrity Big Brother" in November 2002 with 77% of the public vote against television presenter Les Dennis. Owen broke down in tears, overwhelmed by the fans' support. After being invited to perform on stage with Robbie Williams at Knebworth, he returned to the spotlight and signed a deal with Island/Universal Records. In August 2003, Owen returned to the charts with the Top 5 hit, "Four Minute Warning", which remained in the Top 40 for eight weeks. His second album, "In Your Own Time", was released in November 2003, entering the charts at number 59. After a second single, "Alone Without You", charted at number 26, Owen was dropped by Island/Universal Records.


title: Mark Owen

text: In April 2004 he established his own record company, Sedna Records. One report around 2004 alleged that Owen was looking for a day job, but he simply said "Doing it properly isn't cheap. These are my indulgences. I don't have a Ferrari, I have two albums."


title: Mark Owen

text: Mark released his first single "Makin' Out" which charted at No. 30 on the UK Singles Chart, making it his highest charted single released in an independent label. He released his third solo album, "How the Mighty Fall" on 18 April 2005, which was recorded at Sunset Studios, Los Angeles, in 2004. It reached No. 56 in Germany. Owen said that it was more "his" album than the last couple because he had had full control over every aspect of the record and it was a true representation of where he was in his life. On the strength of this release, he was picked up by Caroline Elleray (Coldplay, Keane), resulting in his signing his publishing deal to BMG Music Publishing. Mark released his second single "Believe in the Boogie", charting at No. 57 in the UK charts, making it his lowest charting single at that time. Although it did not chart well, his second single was added to the European soundtrack of the American film "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. In February 2006 he released "Hail Mary" as a single from the album.


title: Mark Owen

text: In March 2012, according to a report by "The Sun" Mark was planning to relaunch his solo career. A source said: "Mark has already made serious headway. He has put together new material in the studio with top writers and is planning more sessions over the next few months. All the lads are behind him. Success in his own right and his own writing material have always been a massive motivation, so he's a happy man." "NME" announced in October 2012 that Owen had finished recording the album and planned to tour the following spring.


title: Mark Owen

text: In March 2013, further details of the album emerged, including the album title, "The Art of Doing Nothing". The album was then mixed in New York at the Electric Lady Studios by Michael Brauer, Charlie Russell, Ben Mark and Jamie Norton. He confirmed the album would feature a collaboration with singer-songwriter Ren Harvieu, and production from Alt-J producer Charlie Russell. A source said: "Mark is really excited about the album – he sees it more as a collaborative work than a solo album, something he made with a collection of his friends. He's worked with some really interesting people on it including Ren Harvieu and Charlie Russell, the producer who has worked with Alt-J, as well as some brilliant illustrators, photographers and film makers. People will be surprised by the results – it's not what fans will expect." The album was to be released on 10 June 2013.


title: Mark Owen

text: On 1 May 2013, Owen uploaded new photographs and videos to his official website, including the deluxe album artwork, which depicts him in a white room, scribbling on the wall, whilst wearing a dapper hat. A tagline to accompany the artwork reads: "Every idea has a starting place. Nothing begins in an empty space." The two videos consist of a montage video, picturing the photo shoot that shot the album cover, and the second, which is a short interview with Owen, in which he discusses the album's contents and cover. Following the announcement of his fourth studio album, Owen also confirmed that he would tour the UK and Germany throughout June.


title: Mark Owen

text: On 1 February 2022, it was revealed that Owen had been writing new material, potentially for a new solo album. A source close to Owen said, "He has been writing some songs and they are sounding pretty good. It's said the singer will be performing at the Isle of Wight Festival in June, It is early days, but he is [...] toying with the idea of another solo record. Nothing is nailed down, but given he has done a solo album every 10 years or so for the last two decades, now feels like a nice time to think about it again."


title: Mark Owen

text: On 13 May 2022, Owen officially announced on his social media platforms that he was making a new record, but shared no further details at the time. On 18 May 2022, he officially announced his new album "Land of Dreams", alongside its first single "You Only Want Me".


title: Mark Owen

text: On 19 May 2022, "You Only Want Me" was released as the lead single, alongside the announcement of the release date of his upcoming album, which will be 23 September 2022. The single entered the UK Downloads charts at number 76 and the UK Sales charts at 78. Owen performed the song at the National Lottery Big Jubilee party, along with the Take That hit "Shine". Owen also performed his single live on The Late Late Show with James Corden, his first US televised performance as a solo artist, and second overall. On 10 June 2022, his second single "Are You Looking for Billy?" was released. This was followed on 10 August 2022, with third single "Magic". "Land of Dreams" was released on 23 September 2022. On 26 September, the UK Official Charts predicted that the album would chart at number 2 on the Official Albums Charts. On 30 September 2022, the album debuted at number 5 on the UK Official Albums Chart Top 100, becoming Owen's highest charting solo studio album. "Land of Dreams" debuted at number 3 on the UK Album Downloads and Sales Charts. Due to digital sales of the album, "Magic" debuted at number 76 on the UK Official Singles Sales Chart Top 100.


title: Mark Owen

text: Owen is married to actress Emma Ferguson. They have a son and two daughters. He is a patron of the charity Beyond Autism.


title: Mark Owen

text: In March 2010, in the midst of recording for "Progress", Owen publicly admitted to having multiple affairs, one of which lasted from late 2004 until September 2009, and an alcohol problem. Six months later, he checked into a private clinic for rehabilitation related to his drinking.


title: Mark Owen

text: In June 2012, it was revealed that along with Take That band-mates Howard Donald and Gary Barlow, Owen had invested £26 million in music industry investment schemes. The news attracted controversy when it was understood that the schemes could serve as tax shelters for high-net-worth people. Lawyers responded to the claims, stating the band members "paid significant tax, and that they believed the schemes were not for tax avoidance purposes but were legitimate commercial enterprises." In an interview with BBC Radio in 2020, Paul Stenning, who worked for the band in 1995 under their financial advisor Simon Orange, explained the way the band's finances were structured, saying they were "meticulously disseminated".


title: Mark Owen

text: In 2014, Owen was announced as an Ambassador for Amber Run on Channel 4's "Launched". Owen also participated in both Soccer Aid 2012 and 2014.


title: Candace Newmaker

text: Candace Elizabeth Newmaker (born Candace Tiara Elmore, November 19, 1989 – April 19, 2000) was a child who was killed during a 70-minute attachment therapy session purported to treat reactive attachment disorder. The treatment, during which Candace was suffocated, included a rebirthing script.


title: Candace Newmaker

text: Candace was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina, to Angela and Todd Elmore. At a young age, she and her younger brother Michael and sister Chelsea were removed from the home for neglect and separated by social services. When she was five, her parents' parental rights were terminated. Two years later she was adopted by Jeane Elizabeth Newmaker, a single woman and pediatric nurse practitioner in Durham, North Carolina.


title: Candace Newmaker

text: Within months of the adoption, Jeane began taking Candace to a psychiatrist, complaining about her behavior and attitude at home. Though Candace was treated with medications, Jeane reported that Candace's behavior got worse during the ensuing two years, a period supposedly including her playing with matches and also killing goldfish.


title: Candace Newmaker

text: Candace and Jeane Newmaker traveled to Evergreen, Colorado, in April 2000, for a $7,000 two-week "intensive" session of attachment therapy with Connell Watkins (who was without license) upon a referral from William Goble, a licensed psychologist in North Carolina.


title: Candace Newmaker

text: Candace died during the second week of the intensive sessions with Watkins during what has been called a "rebirthing" session. Participating in the fatal session as therapists were Watkins and Julie Ponder, also without a license, along with Candace's "therapeutic foster parents", Brita St. Clair, Jack McDaniel, and Jeane Newmaker.


title: Candace Newmaker

text: Following the script for that day's treatment, Candace was wrapped in a flannel sheet and covered with pillows to simulate a womb or birth canal and was told to fight her way out of it, with the apparent expectation that the experience would help her "attach" to her adoptive mother. Four of the adults (weighing a combined total of 673 pounds or 305.2 kilograms) used their hands and feet to push on Candace's head, chest, and 70-pound body to resist her attempts to free herself, while she complained, pleaded, and even screamed for help and air, unable to escape from the sheet. Candace stated eleven times during the session that she was dying, to which Ponder responded, "Go ahead. Die right now, for real. For real". Twenty minutes into the session, Candace had vomited and excreted inside of the sheet; she was nonetheless kept restrained within.


title: Candace Newmaker

text: Forty minutes into the session, Candace was asked if she wanted to be reborn. She faintly responded "no"; this would ultimately be her last word. To this, Ponder replied, "Quitter, quitter, quitter, quitter! Quit, quit, quit, quit. She's a quitter!" Jeane Newmaker, who said later she felt rejected by Candace's inability to be reborn, was asked by Watkins to leave the room, in order for Candace not to "pick up on (Jeane's) sorrow". Soon thereafter, Watkins requested the same of McDaniel and Brita St. Clair, leaving only herself and Ponder in the room with Candace. After talking for five minutes, the two unwrapped Candace and found that she was motionless, blue in the fingertips and lips, and not breathing. Upon seeing this, Watkins declared, "Oh there she is; she's sleeping in her vomit", whereupon Newmaker, who had been watching on a monitor in another room, rushed into the room, remarked on Candace's color, and began CPR while Watkins called 9-1-1. When paramedics arrived ten minutes later, McDaniel told them that Candace had been left alone for five minutes during a rebirthing session and was not breathing. The paramedics surmised that Candace had been unconscious and possibly not breathing for some time. Paramedics were able to restore the girl's pulse and she was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Denver; however, she was declared brain-dead the next day, April 19, as a consequence of asphyxia.


title: Candace Newmaker

text: The entire fatal session, as well as ten hours of other sessions from the preceding days, had been videotaped as a matter of course with Watkins's treatment. All the videos were shown at the trial of Watkins and Ponder.


title: Candace Newmaker

text: A year later, Watkins and Ponder were tried and convicted of reckless child abuse resulting in death and received 16-year prison sentences. Brita St. Clair and Jack McDaniel, the therapeutic foster parents, pleaded guilty to criminally negligent child abuse and were given ten years' probation and 1,000 hours of community service in a plea bargain. The adoptive mother, Jeane Newmaker, a nurse practitioner, pleaded guilty to neglect and abuse charges and was given a four-year suspended sentence, after which the charges were expunged from her record. An appeal by Watkins against conviction and sentence failed. Watkins was paroled in June 2008, under "intense supervision" with restrictions on contact with children or counseling work, having served approximately seven years of her 16-year sentence.


title: Candace Newmaker

text: The case was the motivation behind "Candace's Law" in Colorado and North Carolina, which outlawed dangerous re-enactments of the birth experience. The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have separately passed resolutions urging similar actions in other states.


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: Doomsday Clock is a 2017–2019 superhero comic book limited series published by DC Comics, written by Geoff Johns with art by penciller Gary Frank and colorist Brad Anderson. The series concludes the story established in The New 52 and DC Rebirth, and is a direct sequel to the graphic novel "Watchmen" by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins.


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: Although then-DC co-publisher Dan DiDio confirmed that "Doomsday Clock" is a sequel to "Watchmen", Johns originally declined to characterize it as such, viewing it as a standalone story.


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: The series's debut issue was published on November 22, 2017, and the final issue was published on December 18, 2019.


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: "Doomsday Clock" is part of the DC Rebirth initiative, and it continues the narrative that was established with the 2016 one-shot "DC Universe: Rebirth Special", the 2017 crossover event "The Button" and other related stories. It is a follow-up to the 1986–1987 miniseries "Watchmen" by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins, and it introduces that story's characters into the DC Universe, alongside a few original characters created for the book. Although Dan DiDio (then DC's co-publisher) confirmed that it is a sequel to that miniseries, Johns originally declined to characterize it as such, viewing it as a standalone story, saying, "It is something else. It is "Watchmen" colliding with the DC Universe."


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: "Doomsday Clock" was revealed on May 14, 2017, with a teaser image displaying the Superman logo in the 12 o'clock slot of the clock depicted in "Watchmen" and the series title in the bold typeface used for "Watchmen".


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: The story includes many characters, but has a particular focus on Superman and Doctor Manhattan. Johns felt like there was an interesting story to be told in DC Rebirth with Doctor Manhattan; he thought there was an interesting dichotomy between Superman—an alien who embodies and is compassionate for humanity—and Doctor Manhattan—a human who has detached himself from humanity. This idea led to over six months of debates amongst the creative team about whether or not to intersect the "Watchmen" universe with the DC Universe. He explained that "Doomsday Clock" was the "most personal and most epic, utterly mind-bending project" that he had worked on in his career.


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: Johns also explained that "Doomsday Clock" is a stand-alone story with no tie-in material. However, it "will have an impact on the entire DC Universe. It will affect everything moving forward and everything that has come before. It will touch the thematic and literal essence of DC." So by the time the final issue is released, "the rest of the universe will have caught up to it — and the repercussions of the event will become known."


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: The first issue of "Doomsday Clock" was released on November 22, 2017, with a planned run of 12 issues. The series was originally scheduled to release monthly and end in December 2018, with planned breaks in March and August 2018. However, in January 2018, it was announced that the series would take a break in March and April 2018, before releasing again in May 2018 and switching to a bi-monthly schedule, with the series ending in July 2019. Issue #8 was pushed back from November 28 to December 5, 2018. Issue #9 was pushed back from January 23 to March 6, 2019. Issue #10 was pushed back from March 27 to May 29, 2019. Issue #11 was pushed back from May 22 to September 4, 2019. The twelfth and final issue was published on December 18, 2019.


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: Two collected editions of six issues each were released in October 2019 and June 2020. A single-volume edition of all 12 issues followed in October 2020. An Absolute Edition collecting the full series and extra bonus material was released in October, 2022.


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: "Doomsday Clock" is the finale of the story that was established in DC Rebirth, officially concluding the storylines that began in The New 52 continuity. The comic features the concept of the Multiverse, where the "Watchmen" universe exists separately from the DC Universe and each universe's characters treat the other universe's characters as fictional.


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: In the "Watchmen" universe, seven years after the massacre in New York City, the details inside Rorschach's journal have been published, exposing Ozymandias's role in the event. Now a fugitive, Ozymandias gathers several others to find Doctor Manhattan and bring him back to save the world.


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: Meanwhile, in the DC Universe, during the present day, the "Supermen Theory", a conspiracy theory that accuses the federal government of the United States of creating its own metahumans, has created international conflict and led to an arms race, with various governments around the world recruiting metahumans and creating sanctioned superteams.


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: As characters from both universes meet each other, most of them try to find Manhattan for many different reasons, leading them to encounter mysteries and receive revelations they have not been aware of.


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: "Doomsday Clock" features characters from "Watchmen" and the DC Universe, and also introduces some new characters, such as Reggie Long, the son of Malcolm Long, who becomes the new Rorschach; Mime and Marionette, a married couple of criminals searching for their missing son; and Bubastis II, a clone of the original Bubastis.


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: Other returning characters include the Comedian, Doctor Manhattan, Mothman and Ozymandias, alongside Alfred Pennyworth, Batman, Black Adam, Firestorm, Johnny Thunder, Joker, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Pozhar, Saturn Girl, Superman and Wonder Woman.


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: "Doomsday Clock" received acclaim from critics. On the review aggregator Comic Book Roundup, it holds an average rating of 8.5 out of 10 from professional critics, based on 438 reviews.


title: Doomsday Clock (comics)

text: Following the release of the final issue, Geoff Johns stated that he and Gary Frank were considering the possibility of a sequel for "Doomsday Clock".


title: Gothic art

text: Gothic art was a style of medieval art that developed in Northern France out of Romanesque art in the 12th century AD, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, and much of Northern, Southern and Central Europe, never quite effacing more classical styles in Italy. In the late 14th century, the sophisticated court style of International Gothic developed, which continued to evolve until the late 15th century. In many areas, especially Germany, Late Gothic art continued well into the 16th century, before being subsumed into Renaissance art. Primary media in the Gothic period included sculpture, panel painting, stained glass, fresco and illuminated manuscripts. The easily recognizable shifts in architecture from Romanesque to Gothic, and Gothic to Renaissance styles, are typically used to define the periods in art in all media, although in many ways figurative art developed at a different pace.


title: Gothic art

text: The earliest Gothic art was monumental sculpture, on the walls of Cathedrals and abbeys. Christian art was often typological in nature (see Medieval allegory), showing the stories of the New Testament and the Old Testament side by side. Saints' lives were often depicted. Images of the Virgin Mary changed from the Byzantine iconic form to a more human and affectionate mother, cuddling her infant, swaying from her hip, and showing the refined manners of a well-born aristocratic courtly lady.


title: Gothic art

text: Secular art came into its own during this period with the rise of cities, foundation of universities, increase in trade, the establishment of a money-based economy and the creation of a bourgeois class who could afford to patronize the arts and commission works, resulting in a proliferation of paintings and illuminated manuscripts. Increased literacy and a growing body of secular vernacular literature encouraged the representation of secular themes in art. With the growth of cities, trade guilds were formed and artists were often required to be members of a painters' guild. As a result, because of better record keeping, more artists are known to us by name in this period than any previous; some artists were even so bold as to sign their names.


title: Gothic art

text: Gothic art emerged in Île-de-France, France, in the early 12th century at the Abbey Church of St Denis built by Abbot Suger. The style rapidly spread beyond its origins in architecture to sculpture, both monumental and personal in size, textile art, and painting, which took a variety of forms, including fresco, stained glass, the illuminated manuscript, and panel painting. Monastic orders, especially the Cistercians and the Carthusians, were important builders who disseminated the style and developed distinctive variants of it across Europe. Regional variations of architecture remained important, even when, by the late 14th century, a coherent universal style known as International Gothic had evolved, which continued until the late 15th century, and beyond in many areas.


title: Gothic art

text: Although there was far more secular Gothic art than is often thought today, as generally the survival rate of religious art has been better than for secular equivalents, a large proportion of the art produced in the period was religious, whether commissioned by the church or by the laity.


title: Gothic art

text: Gothic art was often typological in nature, reflecting a belief that the events of the Old Testament pre-figured those of the New, and that this was indeed their main significance. Old and New Testament scenes were shown side by side in works like the "Speculum Humanae Salvationis", and the decoration of churches. The Gothic period coincided with a great resurgence in Marian devotion, in which the visual arts played a major part. Images of the Virgin Mary developed from the Byzantine hieratic types, through the Coronation of the Virgin, to more human and intimate types, and cycles of the "Life of the Virgin" were very popular. Artists like Giotto, Fra Angelico and Pietro Lorenzetti in Italy, and Early Netherlandish painting, brought realism and a more natural humanity to art. Western artists, and their patrons, became much more confident in innovative iconography, and much more originality is seen, although copied formulae were still used by most artists.


title: Gothic art

text: Iconography was affected by changes in theology, with depictions of the Assumption of Mary gaining ground on the older Death of the Virgin, and in devotional practices such as the Devotio Moderna, which produced new treatments of Christ in subjects such as the Man of Sorrows, Pensive Christ and Pietà, which emphasized his human suffering and vulnerability, in a parallel movement to that in depictions of the Virgin. Even in "Last Judgements" Christ was now usually shown exposing his chest to show the wounds of his Passion. Saints were shown more frequently and altarpieces showed saints relevant to the particular church or donor in attendance on a Crucifixion or enthroned Virgin and Child, or occupying the central space themselves (this usually for works designed for side-chapels). Over the period many ancient iconographical features that originated in New Testament apocrypha were gradually eliminated under clerical pressure, like the midwives at the Nativity, though others were too well-established, and considered harmless.


title: Gothic art

text: The word "Gothic" for art was initially used as a synonym for "Barbaric", and was therefore used pejoratively. Its critics saw this type of Medieval art as unrefined and too remote from the aesthetic proportions and shapes of Classical art. Renaissance authors believed that the Sack of Rome by the Gothic tribes in 410 had triggered the demise of the Classical world and all the values they held dear. In the 15th century, various Italian architects and writers complained that the new "barbarian" styles filtering down from north of the Alps posed a similar threat to the classical revival promoted by the early Renaissance. The "Gothic" qualifier for this art was first used in Raphael's letter to Pope Leo X c. 1518 and was subsequently popularised by the Italian artist and writer Giorgio Vasari, who used it as early as 1530, calling Gothic art a "monstrous and barbarous" "disorder". Raphael claimed that the pointed arches of northern architecture were an echo of the primitive huts the Germanic forest dwellers formed by bending trees together – a myth which would resurface much later in a more positive sense in the writings of the German Romantic movement. "Gothic art" was strongly criticized by French authors such as Boileau, La Bruyère, Rousseau, before becoming a recognized form of art, and the wording becoming fixed. Molière would famously comment on Gothic:


title: Gothic art

text: In its beginning, Gothic art was initially called "French work" ("Opus Francigenum"), thus attesting the priority of France in the creation of this style.


title: Gothic art

text: Painting in a style that can be called Gothic did not appear until about 1200, nearly 50 years after the origins of Gothic architecture and sculpture. The transition from Romanesque to Gothic is very imprecise and not at all a clear break, and Gothic ornamental detailing is often introduced before much change is seen in the style of figures or compositions themselves. Then figures become more animated in pose and facial expression, tend to be smaller in relation to the background of scenes, and are arranged more freely in the pictorial space, where there is room. This transition occurs first in England and France around 1200, in Germany around 1220 and Italy around 1300. Painting during the Gothic period was practiced in four primary media: frescos, panel paintings, manuscript illumination and stained glass.


title: Gothic art

text: Frescoes continued to be used as the main pictorial narrative craft on church walls in southern Europe as a continuation of early Christian and Romanesque traditions. An accident of survival has given Denmark and Sweden the largest groups of surviving church wall paintings in the Biblia pauperum style, usually extending up to recently constructed cross vaults. In both Denmark and Sweden, they were almost all covered with limewash after the Reformation which has preserved them, but some have also remained untouched since their creation. Among the finest examples from Denmark are those of the Elmelunde Master from the Danish island of Møn who decorated the churches of Fanefjord, Keldby and Elmelunde. Albertus Pictor is arguably the most well-known fresco artist from the period working in Sweden. Examples of Swedish churches with well-preserved frescos include Tensta, Gökhem and Anga churches.


title: Gothic art

text: In northern Europe, stained glass was an important and prestigious form of painting until the 15th century, when it became supplanted by panel painting. Gothic architecture greatly increased the amount of glass in large buildings, partly to allow for wide expanses of glass, as in rose windows. In the early part of the period mainly black paint and clear or brightly coloured glass was used, but in the early 14th century the use of compounds of silver, painted on glass which was then fired, allowed a number of variations of colour, centred on yellows, to be used with clear glass in a single piece. By the end of the period designs increasingly used large pieces of glass which were painted, with yellows as the dominant colours, and relatively few smaller pieces of glass in other colours.


title: Gothic art

text: Illuminated manuscripts represent the most complete record of Gothic painting, providing a record of styles in places where no monumental works have otherwise survived. The earliest full manuscripts with French Gothic illustrations date to the middle of the 13th century. Many such illuminated manuscripts were royal bibles, although psalters also included illustrations; the Parisian Psalter of Saint Louis, dating from 1253 to 1270, features 78 full-page illuminations in tempera paint and gold leaf.


title: Gothic art

text: During the late 13th century, scribes began to create prayer books for the laity, often known as books of hours due to their use at prescribed times of the day. Among the earliest is an example by William de Brailes that seems to have been written for an unknown laywoman living in a small village near Oxford in about 1240. Nobility frequently purchased such texts, paying handsomely for decorative illustrations; among the most well-known creators of these is Jean Pucelle, whose Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux was commissioned by King Charles IV as a gift for his queen, Jeanne d'Évreux. Elements of the French Gothic present in such works include the use of decorative page framing reminiscent of the architecture of the time with elongated and detailed figures. The use of spatial indicators such as building elements and natural features such as trees and clouds also denote the French Gothic style of illumination.


title: Gothic art

text: From the middle of the 14th century, blockbooks with both text and images cut as woodcut seem to have been affordable by parish priests in the Low Countries, where they were most popular. By the end of the century, printed books with illustrations, still mostly on religious subjects, were rapidly becoming accessible to the prosperous middle class, as were engravings of fairly high quality by printmakers like Israhel van Meckenem and Master E. S. In the 15th century, the introduction of cheap prints, mostly in woodcut, made it possible even for peasants to have devotional images at home. These images, tiny at the bottom of the market, often crudely coloured, were sold in thousands but are now extremely rare, most having been pasted to walls.


title: Gothic art

text: Painting with oil on canvas did not become popular until the 15th and 16th centuries and was a hallmark of Renaissance art. In Northern Europe the important and innovative school of Early Netherlandish painting is in an essentially Gothic style, but can also be regarded as part of the Northern Renaissance, as there was a long delay before the Italian revival of interest in classicism had a great impact in the north. Painters like Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck made use of the technique of oil painting to create minutely detailed works, correct in perspective, where apparent realism was combined with richly complex symbolism arising precisely from the realistic detail they could now include, even in small works. In Early Netherlandish painting, from the richest cities of Northern Europe, a new minute realism in oil painting was combined with subtle and complex theological allusions, expressed precisely through the highly detailed settings of religious scenes. The Mérode Altarpiece (1420s) of Robert Campin and the Washington Van Eyck Annunciation or Madonna of Chancellor Rolin (both 1430s, by Jan van Eyck) are examples. For the wealthy, small panel paintings, even polyptychs in oil painting were becoming increasingly popular, often showing donor portraits alongside, though often much smaller than the Virgin or saints depicted. These were usually displayed in the home.


title: Gothic art

text: The Gothic period is essentially defined by Gothic architecture, and does not entirely fit with the development of style in sculpture in either its start or finish. The facades of large churches, especially around doors, continued to have large tympanums, but also rows of sculpted figures spreading around them.


title: Gothic art

text: The statues on the Western (Royal) Portal at Chartres Cathedral (c. 1145) show an elegant but exaggerated columnar elongation, but those on the south transept portal, from 1215–20, show a more naturalistic style and increasing detachment from the wall behind, and some awareness of the classical tradition. These trends were continued in the west portal at Reims Cathedral of a few years later, where the figures are almost in the round, as became usual as Gothic spread across Europe. Bamberg Cathedral has perhaps the largest assemblage of 13th century sculpture, culminating in 1240 with the Bamberg Rider, the first life-size equestrian statue in Western art since the 6th century.


title: Gothic art

text: ""In Italy the Gospel of Gothic was preached from pulpits not from tympana, and the unit of the sculptor's thinking was an autonomous, self-consistent work of art"" (John Pope-Hennessy).


title: Gothic art

text: Nicola Pisano (1258–78) and his son Giovanni developed a style that is often called Proto-Renaissance, with unmistakable influence from Roman sarcophagi and sophisticated and crowded compositions, including a sympathetic handling of nudity, in relief panels on their pulpit of Siena Cathedral (1265–68), the Fontana Maggiore in Perugia, and Giovanni's pulpit in Pistoia of 1301.


title: Gothic art

text: Another revival of classical style is seen in the International Gothic work of Claus Sluter and his followers in Burgundy and Flanders around 1400. Late Gothic sculpture continued in the North, with a fashion for very large, wooden, sculpted altarpieces with increasingly virtuoso carving and large numbers agitated expressive figures; most surviving examples are in Germany, after much iconoclasm elsewhere. Tilman Riemenschneider, Veit Stoss and others continued the style well into the 16th century, gradually absorbing Italian Renaissance influences.


title: Gothic art

text: Life-size tomb effigies in stone or alabaster became popular for the wealthy, and grand multi-level tombs evolved, with the Scaliger Tombs of Verona so large they had to be moved outside the church. By the 15th century there was an industry exporting Nottingham alabaster altar reliefs in groups of panels over much of Europe for economical parishes who could not afford stone retables.


title: Gothic art

text: Small carvings, for a mainly lay and often female market, became a considerable industry in Paris and some other centres. Types of ivories included small, devotional polyptychs, single figures, especially of the Virgin, mirror-cases, combs, and elaborate caskets with scenes from Romances, used as engagement presents. The very wealthy collected extravagantly elaborate, jewelled and enamelled metalwork, both secular and religious, like the Duc de Berry's Holy Thorn Reliquary, until they ran short of money, when they were melted down again for cash.