Castillon, Battle of

Battle fought on 17 July 1453 at Castillon on the lower Dordogne, southwestern France, in which the French under Jean de Bueil repelled the attacks of the English under Sir John Talbot, who was killed, effectively ending the Hundred Years' War. Although both Edward IV and Henry VIII led subsequent expeditions to France, English ambitions in France had been brought to an end.

Talbot led a small expeditionary force of 6,000 soldiers and recaptured Bordeaux in October 1452. In July 1453 the French, with almost 10,000 soldiers, advanced to Castillon, where Jean Bureau, their master gunner, constructed a large artillery camp, some 640 m/700 yd long and 183 m/200 yd wide, equipped with 300 guns. Talbot hoped to rush the camp and drive off the French outposts, but the massed guns hurled back the attackers with heavy losses. A ball hit Talbot's horse; he was pinned underneath it and killed with a battleaxe.