Black Monday 1360

by Ellen Castelow

“It was not for nothing that my nose fell a-bleeding on Black Monday last, at six o’clock i’ the
morning.” William Shakespeare, ‘The Merchant of Venice’, ii. 5

‘Black Monday’ refers to Easter Monday, 13th April 1360, so-called after a freak hail storm
killed over 1,000 English soldiers during the Hundred Years’ War between England and France.

This terrible storm produced more casualties than any previous battle of the war.

The Hundred Years War had started back in 1337 and was a struggle between England and
France over who should control France. In October 1359, Edward III of England crossed the
English Channel to France with a huge invading force. By 13th April he had sacked and burned
the suburbs of Paris and was now besieging the town of Chartres.

As night fell, a sudden storm blew up. Edward’s troops were camped outside the town and
their tents were no match for the tempest that would follow. A huge drop in temperature was
followed by lightening, freezing rain, high winds and huge hailstones* which pelted both man
and horse. The soldiers screamed in fear and panic as their startled horses stampeded.

The carnage was described as “a foul day, full of myst and hayle, so that men dyed on
horseback [sic].”

There was no escape from the killer storm: tents were torn apart by the howling wind, soldiers
fled in panic, two of the English commanders were killed and the king was forced to his knees,
pleading with God for mercy.
Black Monday 1360

It took just half an hour for the storm to kill over 1,000 Englishmen and some 6,000 horses.

Edward was convinced that the storm was a sign from God. He rushed to pursue peace with
the French and as a direct result of the killer storm, on May 8th 1360 the Treaty of Bretigny
was signed. By this treaty Edward agreed to renounce his claim to the throne of France in
return for sovereignty over Aquitaine and Calais. The French agreed to pay a handsome
ransom for the release of their king John II who was held captive in England.

The treaty marked the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years’ War, however the peace
was short lived: war broke out again just nine years later.

*Hail consists of balls of ice or ice-pellets, usually produced during a thunderstorm. Hailstones
can be 50mm or larger in diameter and can fall as fast as 100 miles an hour. When driven by
high winds, large hailstones are capable of causing great damage.