Black Monday

Black Monday took place on Easter Monday during the Hundred Years' War , when a freak hail storm struck and killed an estimated 1,000 English soldiers. The storm was so devastating that it caused more English casualties than any of the previous battles of the war.On 5 April 1360, Edward III, King of England led his army of 10,000 men to the gates of Paris, in one of the largest English armies fielded in the Hundred Years' War. The force was headed by the King's most trusted lieutenants, including the Prince of Wales; Henry, duke of Lancaster; the earls of Northampton and Warwick; and Sir Walter Mauny; all men who had been responsible for many of the English military successes in the preceding two decades. The defenders of Paris led by the Charles, Dauphin of France, refused battle. It was not possible to breach the defenses so over the next week Edward would try to induce the Dauphin into open battle. All attempts at the latter would prove futile and undermine Edward's hope for a decisive outcome. The English left the vicinity of Paris after laying waste to the countryside, and marched towards the French cathedral city of Chartres.

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