During the year 1434 the French king Charles VII increased control over the territories north of Paris, including Soissons, Compiègne, Senlis and Beauvais.

Due to its position Gerberoy appeared as a good outpost to threaten the English occupied Normandy and even stronger to protect the nearby Beauvais of a possible reconquest.

At this time, in Gournay-sur-Epte, Normandy (now Gournay-en-Bray in Seine-Maritime), about a dozen kilometers southwest of Gerberoy, sat an English army under the command of John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel, in motion.

The Earl of Arundel appeared on 9 May before Gerberoy along with a vanguard that probably consisted of a few knights and withdrew after a brief observation of the valley, waiting for the arrival of the main English force.

The French, who had followed all the action from an elevated position from Gerberoy, quickly realized that it was merely an advance party and the main force of the English army was still on the road to Gournay.

The French cavalry arrived undetected in a place called Les Epinettes, near Laudecourt, a hamlet near Gournay, and then attacked the English main force.

During the retreat, the French were able to kill a large number of English soldiers; the badly wounded Earl of Arundel was captured, initially refusing to allow his shattered foot to be amputated, the insuring infection led to his death.