It occurred after the French de facto government rejected the terms of the Treaty of London and consequently Edward III of England organised and commanded an expeditionary army to gain by force what he had failed to win by diplomacy.

In March 1359 the Treaty of London was made between the kings of France and England by which John, who was still a prisoner in England, surrendered to Edward the whole of the south-east of France from Poitou to Gascony, with Calais, Guisnes, and Ponthieu in full sovereignty, and was to ransom himself and his lords for four million crowns, while Edward gave up his claims to the crown and the provinces north of the Loire, formerly held by his ancestors.

On the other hand Sir Robert Knolles and other leaders of the free companies that desolated France put themselves under Edward's command, and so many foreign lords and knights flocked to Calais to serve under him, that he was forced to send Henry, Duke of Lancaster to satisfy them by leading them on a plundering expedition.

[2] Having raised an immense force, and furnished it with everything that could be needed during a long campaign, Edward III sailed from Sandwich on 28 October and arrived at Calais the same day.

Charles, the regent of France, did not attack him, but the city was strong and as his men suffered from the weather and bad quarters he broke up the siege on 11 January 1360, led his army into Burgundy, and took Tonnerre, where his soldiers were refreshed with three thousand butts of wine.

Edward did not succeed in provoking Charles, the regent of France, to battle, and on 6 April marched towards the Loire, intending to refresh his men in Brittany and commence operations again later in the year.

The Edward, the Black Prince took the principal part on the English side in the negotiations, and the preliminary truce arranged at Chartres on 7 May was drawn up by proctors acting in his name and the name of Charles, Duke of Normandy, the regent of France.