At the battle of Auray, in
September of the same year, Charles of Blois was defeated and killed,
and Du Guesclin taken prisoner, by Sir John Chandos.

The grand companies beginning, after the close of the war, to play the
part of brigands in France, it was necessary to get rid of them. Du
Guesclin was ransomed for 100,000 crowns, and was charged to lead them
out of France. He marched with them into Spain, visiting Avignon on
the way, and extorting from the Pope a large sum of money and his
absolution. Du Guesclin now supported Henry of Trastamare against
Peter the Cruel, set the former upon the throne of Castile (1366), and
was made Constable of Castile and Count of Trastamare. In the
following year he was defeated and captured by the Black Prince, ally
of Peter the Cruel, at Najara, but was soon released for a heavy
ransom. Once more he fought for Henry, reinstated him on the throne
(1369), and was created Duke of Molinas.

[Illustration: Bertrand du Guesclin.]

In May, 1370, at the command of Charles V., who named him Constable of
France, he returned to France. War had just been declared against
England, and Du Guesclin was called to take part in it. For nearly ten
years he was engaged in fighting against the English in the south and
the west of France, recovering from them the provinces of Poitou,
Guienne, and Auvergne, and thus powerfully contributing to the
establishment of a united France. In 1373, when the Duke of Brittany
sought English aid against a threatened invasion by Charles V., Du
Guesclin was sent at the head of a powerful army to seize the duchy,
which he did; and two years later he frustrated, by a defensive
policy, the attempt of the duke with an English army to recover it.
Finding, in 1379, that the king entertained suspicions of his fidelity
to him, he resolved to give up his constable's sword and retire to
Spain. His resolution was at first proof against remonstrance; but
ultimately he received back the sword, and continued in the service of
France.

In 1380 he was sent into Languedoc to suppress disturbances and
brigandage provoked by the harsh government of the Duke of Anjou. His
first act was to lay siege to the fortress of Chateauneuf-Randou, held
by the English, strongly garrisoned and well provisioned. A day was
fixed conditionally for capitulation. Meanwhile the great warrior was
smitten with a mortal illness, and died, July 13, 1380. The commander
led out the garrison and deposited the