An English strategy for a decisive campaign was set in motion in the summer of 1356. The plan was simple: Edward III was to strike from the North, while the Prince of Wales, who only a few months before had demonstrated his ability to go far and fast, would march from Aquitaine. The French King would thus have to fight on two fronts, a predicament made even more acute by the open war now waged by Philippe de Navarre from his base in Cherbourg, and the doubtful loyalties of some vassals and neighbours – such as the Count of Foix – on the borders of Languedoc. In June the Duke of Lancaster's army was the first expeditionary force to take he field in Normandy. At the same time, reinforcements were sent from England to Bordeaux, and in early July the Prince of Wales began the southern thrust of Edward's strategy. His first move to La Réole, a key defence of the lower Garonne valley, seemed to presage another attack aimed at Languedoc, but in early August, leaving the lord of Albret to defend Gascony against the Count of Armagnac, the Prince led the bulk of his forces north through Périgord and Limousin. Striking deep into the French heartland, he rode towards Orléans, by-passing strongholds and sacking some profitable towns and abbeys on the way.

Meanwhile Jean II, who had been immobilized by siege warfare in ‘Navarrese’ Normandy, managed to extricate himself from that situation and to organize defences in the Loire valley. Moreover, the English plan for a junction of their northern and southern forces was meeting with various difficulties.