n may1360 the English negotiators led by the old Duke of Lancaster, Henry of Grosmont, who seems to have held the position of Foreign minister in Edward's government, and French councillors led by the Bishop of Beauvais agreed on outline peace plans. Broadly, these met the terms of the First Treaty of London and were concluded at the village of Brétigny in the Beauce. Shortly afterwards, Edward IIII left France forever. He had led his last army in war, and although he could not know it, the turning point of war had now been reached.
After all those years of delay it is surprising that the Treaty of Brétigny was settled in Seven days. The terms finally agreed between the Two sides were in fact rather less demanding than those of the First Treaty of London. The ransom was reduced from Four to Three million gold ecus, and the territorial demands were now reduced to the coastal areas from the Somme to the Calais Pale, plus Ponthieu and Aquitaine, all in full sovereignty, without homage. This new, expanded Aquitaine would run from the Auvergne to the Pyrénées and include Poitou, Saintonge, the Limousin, Quercy and the Agenais.
In return, Edward would drop al his claims to the French throne and cease quartering the lilies with the leopards of England on his arms. King John would be freed on payment of the First Third of the ransom and French troops would withdraw from all the ceded territories in the following year, 1361. These terms, agreed at Brétigny, would be ratified at Calais as soon as the First ransom payment arrived, and at that time the Two rulers would renounce all their claims on the titles and territories in question. All seemed finally settled, but as ever in this war, there was a fatal flaw.
In all previous treaties, even in the general terms drafted at Brétigny, the Two Kings had mutually agreed to renounce their rival claim to the throne of France and sovereignty of Aquitaine as part of the basic agreement. Under the terms of the Treaty of Calais, which followed the terms agreed at Brétigny, these final renunciations were delayed, either until the ceded territories had been handed over, or until November 1361, whichever was sooner.