For centuries, the Tower of London served not only as a royal fortress and treasury but as England’s most formidable prison—and among its most notable captives were French nobles whose stories remain woven into both Parisian and English history.
The most famous French prisoner was King Jean II of France, known as Jean le Bon (John the Good). Captured at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356 during the Hundred Years’ War, Jean was brought to London as a prisoner of immense value. He was first held at the Savoy Palace, then moved through various royal residences including Windsor, Hertford, Somerton, and Berkhamsted, before eventually being taken to the Tower of London.
Unlike common prisoners, Jean enjoyed relative comfort befitting his status. He held court, entertained visitors, and even returned to London voluntarily in 1364 after his son—left as a hostage in his place—escaped captivity. This act of medieval chivalry saw the French king honor his parole by returning to English custody, where he died at the Savoy Palace that same year. His body was eventually returned to Paris and interred at the Basilica of Saint-Denis, the traditional burial place of French royalty.
Charles d’Orléans: The Poet Prince
Perhaps the most culturally significant French captive was Charles d’Orléans, captured at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 at just 20 years old. He would spend the next 25 years in English captivity, held at various locations including the Tower of London among other castles.
During his imprisonment, Charles became one of medieval Europe’s finest poets, writing verses in both French and English. His ballads and rondeaux captured the melancholy of exile and longing for his homeland. Many of these poems expressed his yearning for the Seine and the streets of Paris he had left behind as a young man.
When Charles finally returned to France in 1440, he was 45 years old. He settled at his château in Blois, where he continued writing and hosting literary salons. His English captivity had paradoxically preserved him from the worst violence of the Hundred Years’ War while transforming him into one of the period’s great literary figures.
Visiting the Connection Today
Today, visitors to the Tower of London can walk the same stone corridors where these French nobles were held. The medieval fortress remains remarkably intact, and the Bloody Tower and other sections preserve the atmosphere of royal imprisonment from the era.
In Paris, the legacy of these captives lives on at the Basilica of Saint-Denis, where Jean II’s tomb can be visited, and at the Musée de Cluny, which houses manuscripts and artifacts from the period of the Hundred Years’ War. The Bibliothèque nationale de France preserves many of Charles d’Orléans’s original manuscripts, including poems written during his London captivity.
These stories of French nobility held at the Tower of London remind us that medieval warfare, while brutal, operated under codes of chivalry that seem almost incomprehensible today—where kings honored their parole and captive princes wrote love poetry in enemy territory, creating cultural legacies that transcended the conflicts of their age.
Tours & experiences in Paris
Powered by Viator. Some links are affiliate links — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.