The town of Limoges had been under English control but in 1370 it surrendered to the French. Froissart alleges that Edward was put into a ‘violent passion’ in which he declares that regaining Limoges and punishing the French for its capture will be his singular goal. When the city wall fell, Froissart mentions the massacre of three thousand inhabitants, men, women and children, breaching the rules of chivalry and Edward still, ‘inflamed with passion and revenge’. Three captured French knights appealed to John of Gaunt and the Earl of Cambridge for being treated 'according to the law of arms' and turned prisoners.