On June 22–23, 1372, a Castilian and French fleet commanded by the Genoese admiral Ambrosio Boccanegra decisively defeated an English naval force off the coast of La Rochelle. The English fleet, led by John Hastings, Earl of Pembroke, was virtually annihilated, marking one of the worst naval disasters in English history. The victory gave Castile control of the English Channel and enabled French forces to launch raids against the English coast, shifting the momentum of the Hundred Years' War in favor of France.

The Battle of La Rochelle was a devastating blow to English pride, and it was vividly described by chroniclers such as Jean Froissart, whose account emphasized the terror and humiliation of the English defeat. The battle entered the popular imagination through ballads and poems that lamented the loss of English naval supremacy and celebrated the skill of the Castilian sailors. The defeat also inspired a tradition of elegiac poetry in England, mourning the fallen and questioning the wisdom of kings who sent their subjects to die in distant wars.