He earned his nickname from his intellectual pursuits which included book-collecting and artistic patronage, his religious piety, and his cautious adoption of delaying and ‘scorched-earth’ tactics in fighting the English during the Hundred Years War. Assuming responsibility as Regent of France in 1356 when his father, John II was captured at Poitiers, he quelled revolt in Paris and from the Jacquerie and, aided by the Constable of France, Bertrand du Guesclin, was able to recover most of France from the invading English forces.