In the late 1360s, the English captured the castle at Moncontour and controlled the valley of the Dive. Only the network of fortresses around Loudun held out. In 1369, John Chandos and Lord Pembroke combined forces and again besieged Loudun. They occupied the town, but Jean de la Jaille held out in the citadelle in the face of a torrent of fire. The countryside suffered terribly. The area north of Loudun, around Roiffe, was particularly badly affected. It was some decades before the villages were re-established, and the land brought back under cultivation. Many of the excavated rooms off the dry moat around the Chateau de Ranton date from this time. They served as a refuge for the villagers.