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The Hundred Years War: Overview
{{more footnotes|date=January 2011}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict = Hundred Years' War
|image = ]
|caption = Clockwise, from top left: ] at the ],<br />{{nowrap|Plantagenet and Franco-Castilian fleets at the ],}}<br />] and the Plantagenet army at the ],<br />] rallies Valois forces at the ]
|date = 1337–1453
|place = Primarily ] and the ]
|result = French victory<br />House of Valois secure throne of France
|territory = England lose all continental territory except for the ]
|
|combatant1=] ''']'''<br />Supported by: <br /> ] ]<br/> ] ]<br />] ]<br /> ] ]<br />] ]<br />] ]<br />] ]<br />] ]<br />] ] (Blois)
|combatant2=] ''']'''<br /> Supported by:<br /> ] ] <br /> ] ]<br />] ]<br />] ] (Montfort)<br />] ]<br />] ]<br />] ]<br />] ]<br />] ]<br />] ]
|strength1 =
|strength2 =
|casualties1 =
|casualties2 =
|notes =
}}
{{Campaignbox Hundred Years' War}}
{{Campaignbox Edwardian War}}
{{Campaignbox Lancastrian War}}


eHistory is in the process of creating a MultiMedia History for the Hundred Years War; in the meantime we've gathered most of the materials from the old site here until the new pages are ready. Readers might also be interested in our online translation of the Chronicles of Froissart which is considered a key primary source on the era, as well as our timeline of the Hundred Years War in our Timelines.
The '''Hundred Years' War''' was a series of separate conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453 between the ] and the ] and their various allies for control of the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior ] line of French kings. The ] controlled France in the wake of the House of Capet; a Capetian cadet branch, the Valois claimed the throne under ]. This was contested by the ], the ] family that had ruled England since 1154, who claimed the throne of France through the marriage of ] and ].
The Hundred Years War, lasting from 1337 until 1453, was a defining time for the history of both England and France. The war started in May 1337 when King Philip VI of France attempted to confiscate the English territories in the duchy of Aquitaine (located in Southwestern France). It ended in July 1453 when the French finally expelled the English from the continent (except for Calais). The Hundred Years War was a series of chevauchees (plundering raids), sieges and naval battles interspersed with truces and uneasy peace.


The war is commonly divided into three or four phases, separated by various unsuccessful truces: the ]; the ]; the ]; and the slow decline of Plantagenet fortunes after the appearance of ] (1412–1431). Several other contemporary European conflicts were directly related to this conflict: the ], the ]; the ]; and the ]. The term "Hundred Years' War" was a later term invented by historians to describe the series of events.


The conflict was punctuated by several periods of peace before the French succeeded in recovering early gains made by the English, expelling them from the majority of France by the 1450s. The Plantagenets lost most of their continental territory, including ], which they had held since the marriage of ] to ] in 1152, though they retained the ] until ] in 1558. However the ruling houses of England would continue to ] until 1800.


The war owes its historical significance to a number of factors. Although primarily a dynastic conflict, the war gave impetus to ideas of both French and English ]. Militarily, it saw the introduction of new weapons and tactics which eroded the older system of ] armies dominated by ] in Western Europe. The first ] in Western Europe since the time of the ] were introduced for the war, thus changing the role of the ]. For all this, as well as for its long duration, it is often viewed as one of the most significant conflicts in the history of ]. In France, civil wars, deadly ], ]s and marauding ] armies turned to banditry reduced the population by about one-half.<ref name="population"/>


==Background== Background
] (kneeling) to Philip IV (seated). As ], Edward was a vassal to the French king.]]
The background to the conflict is to be found in 1066, when ], led an ]. He defeated the ] ] at the ], and had himself crowned King of England. As Duke of Normandy, he remained a ] of the French King, and was required to swear ] to the latter for his lands in France; for a king to swear fealty to another king was considered humiliating, and the ] of England generally attempted to avoid the service. On the French side, the ] resented a neighbouring king holding lands within their own realm, and sought to neutralise the threat England now posed to France.<ref name=ehistory>{{cite web|url=http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/archive/hundredyearswar.cfm?CFID=12106913&CFTOKEN=48989585&jsessionid=463076a37003e50bfe0063343a5d3c64687b|title=The Hundred Years War: Overview|work=ehistory.osu.edu|last=Gormley|first=Larry|coauthors=eHistory staff|year=2007}}</ref>


The background to the conflict can be found 400 years earlier, in 911, when Carolingian Charles the Simple allowed the Viking Rollo to settle in a part of his kingdom (a region known afterwards as "Normandy"). In 1066 the "Normans" were led by William the Conqueror (the Duke of Normandy) and conquered England, defeating the Anglo-Saxon leadership at the Battle of Hastings, installing a new Anglo-Norman power structure. It is important to note for future events that starting with Rollo, Norman leaders were vassals to the King of France, even after they also became kings in England.
Following a period of ]s and unrest in England known as ] (1135–1154), the Anglo-Norman dynasty was succeeded by the Angevin Kings from the ]. At the height of its power, the House of Plantagenet controlled Normandy and England, along with ], ], ], ], ], ], and ] (this assemblage of lands is sometimes known as the ]). The King of England directly ruled more territory on the continent than did the King of France himself. This situation &ndash; in which the kings of England owed ] to a ruler who was ''de facto'' much weaker &ndash; was a cause of continual conflict.
] inherited this great estate from ]. However, ] acted decisively to exploit the weaknesses of King John, both legally and militarily, and by 1204 had succeeded in wresting control of most of the ancient territorial possessions. The subsequent ] (1214), along with the ] (1242) and finally the ] (1324), reduced the House of Plantagenet's hold on the continent to a few small provinces in Gascony, and the complete loss of the crown jewel of Normandy.<ref name=ehistory />


By the early 14th century, many people in the English aristocracy could still remember a time when their grandparents and great-grandparents had control over wealthy continental regions, such as Normandy, which they also considered their ancestral homeland. They were motivated to regain possession of these territories.<ref name=ehistory /> Following a period of civil wars and unrest in England known as The Anarchy (1135-1154), the Anglo-Norman dynasty was succeeded by the Angevin Kings. At the height of power the Angevins controlled Normandy and England, along with Maine, Anjou, Touraine, Gascony, Saintonge and Aquitaine. Such assemblage of lands is sometimes known as the Angevin Empire. The king of England, who was still a vassal of the King of France, directly ruled more French territory than the King of France himself. This situation - where the Angevin kings owed vassalage to a ruler who was de facto much weaker - was a cause of continual conflict. The French resolved the situation somewhat in three decisive wars: the conquest of Normandy (1214), the Saintonge War (1242) and finally the War of Saint-Sardos (1324), thus reducing England's hold on the continent to a few small provinces in Gascony and the complete loss of the crown jewel of Normandy. By the early 14th century many in the English aristocracy could still remember a time when their grandparents and great-grandparents had control over wealthy continental regions, such as Normandy, which they also considered their ancestral homeland, and were motivated to regain possession of these territories.


Notably, the Hundred Years' War is seen by many scholars as a chapter in the seemingly perpetual conflict between the English and French nations, as disputes and open war were frequent, which continued as late as the Napoleonic era, and which extended well beyond Europe as the two battled for global empires. The significance of the Hundred Years' War in this context is the rise of nationalism it engendered, compared to earlier medieval conflicts.
==Dynastic turmoil: 1314–1328==
<!-- This section is linked from ] -->
The specific events leading up to the war took place in France, where the unbroken line of the ] firstborn sons had succeeded each other for centuries. In 1314, the Direct Capetian, King ], died, leaving three male heirs: ], ], and ]. A fourth child of Phillip IV, ], was married to ], and in 1312 had produced a son, ], who was a potential heir to the thrones of both England (through his father) and France (through his grandfather).


Philip IV's eldest son and heir, Louis X, died in 1316, leaving only his posthumous son ], who was born and died that same year, and a daughter ], whose paternity was suspect.


Causes
Upon the deaths of Louis X and John I, Philip IV's second-eldest son, ], sought the throne for himself. This was opposed by several of the nobility, such as ] (Joan's maternal uncle), ] (Philip's uncle) and ] (Philip's brother). However, Philip was able to negotiate them into silence; Philip's uncle and brother may have realized that this would bring them closer to the throne, while the Duke of Burgundy married Philip's eldest daughter, ]. Up until that time, all fiefs in France passed by ]; Philip had to provide some good justification why the French throne should pass in a different manner. For this, Philip exalted the throne of France to be equal to that of the ] and the ] — an office that could be entrusted to men only. The concept of ] would be invoked only much later — in the 1350s — when a Benedictine from the Abbey of St. Denis, who kept the official chronicle of the kingdom, invoked that law to strengthen the position of the King of France in his propaganda fight against Edward III of England.<ref>Jean FAVIER 1980 page 37.</ref> When Philip V himself died in 1322, his daughters, too, were put aside in favour of his brother: Charles IV, the third son of Philip IV.


One of the central causes of the Hundred Years War centered on the relationship between the Kings of France and England regarding the duchy of Aquitaine located in Southwestern France. In 1259, the Treaty of Paris designated that Henry III (1216 - 1270) held the duchy as a fief of the French king. As a vassal to the King of France Henry was required to pay liege homage to the king. (This meant that the King of England was required to do homage whenever the kingship of either England or France changed hands.) However, Henry was the King of England; how could a king be in turn a vassal?
In 1324, Charles IV of France and his brother-in-law, Edward II of England fought the short ] in ]. The major event of the war was the brief siege of the English fortress of ], on the ]. The English forces, led by ], were forced to surrender after a month of bombardment from the French cannon, after promised reinforcements never arrived. The war was a complete failure for England, and only ] and a narrow coastal strip of the once great ] remained outside French control.


The recovery of these lost lands became a major focus of English diplomacy. The war also galvanised opposition to Edward II among the English nobility and led to his being ] from the throne in 1327, in favor of his young son, Edward of Windsor, who thus became ]. Charles IV died in 1328, leaving only a daughter, and an unborn infant who would prove to be a girl. The senior line of the ] thus ended, creating a crisis over the French succession.


Meanwhile in England, the young Edward of Windsor had become King Edward III of England in 1327. Being also the nephew of Charles IV of France, Edward was Charles' closest living male relative (by proximity of blood). By the English interpretation of feudal law, this made Edward III the legitimate heir to the throne of France. However, ], a grandson of Philip V of France, was senior to him by primogeniture.


Control over the French throne further complicated matters. In 1328, Charles IV, King of France, died without a male heir. Edward III, the King of England, held claim to the throne via his mother who was Charles' sister. The other important claimant was head of the Valois house (Philip VI) grandson of Philip III. Philip VI gained the throne and moved to confiscate Aquitaine in order to consolidate his power. Edward led a raid into French territory in 1338 to defend his claim and two years later declared himself the true king of France.
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The French nobility, however, balked at the prospect of being ruled by the king of England. Edward's ancestors, as Dukes of Aquitaine, had acquired a reputation for disobedience to the French crown, while Edward's mother, Isabella, was poorly regarded in France because of her conduct. Thus, they asserted that since the French throne could not pass to a woman, then the royal inheritance could not pass through her to her offspring. Therefore, the heir male of Philip III of France, ], was the legitimate heir in the eyes of the French. He had taken regency after Charles IV's death and was allowed to take the throne after Charles' widow gave birth to a daughter. Philip of Valois was crowned as Philip VI, the first of the ], a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty.


Summary of the War
], the daughter of Louis X, also had a good legal claim to the French throne, but lacked the power to back this. The ] had no precedent against female rulers (the House of Capet having inherited it through Joan's grandmother, ]), and so by treaty she and her husband, ], were permitted to inherit that Kingdom; however, the same treaty forced Joan and her husband to accept the accession of Philip VI in France, and to surrender her hereditary French domains of Champagne and Brie to the French crown in exchange for inferior estates. Joan and Philip of Évreux then produced a son, ]. Born in 1332, Charles replaced Philip of Burgundy as Philip IV's male heir in ], and in proximity to Louis X; however, Edward remained the male heir in proximity to Saint Louis, Philip IV, and Charles IV.


From the beginning of the war (1337) until the battle of Orleans (1428-29), the English won many victories including the decisive battles of Crécy, Poitiers and Agincourt. The English employed a new method of warefare with great success that combined forces of longbowmen with dismounted men-at-arms.
==On the eve of war: 1328–1337==
After Philip's accession, the English still controlled ]. Gascony produced vital shipments of ] and ], and was very profitable. It was a separate ], held by the French crown, rather than a territory of England. The ] done for its possession was a bone of contention between the two kings. Philip VI demanded Edward's recognition as sovereign; Edward wanted the return of further lands lost by his father. A compromise "homage" in 1329 pleased neither side; but in 1331, facing serious problems at home, Edward accepted Philip as King of France and gave up his claims to the French throne. In effect, England kept Gascony, in return for Edward's giving up his claims to be the rightful heir to the French throne.


In 1429, at the siege of Orleans the French eventually gained the upperhand. Joan of Arc led a relief force which successfully defeated the English. The next 25 years of engagements saw continued French victories and the English retreat from all of France save Calais.
Since the time of ], the English had endeavored to control the entirety of the island of Great Britain. In 1333, Edward III went to war against ], a French ally under the ], and began the ]. It was against Philip's interests for Scotland to be conquered, because in case of a war, he could invoke the alliance to force the English to fight on two fronts. However, the war was — initially at least — a quick success for England, and David was forced to flee to France after being defeated by King Edward and ] at the ] in July. In 1336, Philip threatened to seize Gascony if Edward would not make peace with the Scottish.


==Beginning of the war: 1337–1360==
{{Campaignbox Edwardian War}}
{{Main|Hundred Years' War (1337–1360)}}
{{See also|War of the Breton Succession}}


Open hostilities broke out as French ships began scouting coastal settlements on the ] and in 1337 Philip reclaimed the Gascon fief, citing feudal law and saying that Edward had broken his oath (a ]) by not attending to the needs and demands of his lord. Edward III responded by saying he was in fact the rightful heir to the French throne, and on ], ], ], arrived in ] with the defiance of the king of England. War had been declared.


] of ], Bruge, c.1470]]


In the early years of the war, Edward III allied with the nobles of the ] and the burghers of ], but after two campaigns where nothing was achieved, the alliance fell apart in 1340. The payments of subsidies to the German princes and the costs of maintaining an army abroad dragged the English government into bankruptcy, heavily damaging Edward’s prestige. At sea, France enjoyed supremacy for some time, through the use of Genoese ships and crews. Several towns on the English coast were sacked, some repeatedly. This caused fear and disruption along the English coast. There was a constant fear during this part of the war that the French would invade. France's sea power led to economic disruptions in England as it cut down on the wool trade to Flanders and the wine trade from Gascony. However, in 1340, while attempting to hinder the English army from landing, the French fleet was almost completely destroyed in the ]. After this, England was able to dominate the ] for the rest of the war, preventing French ].
 


Hundred Years War Content Copyright ©2001 Larry Gormley with additional content from the eHistory staff 2007.
In 1341, conflict over the succession to the Duchy of ] began the ], in which Edward backed ] and Philip backed ]. Action for the next few years focused around a back and forth struggle in Brittany, with the city of ] changing hands several times, as well as further campaigns in Gascony with mixed success for both sides.
Sources
], 1346]]
In July 1346, Edward mounted a major invasion across the Channel, landing in the ]. The English army captured ] in just one day, surprising the French who had expected the city to hold out much longer. Philip gathered a large army to oppose Edward, who chose to march northward toward the Low Countries, pillaging as he went, rather than attempting to take and hold territory. Finding himself unable to outmanoeuvre Philip, Edward positioned his forces for battle, and Philip's army attacked. The famous ] was a complete disaster for the French, largely credited to the ]men and the French king, who allowed his army to attack before they were ready.<ref>Rogers (2000) </ref> Edward proceeded north unopposed and besieged the city of ] on the ], capturing it in 1347. This became an important strategic asset for the English. It allowed them to keep troops in France safely. In the same year, an English victory against Scotland in the ] led to the capture of David II and greatly reduced the threat from Scotland.


Christopher Allmand, The Hundred Years War: England and France at War c.1300-c.1450, (Cambridge, 1989).
In 1348, the ] began to ravage Europe. In 1356, after it had passed and England was able to recover financially, Edward's son and namesake, the ], known as the ], invaded France from Gascony, winning a great victory in the ], where the English archers repeated the tactics used at Crécy. The new French king, ], was captured (''See: ]''). John signed a truce with Edward, and in his absence, much of the government began to collapse. Later that year, the ] was signed, by which England gained possession of ] (in full sovereignty, no longer as a feudal fief with the French king as his overlord) and John was freed.
Mike Ashley, The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens (New York, 1998).

The French countryside at this point began to fall into complete chaos. ], the actions of the professional soldiery when fighting was at low ebb, was rampant. In 1358, the peasants rose in rebellion in what was called the ]. Edward invaded France, for the third and last time, hoping to capitalise on the discontent and seize the throne, but although no French army stood against him in the field, he was unable to take ] or ] from the ], later ]. He negotiated the ] which was signed in 1360. The English came out of this phase of the war with half of Brittany, Aquitaine (about a quarter of France), Calais, Ponthieu, and about half of France's vassal states as their allies, representing the clear advantage of a united England against a generally disunified France.

==First peace: 1360–1369==
{{Main|Treaty of Brétigny}}
{{See also|Castilian Civil War}}

When John's son ], sent to the English as a hostage on John's behalf, escaped in 1362, John II chivalrously gave himself up and returned to captivity in England. He died in honourable captivity in 1364 and ] succeeded him as king of France.

The Treaty of Brétigny had made Edward renounce his claim to the French crown. At the same time, it greatly expanded his territory in Aquitaine and confirmed his conquest of Calais. The ratified version, the Treaty of Calais, had one small difference: the exchange of renunciations would happen ''after'' the territorial exchanges, not immediately, as had been stated in the Treaty of Brétigny.

Due to the Navarrese attacks in France, Edward III bid for more time, contemplating about demanding more territory from the French king. Charles V pacified the Navarrese king quite quickly. In time, Edward III had forgotten about the formal exchange of renunciations. However, both monarchs had de facto complied with the treaty; Edward III had stopped quartering the arms of England with the arms of France, and the agents of the French king no longer intruded in Aquitaine.

The Prince of Wales, now also Prince of Aquitaine, taxed his subjects to pay for the war in Castile. Protest did not come from the people of the territories recently ceded by the French crown, but from English Gascony. Before the loss of French sovereignty, the Gascons were controlled by their duke only from afar; with its loss, the English would have tighter control over them. Thus, the Count of Armagnac protested to the liege of his lord, the King of England; but even before response could arrive, he had requested intervention from Paris.

Initially, Charles V was unsure of how to accept the pleading. If he accepted, that would have been tantamount to breaking the treaty. He consulted his lawyers, his advisers. They argued that, since Edward III had failed to make the exchange of renunciations, Aquitaine was still under French suzerainty, so Charles V could legally accept the pleading. In 1369, Charles V of France declared war against Edward on the pretext that he had failed to observe the terms of the Treaty of Brétigny.

==French ascendancy under Charles V: 1369–1389==
{{Campaignbox Caroline War}}
{{Main|Hundred Years' War (1369–1389)}}

The reign of Charles V saw the English steadily pushed back. Although the Breton war ended in favour of the English at the ], the dukes of Brittany eventually reconciled with the French throne. The Breton soldier ] became one of the most successful French generals of the Hundred Years' War.
]]]

Simultaneously, the Black Prince was occupied with war in the ] from 1366 and due to illness was relieved of command in 1371, whilst Edward III was too elderly to fight; providing France with even more advantages. ], whose daughters Constance and Isabella were married to the Black Prince's brothers ] and ], was deposed by ] in 1370 with the support of Du Guesclin and the French. War erupted between Castile and France on one side and Portugal and England on the other.

With the death of ], ] of ], in the field and the capture of the ], the English were deprived of some of their best generals in France. Du Guesclin, in a series of careful ] campaigns, avoiding major English field armies, captured many towns, including ] in 1372 and ] in 1377. The English response to Du Guesclin was to launch a series of destructive '']s''. But Du Guesclin refused to be drawn in by them.

With the death of the Black Prince in 1376 and Edward III in 1377, the prince's underaged son ] succeeded to the English throne. Then, with Du Guesclin's death in 1380, and the continued threat to England's northern borders from Scotland represented by the ], the war inevitably wound down with the ] in 1389. The peace was extended many times before open war flared up again.

==Second peace: 1389–1415==
{{See also|Civil war between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians}}

England too was plagued with internal strife during this period, as ] in ] and ] were accompanied by renewed border war with Scotland and two separate civil wars. The Irish troubles embroiled much of the reign of ], who had not resolved them by the time he lost his throne and life to his cousin Henry, who took power for himself in 1399.

Although ] planned campaigns in France, he was unable to put them into effect during his short reign. In the meantime, though, the French King ] was descending into madness, and an open conflict for power began between his cousin ], and his brother, ]. After Louis's assassination, the ] family took political power in opposition to John. By 1410, both sides were bidding for the help of English forces in a civil war.

This was followed by the rebellion of ] in Wales, which was not finally put down until 1415 and actually resulted in Welsh semi-independence for a number of years. In Scotland, the change in regime in England prompted a fresh series of border raids which were countered by an invasion in 1402 and the defeat of a Scottish army at the ]. A dispute over the spoils of this action between Henry and the ] resulted in a long and bloody struggle between the two for control of northern England, which was resolved only with the almost complete destruction of the Percy family by 1408. Throughout this period, England was also faced with repeated raids by French and Scandinavian ], which heavily damaged trade and the navy. These problems accordingly delayed any resurgence of the dispute with France until 1415.

==Resumption of the war under Henry V: 1415–1429==
{{Campaignbox Lancastrian War}}
{{Main|Hundred Years' War (1415–1429)}}
The final phase of warmaking that engulfed France between 1415 and 1435 is the most famous phase of the Hundred Years' War. Plans had been laid for the declaration of war since the rise to the throne of Henry IV, in 1399. However, it was his son, ], who was finally given the opportunity. In 1414, Henry turned down an Armagnac offer to restore the Brétigny frontiers in return for his support. Instead, he demanded a return to the territorial status during the reign of ]. In August 1415, he landed with an army at ] and took it, although the city resisted for longer than expected. This meant that by the time he came to marching farther, most of the campaign season was gone. Although tempted to march on Paris directly, he elected to make a raiding expedition across France toward English-occupied Calais. In a campaign reminiscent of ], he found himself outmanoeuvred and low on supplies, and had to make a stand against a much larger French army at the ], north of the ]. In spite of his disadvantages, his victory was near-total; the French defeat was catastrophic, with the loss of many of the Armagnac leaders. About 40% of the French nobility was lost at Agincourt.<ref name="population"/>
]

Henry took much of Normandy, including ] in 1417 and ] on January 19, 1419, making Normandy English for the first time in two centuries. He made formal alliance with the ], who had taken Paris, after the assassination of Duke ] in 1419. In 1420, Henry met with the mad king ], who signed the ], by which Henry would marry Charles' daughter ] and Henry's heirs would inherit the throne of France. The Dauphin, ], was declared illegitimate. Henry formally entered Paris later that year and the agreement was ratified by the ].

Henry's progress was now stopped by the arrival in France of a Scottish army of around 6,000 men. In 1421, a combined Franco-Scottish force led by ] crushed a larger English army at the ], killing the English commander, Thomas, 1st Duke of Clarence, and killing or capturing most of the English leaders. The French were so grateful that Buchan was immediately promoted to the office of High Constable of France. Soon after the Battle of Bauge Henry V died at ] in 1422. Soon after that, Charles too had died. Henry's infant son, ], was immediately crowned king of England and France, but the Armagnacs remained loyal to Charles' son and the war continued in central France.

The English continued to attack France and in 1429 were besieging the important French city of Orleans. An attack on an English supply convoy led to the skirmish that is now known as ] when ] circled his supply wagons (largely filled with herring) around his archers and repelled a few hundred attackers. Later that year, a French saviour appeared in the form of a peasant girl from ] named ].

==French victory: 1429–1453==
]
By 1424, the uncles of Henry VI had begun to quarrel over the infant's regency, and one, ], married ], ], and invaded ] to regain her former dominions, bringing him into direct conflict with ], ].

By 1428, the English were ready to pursue the war again, laying ] to ]. Their force was insufficient to fully ] the city, but larger French forces remained passive. In 1429, ] convinced the ] to send her to the siege, saying she had received visions from ] telling her to drive out the English. She raised the morale of the local troops and they attacked the English ]s, forcing the English to lift the siege. Inspired by Joan, the French took several English strong points on the Loire. Shortly afterwards, a French army, some 8000 strong, broke through English archers at ] with 1500 heavy cavalry, defeating a 3000-strong army commanded by ] and ]. This victory opened the way for the Dauphin to march to ] for his coronation as Charles VII.

After Joan was captured by the Burgundians in 1430 and later sold to the English, tried by an ecclesiastic court, and executed, the French advance stalled in negotiations. But, in 1435, the Burgundians under Philip III switched sides, signing the ] and returning Paris to the King of France. Burgundy's allegiance remained fickle, but their focus on expanding their domains into the Low Countries left them little energy to intervene in France. The long truces that marked the war also gave Charles time to reorganise his army and government, replacing his feudal levies with a more modern professional army that could put its superior numbers to good use, and centralising the French state.
] (1450)]]
A repetition of Du Guesclin's battle avoidance strategy paid dividends and the French were able to recover town after town.

By 1449, the French had retaken ], and in 1450 the ] and Arthur de Richemont, Earl of Richmond, of the Montfort family (the future ]) caught an English army attempting to relieve Caen at the ] and defeated it, the English army having been attacked from the flank and rear by Richemont's force just as they were on the verge of beating Clermont's army. The French proceeded to capture ] on July 6 and ] and ] in 1451. The attempt by Talbot to retake Gascony, though initially welcomed by the locals, was crushed by ] and his cannon at the ] in 1453 where Talbot had led a small Anglo-Gascon force in a frontal attack on an entrenched camp. This is considered the last battle of the Hundred Years' War.

==Significance==
The Hundred Years' War was a time of military evolution. Weapons, tactics, army structure, and the societal meaning of war all changed, partly in response to the demands of the war, partly through advancement in technology, and partly through lessons that ] taught.

England was what might be considered a more modern state than France. It had a centralised authority — Parliament — with the authority to tax. As the military writer Colonel ] notes, England had revolutionised its recruitment system, substituting a paid army for one drawn from feudal obligation. Professional captains were appointed who recruited troops for a specified (theoretically short) period. To some extent, this was a necessity; many barons refused to go on a foreign campaign, as feudal service was supposed to be for protection of the realm.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}

Before the Hundred Years' War, heavy cavalry was considered the most powerful unit in an army, but by the war's end, this belief had shifted. The heavy horse was increasingly negated by the use of the longbow (and, later, another long-distance weapon: firearms) and fixed defensive positions of men-at-arms — tactics which helped lead to English victories at Crécy and Agincourt. Learning from the Scots, the English began using lightly armoured mounted troops — later called ] — who would dismount in order to fight battles. By the end of the Hundred Years' War, this meant a fading of the expensively outfitted, highly trained heavy cavalry, and the eventual end of the amoured ] as a military force and the ] as a political one.<ref name="RolandPreston1991">{{cite book|last1=Preston|first1=Richard|last2=|first2=|title=Men in arms: a history of warfare and its interrelationships with Western society|year=1991|publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston|location=New York|isbn=0-03-033428-4}}</ref>

Although they had a tactical advantage, "nevertheless the size of France prohibited lengthy, let alone permanent, occupation," as the military writer General Fuller noted.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} Covering a much larger area than England, and containing four times its population, France proved difficult for the English to occupy.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

An insoluble problem for English commanders was that, in an age of siege warfare, the more territory that was occupied, the greater the requirements for garrisons. This lessened the striking power of English armies as time went on. Salisbury's army at Orleans consisted of only 5,000 men, insufficient not only to invest the city but also numerically inferior to French forces within and without the city. The French needed only to recover some part of their shattered confidence for the outcome to become inevitable. At Orleans they were assisted by the death of Salisbury through a fluke cannon shot and by the inspiration provided by ].{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

Furthermore, the ending of the Burgundian alliance spelled the end of English efforts in France, despite the campaigns of the aggressive John, Lord Talbot, and his forces to delay the inevitable.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

The war also stimulated nationalistic sentiment. It devastated France as a land, but it also awakened French nationalism. The Hundred Years' War accelerated the process of transforming France from a feudal monarchy to a centralised state. The conflict became one of not just English and French kings but one between the ] and ] peoples. There were constant rumours in England that the French meant to invade and destroy the English language. National feeling that emerged out of such rumours unified both France and England further. The Hundred Years War basically confirmed the fall of the ] in ], which had served as the language of the ruling classes and commerce there from the time of the Norman conquest until 1362.<ref></ref>

The latter stages of the war saw the emergence of the dukes of Burgundy as important players on the political field, and it encouraged the English — in response to the seesawing alliance of the ] (now ], a rich centre of woollen production at the time) throughout the conflict — to develop their own woollen industry and foreign markets.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

===Weapons===
] English longbow, 2&nbsp;m (6&nbsp;ft 6&nbsp;in) long, 470&nbsp;] (105&nbsp;]) draw force.]]
There existed different types of armed men during the war: Knights of noble birth, squires, and commoners (foot soldiers including archers).

While the two-handed longsword grew in popularity during the late Middle Ages, the arming sword (also sometimes called a knight's or knightly sword), a single handed double-edged cruciform sword, was the standard military sword of the knight. A knight would have, from an early age, engaged in time-consuming training in the use of the sword, first as a page and then as squire. Whether wearing armour or not a knight always carried his sword in public. Besides swords, knights also used underarm-couched lances. In closed-rank wedge-shaped formations, cavalry charges of knights at full-gallop would shatter most enemy lines. Knightly horses, armour and weapons were very expensive and reserved for nobles.

When going into battle, a knight was also expected to bring along foot soldiers typically conscripted from the peasantry. It was not rare for the peasants brought onto battlefields to be armed with only farm implements. Their armour consisted of reinforcing their regular clothes with leather patches or strips of metal. But the most common weapon for the foot soldier was the bow and arrow. Since ancient times, the use of the bow and arrow, though known to be effective, was viewed with contempt, as one would kill a man from afar, without facing him. Euripides called the bow and arrow ''the coward's weapon''.<ref></ref> Knights shared this view. Nevertheless, archers became an integral part of medieval warfare.

The English ] gave the English tactical advantage in several key battles. Since the passage of the ], all lower-class Englishmen between the age of 15 to 60 years old were ordered by Law to make or acquire bow and arrows. In 1363 a second archery Law made it obligatory for Englishmen to be trained with the use of longbows every Sunday in designated areas, usually on the edges of villages, called the "]". This led to so many people getting accidentally hit by arrows that a special dispensation from murder charges was enacted if the deceased was killed during archery practice.
] in 1429.]]
Though they were finally defeated by the French, lighter English armies and a heavy use of longbows would prove to be a delaying factor in the end-result of the war. The French relied less on ranged weapons and then mostly on crossbows, often employed by Genoese ], highly skilled and well-trained men who made up for the weaknesses of the weapon with specialised equipment. The ] was used because it required little training, and so made it possible to quickly levy novice crossbowmen, and it had a tremendous shooting power — at short range — against both plate armour and chain mail. However, it was slow to reload, heavy, and vulnerable to rain-damage. The longbow was a very difficult weapon to employ, and English archers had to have practiced from an early age to become proficient. It also required tremendous strength to use, with a draw force typically around 620–670 ] (140–150&nbsp;]) and possibly as high as 800&nbsp;N (180&nbsp;lbf). The longbow was shot in relatively inaccurate volleys, though this was typical of any bow. Its widespread use in the British Isles gave the English the ability to use it as a weapon. It was the strategic developments that brought it to prominence. The English, in their battles with the Welsh and Scots, had learned through defeat what dismounted bowmen in fixed positions could do to heavy cavalry from a distance. Since the arrows shot from a longbow could kill or incapacitate the un-armoured horses, a charge could be dissipated before it ever reached an army's lines (an effect comparable to that of latter-day ]). The longbow enabled the lighter and more mobile English army to pick battle locations, fortify them, and force the opposing side into a siege-style battle. As the Hundred Years' War came to a close, the number of capable longbowmen began to drop off. Given the training required to use such powerful bows, the casualties taken by the longbowmen at ] (1424) and ] (1429) were significant. The longbow became increasingly difficult to use without the men specialised in wielding it. In addition, improvements in armour-plating from the 15th century meant that while armour was practically arrow-proof, the longbow had remained a static and ineffective weapon. Only the most powerful longbows at close range could stand a chance of penetrating.<ref>P.N. Jones, "The metallography and relative effectiveness of arrowheads and armour during the middle ages", Materials Characterization, Volume 29, Issue 2, September 1992, Pages 111-117</ref>

A number of new ]s were introduced during the Hundred Years' War as well. ] for ]s (an early firearm) and ] played significant roles as early as 1375. The last battle of the war, the ], was the first battle in European history in which artillery was the deciding factor.

===War and society===
] counting the dead on the battlefield of Crécy]]
The consequences of these new weapons meant that the nobility was no longer the deciding factor in battle; peasants armed with longbows or firearms could gain access to the power, rewards, and prestige once reserved for only knights who bore arms. The composition of armies changed, from feudal lords who might or might not show up when called by their lord, to paid mercenaries. By the end of the war, both France and England were able to raise enough money through taxation to create standing armies, the first time since the ] that there were standing armies in Western or Central Europe (excluding the ]). Standing armies represented an entirely new form of power for kings. Not only could they defend their kingdoms from invaders, but standing armies could also protect the king from internal threats and keep the population in check. It was a major step in the early developments towards centralised nation-states that eroded the medieval order.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

It is a commonly believed myth that at the first major ] of the war, the ], the "Age of ]" came to an end in that heavy-cavalry charges no longer decided battles. At the same time, there was a revival of the mores of chivalry, and it was deemed to be of the highest importance to fight, and to die, in the most chivalrous way possible. The notion of chivalry was strongly influenced by the Romantic epics of the 12th century, and knights imagined themselves re-enacting those stories on the field of battle. Someone like ] was said{{By whom|date=May 2009}} to have gone into battle with one eye closed, declaring "I will not open my eye for the honour of my lady until I have killed three Englishmen." Knights often carried the colours of their ladies into battle.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

In France, during the captivity of ], the ] attempted to arrogate power from the king. The Estates General was a body of representatives from the three groups who traditionally had consultative rights in France: the ], the ], and the townspeople. First called together under ] “the Fair”, the Estates had the right to confirm or disagree with the “levée”, the principal tax by which the kings of France raised money. Under the leadership of a merchant named ], the Estates General attempted to force the monarchy to accept a sort of agreement called the ]. Like the English ], the ] held that the Estates should supervise the collection and spending of the levy, meet at regular intervals independent of the king’s call, exercise certain judicial powers, and generally play a greater role in government. The nobles took this power to excess, however, causing in 1358 a peasant rebellion known as the ]. Swarms of peasants furious over the nobles’ high taxes and forced-labour policies killed and burned in the north of France. One of their victims proved to be Étienne Marcel, and without his leadership, the Estates General divided.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

===England and the Hundred Years' War===
The effects of the Hundred Years’ War in England also raised some questions about the extent of royal authority. The ], led by ] in 1381, saw some 100,000 peasants march on London to protest the payment of a ], which was the first tax not to take into account household income. It had been levied in 1379 and 1380 and the result was mass-avoidance, and attacks on tax collectors. Whether this revolt was a direct challenge to royal authority, however, is questionable, as Tyler and others often phrased their demands as petitions to the king to free himself from his "wicked councillors" rather than attacking the royal person or institution.

Initially the success of the campaigns brought much wealth to English monarchy and its nobility, and also to the ordinary soldiers who were paid 6d a day in Edward III's first campaign, which was at least a third more than a labourer's wages. As the war continued, the upkeep and maintenance of the region proved too burdensome and the English crown was essentially bankrupted, despite the wealth of France continuously being brought back by the nobles and their armies. As the English monarchy started a more reconciliatory approach toward France, many English subjects with claims and holdings in the continental territories that were being abandoned in the process were greatly disillusioned with the crowns. The conflict became one of the major contributing factors to the ].

At the end of the war, England was left an island nation, except for Calais. However, the European discovery of the ] beyond the western boundary of the Atlantic Ocean in 1492 meant that seafaring nations like England were well-suited to take advantage of the new opportunities for trade, commerce and conquest it soon afforded.

==Major battles==
* 1337, November—]: initiates hostilities. The Flemish defenders of the island were thrown into disorder by the first use of the English longbow on Continental soil.
* 1340, June 24—]: Edward III destroys the Franco-] fleet of ] off the coast of ] ensuring England will not be invaded and that the majority of the war will be fought in France.
* 1345, October 21—]: a longbow victory by Henry, Earl of Derby against a French army at Auberoche in Gascony.
* 1346, August 26—]: English longbowmen soundly defeat French cavalry near the river Somme in ]. The dead included ] ], ], the Count of Flanders, the Count of Alençon, the Count of Blois, the Viscount Rohan, the Lord of Laval, the Lord of Chateaubriant, the Lord of Dinan, the Lord of Redon, 1,542 knights, 2,300 Genoese and 10,000 infantry.
* 1346, September 4–1347, August 3—]: Calais falls under English control.
* 1350, August 29—]: English fleet defeats Castilian fleet in a close fight.
* 1351, March 26—]: Thirty Breton knights from ] under ] call out and defeat thirty English and pro-English Breton knights under ] and ], Bramborough was killed.
* French army under De Nesle defeated by English under Bentley at Mauron in Brittany, De Nesle killed.
* 1356, September 19—]: ] captures King ], France plunged into chaos. Casualties on the French side were 2,500 killed or wounded,<ref name=bbook237>{{cite book | first=Bryan | last=Perrett | title=The Battle Book | publisher=Arms and Armour Press | location=London, England | year=1992 | isbn=1-85409-328-2}} p. 237.</ref> 2,000 captured, ], 17 lords, 13 counts, 5 viscounts and over 100 knights.
* 1364, September 29—]: End of ]. ] was killed; the ] and ] were captured.
* 1367, April 3—]: the Black Prince defeats a Castilian/French army at ] in Castile.
* 1370, December 3—]: Bertrand du Guesclin routs an English raiding army, ending the English reputation for invincibility in open battle.
* 1372, June 22—]: Castilian-French fleet defeats the English fleet, leading to loss of dominance at sea and French piracy and coastal raids. ], was captured along with 400 knights and 8,000 soldiers.
* 1374-1380—Castilian fleet commanded by ] sacks and burns English Channel ports, and Gravesend on the Thames.
* 1385—]: ], commanding a small Portuguese-English army, defeats the Castilian-French forces in Portugal.
* 1385—], having successfully strengthened the French naval situation, lands an army in Scotland, but is forced to retreat.
* 1415, October 25—]: English longbowmen under ] defeat the French under ]. Captured French nobles included ] ], ], ] and ]. Killed on the French side were ], ], ], ] and ], ], ], the ]; John II, Count of Bethune, ], ], Robert, Count of Marles and Soissons, ] (the ] lost its independence as a consequence of his death) and John VI, Count of Roucy, ] and two of his sons, ], ], George Edward Stewart III, and the (Scottish) Lord of Shetland. Other noble prisoners totalling about 1,500 were taken. Overall, between 7,000 and 10,000 French were killed. On the English side, ] and ] were killed, among at least 112 dead and an unknown number of wounded.
* 1416—English defeat numerically greater French army at ] near ].
* 1417—English naval victory in the River ] under Bedford.
* 1418, July 31–1419, January 19—]: Henry V of England gains a foothold in Normandy.
* 1419—]: Franco-Castilian fleet defeats Anglo-Hanseatic fleet.
* 1421, March 22—]: The French and Scottish forces of Charles VII, commanded by the Earl of Buchan, defeat an outmanoeuvred English force commanded by the Duke of Clarence. English nobles captured included ], ], ] and Lord Fitz Walter. Killed were ], ], ] and Sir Gilbert de Umfraville.
* 1423, July 31—]: The Franco-Scottish army is defeated at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne. On the French/Scottish side, 6,000 were killed and 2,000 captured, including ] and ].
* 1424, August 17—]: The Franco-Scottish forces are decisively defeated, losing 4,000 dead, including ] and ]
* 1426, March 6—French besieging army under ] dispersed by a small force under Sir Thomas Rempstone in "The Rout of St James" in Brittany.
* 1428, October 12–1429, May 8—]: English forces commanded by the Earl of Salisbury, the Earl of Suffolk, and Talbot (Earl of Shrewsbury) lay siege to Orleans, and are forced to withdraw after a relief army accompanied by ] arrives at the city.
* 1429, February 12—]: English force under Sir ] defeats French and Scottish armies.
* 1429, July 17—]: In a reverse of Agincourt/Crécy, a French army under ], Richemont, ], and other commanders break through English archers under Lord Talbot and then pursue and mop up the other sections of the English army, killing or capturing about half (2,200) of their troops. ] and ] are captured.
* 1435—]: La Hire defeats an English force under Arundel.
* 1435 : French forces take Paris.
* 1450, April 15—]: A French force under the Comte de Clermont defeats an English force under ].
*1451: French forces conquer Gascony.
* 1453, July 17—]: ] defeats Talbot to end the Hundred Years' War. This was also the first battle in European history where the use of cannon was a major factor in determining the outcome. ] was killed in battle.

==Important figures==
{| class="wikitable"
|+England
|]
|1327–1377
|] son
|-
|]
|1377–1399
|Edward III's grandson
|-
|]
|1399–1413
|Edward III's grandson
|-
|]
|1413–1422
|Henry IV's son
|-
|]
|1422–1461
|Henry V's son
|-
|]
|1330–1376
|Edward III's son
|-
|]
|1340–1399
|Edward III's son
|-
|]
|1389–1435
|Henry IV's son
|-
|]
|1306–1361
|Knight
|-
|]
|1384–1453
|Knight
|-
|]
|1411–1460
|Knight
|-
|]
|1378?–1459
|Knight
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ France
|]
|1328–1350
|
|-
|]
|1350–1364
|Philip VI's son
|-
|]
|1364–1380
|John II's son
|-
|]
|1380–1382
|John II's son
|-
|]
|1380–1422
|Charles V's son
|-
|]
|1422–1461
|Charles VI's son
|-
|]
|1412–1431
|Commander
|-
|]
|1403–1468
|Knight
|-
|]
|1404–1440
|Knight
|-
|]
|1320–1380
|Knight
|-
|]
|13??–1463
|Knight
|-
|]
|1390–1443
|Knight
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Burgundy
|]
|1363–1404
|Son of John II of France
|-
|]
|1404–1419
|Son of Philip the Bold
|-
|]
|1419–1467
|Son of John the Fearless
|}

==The French reconquest==
In 1557 ] conquered ] and its surroundings, which had been under ] rule for two centuries. In the aftermath, the region around Calais, then-known as the '']'' or ''Calaysis'', was renamed the ''Pays Reconquis'' ("Reconquered Country") in commemoration of its recovery by the French.

Since the French were well aware{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} of the importance of the Liberation in the history of their neighbours to the south, and since the French reconquest of Calais occurred in the context of a war with Spain (] was at the time the consort of ]), French use of the term might have been intended as a deliberate snub to the Spanish.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}} However, and just as likely, the term might have simply had a higher frequency of use at that time in Western Europe, in light of the Reconquista. And therefore, the French would have{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} merely thought it to be a politically appropriate and authoritative word for their own reconquest of land.

==Memory and impact==
Lowe (1997) argues that opposition to the war helped to shape England's early modern political culture. Although anti-war and pro-peace spokesmen generally failed to influence outcomes at the time, they had a long-term impact. England showed decreasing enthusiasm for a conflict deemed not in the national interest, yielding only losses in return for the economic burdens it imposed. In comparing this English cost-benefit analysis with French attitudes, given that both countries suffered from weak leaders and undisciplined soldiers, Lowe notes that the French understood that warfare was necessary to expel the foreigners occupying their homeland. Furthermore French kings found alternative ways to finance the war - sales taxes, debasing the coinage - and were less dependent than the English on tax levies passed by national legislatures. English anti-war critics thus had more to work with than the French.<ref>Ben Lowe, ''Imagining Peace: A History of Early English Pacifist Ideas, 1340-1560'' (1997)</ref>

Bubonic ] and warfare depleted the overall population of Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. France, for example, had a population of about 17 million, which by the end of the Hundred Years War had declined by about one-half.<ref name="population">Peter Turchin (2003). "''''". Princeton University Press. pp.179–180. ISBN 0691116695</ref> Some regions were affected much more than others. ] lost three-quarters of its population during the war. In the ] region, the population between 1328 and 1470 was reduced by at least two-thirds.<ref>Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie (1987). "''''". University of California Press. p.32. ISBN 0520055233</ref>

==See also==
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]- this is the name given by some historians to the near-continuous series of conflicts between Britain and France from 1688–1815, beginning with the ] and ending with the ].

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

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* ''The Age of Edward III''. Edited by J.S. Bothwell. York: York Medieval Press, 2001.
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* ''The Hundred Years War''. Edited by Kenneth Fowler. Macmillan, London 1971.
* Vale, Malcolm. ''The Angevin Legacy and the Hundred Years War, 1250-1340''. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1990.
* Villalon, L. J. Andrew, and Donald J. Kagay, eds. ''The Hundred Years War: A Wider Focus'' (2005) ; also
* Wagner, John A., ''Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War'', Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, August 2006. ISBN 0-313-32736-X
* ''War, Government and Power in Late Medieval France''. Edited by Christopher Allmand. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2000.
* Waugh, Scott L. ''England in the Reign of Edward III''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
* Wright, Nicholas. ''Knights and Peasants: The Hundred Years War in the French Countryside''. Woodbridge: ], 1998.

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Revision as of 00:05, 15 March 2012

The Hundred Years War: Overview

eHistory is in the process of creating a MultiMedia History for the Hundred Years War; in the meantime we've gathered most of the materials from the old site here until the new pages are ready. Readers might also be interested in our online translation of the Chronicles of Froissart which is considered a key primary source on the era, as well as our timeline of the Hundred Years War in our Timelines. The Hundred Years War, lasting from 1337 until 1453, was a defining time for the history of both England and France. The war started in May 1337 when King Philip VI of France attempted to confiscate the English territories in the duchy of Aquitaine (located in Southwestern France). It ended in July 1453 when the French finally expelled the English from the continent (except for Calais). The Hundred Years War was a series of chevauchees (plundering raids), sieges and naval battles interspersed with truces and uneasy peace.



Background

The background to the conflict can be found 400 years earlier, in 911, when Carolingian Charles the Simple allowed the Viking Rollo to settle in a part of his kingdom (a region known afterwards as "Normandy"). In 1066 the "Normans" were led by William the Conqueror (the Duke of Normandy) and conquered England, defeating the Anglo-Saxon leadership at the Battle of Hastings, installing a new Anglo-Norman power structure. It is important to note for future events that starting with Rollo, Norman leaders were vassals to the King of France, even after they also became kings in England.

Following a period of civil wars and unrest in England known as The Anarchy (1135-1154), the Anglo-Norman dynasty was succeeded by the Angevin Kings. At the height of power the Angevins controlled Normandy and England, along with Maine, Anjou, Touraine, Gascony, Saintonge and Aquitaine. Such assemblage of lands is sometimes known as the Angevin Empire. The king of England, who was still a vassal of the King of France, directly ruled more French territory than the King of France himself. This situation - where the Angevin kings owed vassalage to a ruler who was de facto much weaker - was a cause of continual conflict. The French resolved the situation somewhat in three decisive wars: the conquest of Normandy (1214), the Saintonge War (1242) and finally the War of Saint-Sardos (1324), thus reducing England's hold on the continent to a few small provinces in Gascony and the complete loss of the crown jewel of Normandy. By the early 14th century many in the English aristocracy could still remember a time when their grandparents and great-grandparents had control over wealthy continental regions, such as Normandy, which they also considered their ancestral homeland, and were motivated to regain possession of these territories.

Notably, the Hundred Years' War is seen by many scholars as a chapter in the seemingly perpetual conflict between the English and French nations, as disputes and open war were frequent, which continued as late as the Napoleonic era, and which extended well beyond Europe as the two battled for global empires. The significance of the Hundred Years' War in this context is the rise of nationalism it engendered, compared to earlier medieval conflicts.


Causes

One of the central causes of the Hundred Years War centered on the relationship between the Kings of France and England regarding the duchy of Aquitaine located in Southwestern France. In 1259, the Treaty of Paris designated that Henry III (1216 - 1270) held the duchy as a fief of the French king. As a vassal to the King of France Henry was required to pay liege homage to the king. (This meant that the King of England was required to do homage whenever the kingship of either England or France changed hands.) However, Henry was the King of England; how could a king be in turn a vassal?


Control over the French throne further complicated matters. In 1328, Charles IV, King of France, died without a male heir. Edward III, the King of England, held claim to the throne via his mother who was Charles' sister. The other important claimant was head of the Valois house (Philip VI) grandson of Philip III. Philip VI gained the throne and moved to confiscate Aquitaine in order to consolidate his power. Edward led a raid into French territory in 1338 to defend his claim and two years later declared himself the true king of France.


Summary of the War

From the beginning of the war (1337) until the battle of Orleans (1428-29), the English won many victories including the decisive battles of Crécy, Poitiers and Agincourt. The English employed a new method of warefare with great success that combined forces of longbowmen with dismounted men-at-arms.

In 1429, at the siege of Orleans the French eventually gained the upperhand. Joan of Arc led a relief force which successfully defeated the English. The next 25 years of engagements saw continued French victories and the English retreat from all of France save Calais.


 

Hundred Years War Content Copyright ©2001 Larry Gormley with additional content from the eHistory staff 2007. Sources

Christopher Allmand, The Hundred Years War: England and France at War c.1300-c.1450, (Cambridge, 1989). Mike Ashley, The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens (New York, 1998).