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Template:FixHTML {{Infobox Military Conflict |conflict= 1 CHINESE WITH CHING CHANG CHONG War

ft 6 in) long, 470 N (105 lbf) draw force.]]

The most famous weapon was the English longbow of the yeoman archer: while not a new weapon at the time, it played a significant role throughout the war, giving the English tactical advantage in the many battles and skirmishes in which they were used. The French mainly relied on crossbows, often employed by Genoese mercenaries. The crossbow was used because it took little training or skill to operate, and it had a tremendous firing power against both plate and chain mail. However, it was slow to reload, heavy, and vulnerable to rain-damage; and it lacked the accuracy of the longbow. The longbow was a very difficult weapon to employ, and English archers had to have practised from an early age to become proficient. It also required tremendous strength to use, with a draw weight typically around 620–670 newtons (140–150 lbf) and possibly as high as 800 N (180 lbf). It was its widespread use in the British Isles that 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 armoured knights (and particularly their costly horses), a charge could be dissipated before it ever reached an army's lines. The longbow enabled an often-outnumbered English army to pick battle locations, fortify them, and destroy opposing armies. 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 Verneuil (1424) and Patay (1429) were significant. As a result, the longbow became less viable as a weapon since there were not enough men to wield them. In addition, improvements in armour-plating from the 15th century meant that expensive armour was almost arrow-proof. Only the most powerful longbows at close-range could stand a chance of penetrating.

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

War and society

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 only for 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 fall of the Western Roman Empire that there were standing armies in Western or Central Europe (excluding the Eastern Roman Empire). 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 also keep the population in check. It was a major step in the early developments towards centralised nation-states that eroded the medieval order.

At the first major battle of the war, the Battle of Crécy, it is said that the age of chivalry 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 Bertrand Du Guesclin was said 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.

In France, during the captivity of King John II, the Estates General 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 clergy, the nobles, and the townspeople. First called together under Philip IV “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 Etienne Marcel, the Estates General attempted to force the monarchy to accept a sort of agreement called the Great Ordinance. Like the English Magna Carta, the Great Ordinance 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 Jacquerie. 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 Etienne Marcel, and without his leadership the Estates General divided.

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. Like the French, the English experienced a serious rebellion against the king during a gap in the succession caused by the death of Edward III when his grandson had not yet reached maturity. Called the Peasants' Revolt and also Wat Tyler’s Rebellion, the 1381 uprising saw some 100,000 peasants march on London to protest the payment of high war taxes and efforts by the nobility to reduce English peasants to serfdom. The mob murdered and burned the houses of government officials and tax collectors. The young king-to-be, Richard II, met the peasants outside his castle, defusing their violence by promising to meet their demands. At the same time, agents of the throne murdered Wat Tyler, a key leader of the revolt, and Richard II sent the peasants back to their homes in the countryside. After they left, however, he reneged on his promises and kept taxes high.

Initially the success of the campaigns brought much wealth to English monarchy and the nobles. 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. The English monarchy began to seek truce, abandoning many of their subjects in France. Many English subjects with claims and holdings were greatly disillusioned with the crowns. The conflict became one of the major contributing factors to the Wars of the Roses.

At the end of the war, England was left an island nation, except for Calais. Already on the fringe of Europe, it appeared destined for obscurity. However, the discovery of a New World beyond the ocean meant that seafaring nations were well-suited to take advantage of the opportunities it afforded.

Major battles

• 1337, November—Battle of Cadsand: 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—Battle of Sluys: Edward III destroys the Franco-Genoese fleet of Philip VI of France off the coast of Flanders ensuring England will not be invaded and that the majority of the war will be fought in France.
• 1345, October 21—Battle of Auberoche: a longbow victory by Henry, Earl of Derby against a French army at Auberoche in Gascony.
• 1346, August 26—Battle of Crécy: English longbowmen soundly defeat French cavalry near the river Somme in Picardy.
• 1346, September 4–1347, August 3—Siege of Calais: Calais falls under English control.
• 1350, August 29—Les Espagnols sur Mer: English fleet defeats Castilian fleet in a close fight.
• 1351, March 26—Combat of the Thirty: Thirty French Knights from Chateau Josselin under Beaumanoir call out and defeat thirty English Knights under Pembroke and Robert Bramborough.
• French army under De Nesle defeated by English under Bentley at Mauron in Brittany, De Nesle killed.
• 1356, September 19—Battle of Poitiers: Edward the Black Prince captures King John II of France, France plunged into chaos.
• 1364, September 29—Battle of Auray: End of Breton War of Succession, Du Gueschlin captured.
• 1367, April 3—Battle of Nájera (Navarette): Black Prince defeats a Castilian/French army at Nájera in Castile.
• 1372, June 22—Battle of La Rochelle: Castilian-French fleet defeats the English fleet, leading to loss of dominance at sea and French piracy and coastal raids.
• 1380—Castilian fleet commanded by Fernando Sánchez de Tovar sacks and burns English port towns.
• 1385—Jean de Vienne, having successfully strengthened the French naval situation, lands an army in Scotland, but is forced to retreat.
• 1415, October 25—Battle of Agincourt: English longbowmen under Henry V defeat French under Charles d'Albert.
• 1416—English defeat numerically greater French army at Valmont near Harfleur.
• 1417—Naval victory in the River Seine under Bedford.
• 1418, July 31–1419, January 19—Siege of Rouen: Henry V of England gains a foothold in Normandy.
• 1419—Battle of La Rochelle: Castilian fleet defeats Anglo-Hanseatic fleet.
• 1421, March 22—Battle of Bauge: 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.
• 1423, July 31—Battle of Cravant: The French and Scottish army is defeated at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
• 1424, August 17—Battle of Vernuil: The Scots forces are decisively defeated.
• 1426, March 6—French besieging army under Arthur de Richemont dispersed by a small force under Sir Thomas Rempstone in "The Rout of St James" in Brittany.
• 1428, October 12–1429, May 8—Siege of Orléans: 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 Joan of Arc arrives at the city.
• 1429, February 12—Battle of the Herrings: English force under Sir John Fastolf defeats French and Scottish armies.
• 1429, July 17—Battle of Patay: In a reverse of Agincourt/Crécy, a French army under La Hire, Richemont, Joan of Arc, 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. The Earl of Shrewsbury (Talbot) and Hungerford are captured.
• 1435—Battle of Gerbevoy: La Hire defeats an English force under Arundel.
• 1435 : French forces take Paris.
• 1450, April 15—Battle of Formigny: A French force under the Comte de Clermont defeats an English force under Thomas Kyriell.
• 1451: French forces conquer Gascony.
• 1453, July 17—Battle of Castillon: Jean Bureau 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 victor.

Important figures

The French "Reconquista"

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

Since the French were well aware of the importance of the Reconquista 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 (Philip II of Spain was at the time the consort of Mary I of England), French use of the term might have been intended as a deliberate snub to the Spanish. 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 merely thought it to be a politically appropriate and authoritative word for their own reconquest of land.

See also

• Timeline of the Hundred Years' War
• French military history
• British military history
• Anglo-French relations
• Medieval demography
• Second Hundred Years' War- 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 Glorious Revolution and ending with the Battle of Waterloo.

Notes

Bibliography

• Allmand, Christopher, The Hundred Years War: England and France at War, c.1300-c.1450, Cambridge University Press, 1988, ISBN 0-521-31923-4
• Bell, Adrian R., War and the Soldier in the Fourteenth Century, The Boydell Press, November 2004, ISBN 1-843-83103-1
• Braudel, Fernand, The Perspective of the World, Vol III of Civilization and Capitalism 1984 (in French 1979).
• Burne, Alfred, The Agincourt War, Wordsworth Military Library, ISBN 1-84022-211-5
• Curry, Anne, The Hundred Years War, Macmillan Press, 1993
• Dunnigan, James F., and Albert A. Nofi. Medieval Life & The Hundred Years War, Online Book.
• Neillands, Robin, The Hundred Years War, Routledge, 2001, ISBN 978-0415261319
• Perroy, Edouard, The Hundred Years War, Capricorn Books, 1965.
• Ross, Charles, The Wars of the Roses, Thames and Hudson, 1976.
• Seward, Desmond, The Hundred Years War. The English in France 1337–1453, Penguin Books, 1999, ISBN 0140283617
• Sumption, Jonathan, The Hundred Years War I: Trial by Battle, University of Pennsylvania Press, September 1999, ISBN 0812216555
• Sumption, Jonathan, The Hundred Years War II: Trial by Fire, University of Pennsylvania Press, October 2001, ISBN 0812218019
• Wagner, John A., Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War, Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, August 2006. ISBN 031332736X

External links

• Jeanne d'Arc. Online University research project.
• Timeline of the Hundred Years War
• Extensive website about Joan of Arc
• The Hundred Years' War (1336–1565) by Dr. Lynn H. Nelson, University of Kansas Emeritus
• The Hundred Years' War information and game
• The Company Of Chivalry: Re-enactment Society at the time of the 100 Years War
• Jean Froissart, "On The Hundred Years War (1337–1453)" from the Internet Medieval Sourcebook

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• Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from May 2009
• Hundred Years' War
• 14th century in France
• 15th century in France
• Anglo-French Wars
• Late Middle Ages
• Warfare of the Medieval era