Hundred Years' War
The
Hundred Years' War, a conflict between
England and
France, is generally considered to have lasted 116 years, beginning in
1337 and ending in
1453.
The effective beginning of the war was the decision of King
Edward III of England to make a claim to the throne of France following the death of King
Charles IV of France in
1328. Edward's claim was through his mother,
Isabella of France, Charles's sister. However, the French quoted the
Salic law in order to bypass female heirs. Edward refused to do homage to
Philip VI of France in 1337 and war began soon afterward.
Edward's campaigns against the French knights were mostly successful. He was far less successful against their castles. He defeated the French at the
Battle of Crecy in
1346 and was defeated in turn at the
Battle of the Thirty in
1351 during which 30 French knights from Chateau Josselin called out and defeated 30 English knights. The French, observing
chivalric tradition, sold Knollys (Canolles) and Cavely. This was good for the individual knights but damaged the country. Again, at the
Battle of Poitiers in
1356,
John II of France was poorly served by the disloyal French noble,
Captal de Buch, who led an outflanking movement which cost the French the battle, and led to the imprisonment of the king in England. At that time the English forces were under the command of the king's eldest son,
Edward the Black Prince.
In
1358, a peasant revolt called the
Jacquerie took place. It was caused in part by the deprivations suffered by the country people during the war and their hatred of the local nobility. Led by Guillaume Kale (Carle or Cale), they joined forces with other villages, and beginning in the area of
Beauvais, north of
Paris, committed atrocities against the nobles and destroyed many chateaux in the area. All the rebellious groups were defeated later that summer and reprisals followed.
Fortunately for the French, the next king
Charles V, nullified English gains. The
Treaty of Brétigny in
1360 served to consolidate English holdings in the south-west of France.
Just before
New Year's Day 1370, the English Seneschal of
Poitou,
John Chandos, was defeated at the bridge at Chateau Lussac. The loss of this commander was a significant blow to the English. Captal de Buch was also captured and locked up by King Charles who, like the English, was not bound by outdated chivalry. The Black Prince was heavily involved in
Spain. During the reign of his son, the boy-king
Richard II of England, there was something of a lull, and it was not until Richard had been deposed by Bolingbroke (
Henry IV of England), that his son
Henry V of England seriously revived the English claim to the French throne.
Henry V's almost accidental victory at the
Battle of Agincourt in
1415 resulted in his being accepted as the heir of King
Charles VI of France, whose daughter,
Catherine of Valois, he married. A civil war in France between the
Burgundians and the Armagnacs was exploited by Henry V, who allied with the Burgundians.
On
January 19,
1419 Rouen surrendered to
Henry V of England, which made
Normandy a part of
England after over 200 years of French control.
After Henry's early death in
1422, almost simultaneously with that of his father-in-law, his baby son was crowned King
Henry VI of England and also King of France, but the French (Armagnacs) remained loyal to Charles VI's son,
dauphin Charles. War continued half-heartedly until the raising of the siege of
Orléans in
1429, which brought
Joan of Arc to the fore and led to dauphin Charles being crowned King
Charles VII of France.
In
1435, the Burgundians under
Philip the Good switched sides, returning
Paris to the King of France. In
1450, the count of
Clermont and
Arthur III, Duke of Brittany caught the English army at
Formigny and defeated it, using
cannons to break up the archers. By
1453, Charles VII had finally created an army as opposed to a group of knights, and in the final battle of the Hundred Years' War, fought at Castillone (east of
Bordeaux), the Bureau brothers used cannon to good effect against the Earl of Talbot, who was killed.
Following Henry VI's episode of insanity in
1453 and the subsequent outbreak of the
Wars of the Roses, the English were no longer in any position to pursue their claim to the French throne and lost all their land on the continent (except for
Calais). Ill feeling between the two nations continued well into the
16th century. England did not formally renounce rights to the French throne until
1800.
Battles
People
England
\nKings
France
\nKings
Members of the Valois Dynasty (
1328-
1589):
Soldiers
\n* Joan of Arc (1412-1431)\n*
Gilles de Rais (1404-1440)\n*
Bertrand du Guesclin (c. 1320-1380)
See also
\n* Medieval warfare\n*
British military history\n*
Popes in Avignon
External links
\n* Timeline of the Hundred Years War\n*
Battle of Formigny\n*
Battle of Castillon\n*
Medieval Sourcebook
Category:European warsCategory:British wars
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