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The 'Hundred Years' War' was a conflict between
France and
England, lasting 116 years from
1337 to
1453. It was fought primarily over
claims by the
English kings to the
French throne and was punctuated by several brief and two lengthy periods of peace before it finally ended in the expulsion of
the English from France, with the exception of the
Calais Pale. Thus, the war was in fact a series of conflicts and is commonly divided into three or four phases: the
Edwardian War (1337-1360), the
Caroline War (1369-1389), the
Lancastrian War (1415-1429), and the slow decline of English fortunes after the appearance of
Joan of Arc, (1412-1431). The term "Hundred Years' War" was a later historical term invented by historians to describe the series of events.
The war owes its historical significance to a number of factors. Though primarily a dynastic conflict, the war gave impetus to ideas of both French and English
nationality. Militarily, it saw the introduction of new weapons and tactics, which eroded the older system of
feudal armies dominated by
heavy cavalry. The first
standing armies in
Western Europe since the time of the
Western Roman Empire were introduced for the war, thus changing the role of the peasantry. 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
medieval warfare.
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, and subsequently installed a new
Anglo-Norman power structure. It is important to note for future events that, as landholders in French Normandy, 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.
Dynastic turmoil: 1314–1328
The specific events leading up to the war took place in France, where the unbroken line of the
Direct Capetian firstborn sons had succeeded each other for centuries. It was the longest continuous dynasty in medieval Europe. In
1314, the Direct Capetian, King
Philip IV, died, leaving three male heirs:
Louis X,
Philip V, and
Charles IV. The eldest son and heir, Louis X, died in
1316, leaving only his posthumous son
John I, who was born and died that same year, and a daughter
Joan, whose paternity was suspect.
In order to ensure that he, rather than Joan, inherited the throne, Philip IV's second-eldest son, Philip V, used the rumours that Joan was a product of her mother's adultery to have her barred from the succession; a by-product of this being
a tradition that women could not inherit the French throne. When Philip died in
1322, his daughters too were put aside in favour of the third son of Philip IV, Charles IV.
In
1324, Charles IV of France and
Edward II of England fought the short
War of Saint-Sardos in
Gascony. The major event of the war was the brief siege of the English fortress of
La Réole, on the
Garonne. The English forces, led by
Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent, were forced to surrender after a month of bombardment from the French cannons, and after promised reinforcements never arrived. The war was a complete failure for England, and only
Bordeaux and a narrow coastal strip remained in English hands of the once great duchy of Aquitaine.
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 eventual assassination (
1327), which in turn caused the succession of the young
Edward III. Charles IV died in
1328, leaving only a daughter, and an unborn infant which would prove to be a girl. The senior line of the
Capetian dynasty thus ended, creating a crisis over the French succession.
Meanwhile living in England, Charles IV's sister
Isabella, widow of Edward II, was at the time effectively in control of the crown in the name of the young king. Edward III, being the nephew of Charles, was his closest living male relative, and was at that time the only surviving male descendant of the senior line of the Capetian dynasty descending through Philip IV. By the English interpretation of feudal law, this made Edward III the legitimate
heir to the throne of France.
Family tree relating the French and English royal houses at the beginning of the war.
The French nobility, however, balked at the prospect of a foreign king, particularly one who was also king of England. They asserted, based on their interpretation of the ancient
Salic Law, that the royal inheritance could not pass to a woman or through her to her offspring. Therefore, the most senior male of the Capetian dynasty after Charles IV,
Philip of Valois, who had taken regency after Charles IV's death, was the legitimate heir in the eyes of the French, and was allowed to take the throne after Charles' widow gave birth to a daughter. He was crowned as Philip VI, the first of the
House of Valois, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty.
Joan II of Navarre, the daughter of Louis X, also had a good legal claim to the French throne, but lacked the power to back it up. The
Kingdom of Navarre had no precedent against female rulers (the House of Capet having inherited it through Joan's grandmother,
Joan I of Navarre), and so by treaty she and her husband,
Philip of Evreux, 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 Evreux then produced a son,
Charles II of Navarre. Born in
1332, Charles replaced Edward III as Philip IV's male heir in
primogeniture, and in proximity to Louis X; although Edward remained the male heir in proximity to Saint Louis, Philip IV, and Charles IV.
On the eve of war: 1328-1337
After Philip's accession, the English still controlled
Gascony. Gascony produced vital shipments of
salt and
wine, and was very profitable. It was a separate
fief, held of the French crown, rather than a territory of England. The
homage 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 giving up his claims to be the rightful king of France.
In
1333, Edward III went to war with
David II of Scotland, a French ally under the
Auld Alliance, and began the
Second War of Scottish Independence. Philip saw the opportunity to reclaim Gascony while England's attention was concentrated northwards. However, the war was a quick success for England, and David was forced to flee to France after being defeated by King Edward and
Edward Balliol at the
Battle of Halidon Hill in July. In
1336, Philip made plans for an expedition to restore David to the Scottish throne, and to also seize Gascony.
Beginning of the war: 1337–1360
Open hostilities broke out as French ships began ravaging coastal settlements on the
English Channel and in
1337 Philip reclaimed the Gascon fief, citing feudal law and saying that Edward had broken his oath (a
felony) 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
All Saints' Day,
Henry Burghersh,
Bishop of Lincoln, arrived in
Paris with the defiance of the king of England. War had been declared.
When the war began, France had a population of about 17 million, whereas England had about 4 million.
[1] Moreover, France was generally considered to have the most knights in Europe.
In the early years of the war, Edward III allied with the nobles of the
Low Countries and the burghers of
Flanders, 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
Battle of Sluys. After this, England was able to dominate the
English Channel for the rest of the war, preventing French invasions.
In
1341, conflict over the succession to the Duchy of
Brittany began the
Breton War of Succession, in which Edward backed
John of Montfort and Philip backed
Charles of Blois. Action for the next few years focused around a back and forth struggle in Brittany, with the city of
Vannes changing hands several times, as well as further campaigns in Gascony with mixed success for both sides.
In July
1346, Edward mounted a major invasion across the Channel, landing in the
Cotentin. The English army captured
Caen in just one day, surprising the French who had expected the city to hold out much longer. Philip gathered a large army to oppose him, and Edward 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
Battle of Crécy was a complete disaster for the French, largely credited to the
English longbowmen. Edward proceeded north unopposed and besieged the city of
Calais on the
English Channel, 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
Battle of Neville's Cross led to the capture of David II and greatly reduced the threat from Scotland.
In
1348, the
Black Death began to ravage Europe. In
1356, after it had passed and England was able to recover financially, Edward's son and namesake, the
Prince of Wales, known as the
Black Prince, invaded France from Gascony, winning a great victory in the
Battle of Poitiers, where the English archers repeated the tactics used at Crécy. The new French king,
John II, was captured. John signed a truce with Edward, and in his absence, much of the government began to collapse. Later that year, the
Second Treaty of London was signed, by which England gained possession of
Aquitaine and John was freed.
The French countryside at this point began to fall into complete chaos.
Brigandage, 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
Jacquerie. 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
Paris or
Rheims from the
Dauphin, later
King Charles V. He negotiated the
Treaty of Brétigny 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
When John's son
Louis I, Duc d'Anjou, 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
Charles V 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. In reality, Edward never renounced his claim to the French crown, and Charles made a point of retaking Edward's new territory as soon as he ascended to the throne. In
1369, on the pretext that Edward III had failed to observe the terms of the treaty of Brétigny, Charles declared war once again.
French victories under Charles V: 1369–1389
The reign of Charles V saw the English steadily pushed back. Although the Breton war ended in their favour at the
Battle of Auray, the dukes of Brittany eventually reconciled with the French throne. The Breton soldier
Bertrand du Guesclin became one of the most successful French generals of the Hundred Years' War.
Statue of Du Guesclin in
Dinan.
Simultaneously, the Black Prince was occupied with war in Spain 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.
Pedro of Castile, whose daughters Constance and Isabella were married to the Black Prince's brothers
John of Gaunt and
Edmund of Langley, was deposed by
Henry of Trastámara 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
John Chandos,
seneschal of
Poitou, in the field and the capture of the
Captal de Buch, the English were deprived of some of their best generals in France. Du Guesclin, in a series of careful
Fabian campaigns, avoiding major English field armies, captured many towns, including
Poitiers in
1372 and
Bergerac in
1377. The English response to Du Guesclin was to launch a series of destructive ''
chevauchées''. 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
Richard of Bordeaux succeeded to the English throne. Then, with Du Guesclin's death in
1380, the war inevitably wound down to a truce in
1389. The peace was extended many times before open war flared up again.
Second peace: 1389–1415
Although
Henry IV of England planned campaigns in France, he was unable to put them into effect due to his short reign. In the meantime, though, the French King
Charles VI was descending into madness, and an open conflict for power began between his cousin,
John the Fearless, and his brother,
Louis of Orléans. After Louis's assassination, the
Armagnac family took political power in opposition to John. By
1410, both sides were bidding for the help of English forces in a civil war.
England too was plagued with internal strife during this period, as uprisings in Ireland and Wales were accompanied by renewed border war with Scotland and two separate civil wars. The Irish troubles embroiled much of the reign of
Richard II, 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. This was followed by the rebellion of
Owain Glyndŵr in Wales which was not finally put down until
1415 and actually resulted in North 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 destruction of a Scottish army at the
Battle of Homildon Hill. A dispute over the spoils of this action between Henry and the
Earl of Northumberland resulted in a long and bloody struggle between the two for control of northern England, which was only resolved 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 pirates, which heavily damaged the trade and navy. These problems accordingly delayed any resurgence of the dispute with France until 1415.
English victories under Henry V: 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,
Henry V, 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
Henry II. In August 1415, he landed with an army at
Harfleur and took it. 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
Crécy, he found himself outmaneuvered and low on supplies, and had to make a stand against a much larger French army at the
Battle of Agincourt, north of the
Somme. In spite of his disadvantages, his victory was near-total, and the French defeat was catastrophic, with the loss of many of the Armagnac leaders.
Fifteenth-century miniature depicting the Battle of Agincourt.
Henry took much of Normandy, including
Caen in
1417 and
Rouen on
January 19,
1419, making Normandy English for the first time in two centuries. He made formal alliance with the
Duchy of Burgundy, who had taken Paris, after the assassination of Duke
John the Fearless in 1419. In
1420, Henry met with the mad king
Charles VI, who signed the
Treaty of Troyes, by which Henry would marry Charles' daughter
Catherine and Henry's heirs would inherit the throne of France. The Dauphin,
Charles VII, was declared illegitimate. Henry formally entered Paris later that year and the agreement was ratified by the
Estates-General.
Henry continued his progress through France, but died at
Meaux in
1422. Soon, Charles too had died. Henry's infant son,
Henry VI, 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 enjoyed continued military success until
1429. In that year, a Franco-Scottish army isolated a supply convoy led by
John Fastolf. By circling his supply wagons (largely filled with herring) around his archers, he repelled the much larger army in what was to be one of the last English successes won on the backs of their outstanding longbowmen: the
Battle of the Herrings. Later that year, however, a French saviour appeared in the form of a peasant woman from
Lorraine named
Joan of Arc.
French victory: 1429–1453
Hundred Years' War evolution. French territory: yellow; English: grey; Burgundian: dark grey.
By
1424, the uncles of Henry VI had begun to quarrel over the infant's regency, and one,
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, married
Jacqueline,
Countess of Hainaut, and invaded
Holland to regain her former dominions, bringing him into direct conflict with
Philip III,
Duke of Burgundy.
By
1428, the English were ready to pursue the war again, laying
siege to
Orléans. Their force was insufficient to fully
invest the city, but larger French forces remained passive. In
1429,
Joan of Arc convinced the
Dauphin to send her to the siege, saying she had received visions from
God telling her to drive out the English. She raised the morale of the local troops and they attacked the English
Redoubts, 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 Patay with heavy cavalry, defeating a 3000 strong army commanded by
John Fastolf and
John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. The first major French land victory of the wars, this opened the way for the Dauphin to march to
Reims for his coronation as Charles VII.
After Joan was captured by the Burgundians in
1430 and later sold to the English and executed, the French advance stalled in negotiations. But, in
1435, the Burgundians under Philip III switched sides, signing the
Treaty of Arras 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.
Generally, though, the tactical superiority of English forces remained a potent factor;
John Talbot, for instance, who specialised in fast attacks, routed French forces at Ry and Avranches in Normandy in 1436 and 1439 respectively. Talbot, one of the most daring warriors of the age, was the victor in 40 battles and skirmishes. This was one of the main reasons the war was so prolonged. The biographer of the Constable Richemont put it plainly when he wrote that "The English and their captains, above all Talbot, had a well established reputation for superiority, Richemont knew them better than anyone".
But 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
Rouen, and in
1450 the count of
Clermont and Arthur de Richemont, Earl of Richmond, of the Montfort family (the future
Arthur III, Duke of Brittany) caught an English army attempting to relieve Caen at the
Battle of Formigny 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
Cherbourg on
July 6 and
Bordeaux and
Bayonne in
1451. The attempt by Talbot to retake Gascony, though initially welcomed by the locals, was crushed by
Jean Bureau and his cannon at the
Battle of Castillon 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 warfare 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
Alfred Burne 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. This "modern army", to some extent a necessity—many barons refused to go on a foreign campaign, as feudal service was supposed to be for protection of the realm—also gave England a military advantage early on.
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 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, 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.
Although they had a tactical advantage, "nevertheless the size of France prohibited lengthy, let alone permanent, occupation," as the military writer General Fuller noted. Covering a much larger area than England, and containing four times its population, France proved difficult for the English to occupy.
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 only needed to recover some part of their shattered confidence, the result of many years of defeat, 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 of Joan of Arc.
Furthermore, the ending of the Burgundian alliance spelt the end of English efforts in France, despite the campaigns of the aggressive John, Lord Talbot, and his forces to stay the inevitable.
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 English and French peoples. There were constant rumours in England that the French meant to invade and destroy the English language. National feeling emerged out of such rumours that unified both France and England further.
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
southern Netherlands (now
Belgium, a rich centre of woolen production at the time) throughout the conflict, to develop their own woolen industry and foreign markets.
Weapons
Self-yew English longbow, 6
ft 6
in long, 105
lbf draw force.
The most famous weapon was the English (or Welsh)
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 effectively. However, it was slow to reload, heavy, prone to rain damage, and lacked the accuracy of the longbow. 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 weight typically around 140-150 pound-force(lbf) and possibly as high as 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 Scots had learned through defeat what dismounted bowmen in fixed positions could do to heavy cavalry. Since the arrows shot from a longbow could kill or incapacitate plate-armoured knights, 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 and therefore the longbow as a weapon became less viable as there were not the men to wield them.
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. 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 long 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 English even apologized for fighting non-chivalrously, saying they had no choice since they were so unfairly outnumbered, leaving the dirty business to the Welsh (non-English or French speakers). It was a lesson the French would take a long time to learn at great cost, before they also began to fight in less chivalrous ways. The notion of chivalry was strongly influenced by the Romantic epics of the 12th century and knights literally imagined themselves re-enacting the stories on the field of battle. Someone like
Bertrand Du Guesclin was said to have gone in to 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 colors of their ladies in to 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.
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 threatened 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.
Major battles
★
1337 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 Battle of Sluys June 24 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 Battle of Auberoche, a longbow victory by Henry, Earl of Derby against a French army at Auberoche in Gascony
★
1346 Battle of Crécy August 26 English longbowmen soundly defeat French cavalry at
Abbeville
★
1346-
1347 Siege of Calais
★
1350 Les Espagnols sur Mer English fleet defeats Castilian fleet in a close fight.
★
1351 Combat of the Thirty Thirty French Knights from
Chateau Josselin under
Beaumanoir call out and defeat thirty English Knights under
Pembroke and
Brambaugh
★ French army under De Nesle defeated by English under Bentley at Mauron in Brittany, De Nesle killed
★
1356 Battle of Poitiers Edward the Black Prince captures King
John II of France, France plunges into chaos
★
1364 September 29 -
Battle of Auray, end of
Breton War of Succession French defeat, Du Gueschlin captured
★
1367 Battle of Nájera (Navarette) Black Prince defeats a Castilian/French army at
Nájera in Spain
★
1372 Battle of La Rochelle Castilian-French fleet defeats the English fleet, leading to loss of dominance at sea and French piracy and coastal raids
★
1415 Battle of Agincourt October 25 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 Siege of Rouen July 31 ?
January 19 1419 Henry V of England gains a foothold in Normandy.
★
1419 Battle of La Rochelle (1419) Castilian fleet defeats Anglo-Hanseatic fleet
★
1421 22 March 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 31 July Battle of Cravant. The French and Scottish army is defeated at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
★
1424 17 August Battle of Vernuil. The Scots forces are decisively defeated
★
1426 March 6 French besieging army under Richemont dispersed by a small force under Sir Thomas Rempstone in "The Rout of St James" in Brittany
★
1429 12 February Battle of the Herrings. English force under Sir
John Fastolf defeats French and Scottish armies.
★
1428 12 October -
8 May 1429 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 17 July 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
★ 1439 Following a surprise attack, John Talbot disperses a French army of 6000 under the Constable Richemont at Avranches in Normandy.
★
1440 John Talbot takes Harfleur
★
1450 Battle of Formigny A French force under the Comte de Clermont defeats an English force under
Thomas Kyriell
★
1453 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 people
Continuing English claim to the French throne
After the end of the Hundred Years' War, England continued to make claims on the French throne for years afterwards until the
Act of Union in
1801. In that act, the title of King of France was omitted from the new royal style.
See also
★
Timeline of the Hundred Years' War
★
French military history
★
British military history
Notes
1. Mc Evedy, Colin, and Richard Jones, ''Atlas of World Population History.'' Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1978, pp. 41–43, 55–58.
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 0-14-028361-7
★ Sumption, Jonathan, ''The Hundred Years War I: Trial by Battle'', University of Pennsylvania Press, September 1999, ISBN 0-8122-1655-5
★ Sumption, Jonathan, ''The Hundred Years War II: Trial by Fire'', University of Pennsylvania Press, October 2001, ISBN 0-8122-1801-9
★ Wagner, John A., ''Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War'', Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, August 2006. ISBN 0-313-32736-X
External links
★
England Hundred Years War Chronology World History Database
★
France Hundred Years War Chronology World History Database
★
Timeline of the Hundred Years War
★
Jean Froissart,
"On The Hundred Years War (1337-1453)" from the
Internet Medieval Sourcebook
★
The Hundred Years' War (1336-1565) by Dr. Lynn H. Nelson, University of Kansas Emeritus
★
The Hundred Years' War information and game
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