The Hundred Years’ War

By Jessica Xu                                                                    To access model: click here

The Hundred Years’ War was a series of battles fought mainly between England and France over the period of about 116 years (1337-1453).

There are many predicted reasons as to how the war started, including dynastic conflict, increase in taxes and disputes over land. Here are a few:

  • In 1328, King Charles IV of France died without a male heir. King Edward III of England claimed he was the successor to the throne, as his mother was Charles’ sister. However, Philip VI, grandson of Philip III, gained the throne. He took the region of Guyenne to strengthen his power. This led to a raid by Edward to defend his claim.
  • The French monarchy tried to place new taxes on the wealthy trading towns in Northern Europe.
  • The French wanted to take the duchy of Aquitaine as part of the French kingdom after it became England’s as a result of the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and King Henry II of England.

King Edward III

The Hundred Years’ War was not one continuous war, rather, it was a series of about 38 battles with some periods of peace between them. Some of the key battles of the Hundred Years’ War were:

  • Battle of Crecy (1346-1347) – battle in the village of Crecy in northern France. It was significant because of the disastrous defeat of the French even though they vastly outnumbered the English. The French knights were easy targets for the English longbows.
  • Battle of Poitiers (1356) – battle in Poitiers, France. Edward the Black Prince, son of King Edward III, led the English into victory. The longbows, again, played an important role in the battle. King John II of France was captured during the battle and taken back to England. He was released after he promised to pay a ransom (1360).
  • Battle of Agincourt (1415) – the last of the three significant victories of the English. The English, led by King Henry V, again defeated the huge French army. The English also conquered much of France.
  • Siege of Orleans (1429-1430) – the turning point of the Hundred Years’ War. It was a French victory. It was led by the peasant girl Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc), a 17-year-old who claimed to hear the voices of St. Magaret, St. Micheal and St. Catherine, telling her to help the French king regain his kingdom. Charles VI was crowned King of France. In 1430, Joan was captured by the Burgundians (allies of the English) and burnt at the stake for heresy.
  • Battle of Castillion (1453) – a French victory which ended the Hundred Years’ War. The English had lost all their possessions in France except for Calais. It was the first battle in Europe in which cannons played a significant role. The Hundred Years’ War ended because of the loss of England’s final grip on France (Calais), though a peace treaty was not signed.

Joan of Arc at the Siege of Orléans

The Hundred Years’ War had a huge impact on both England and France. Here are some of the issues:

  • Increase in taxes –  wars were expensive so an increase of taxes was needed to keep the monarchs in power. The French monarch went crazy on this: placing taxes on salt, bread, wine; the rights to use wine presses, grindstones and mills.
  • Mercenaries – the governments began to rely more on mercenaries to fight for them as they were better trained and healthier. However, mercenaries were expensive to hire and most mercenaries were not allies with either king- they usually fought with whoever offered more money.
  • Aquitaine – the region of Aquitaine was highly disputed over. According to feudal law, Aquitaine was King Edward’s, but King Philip attacked and claimed it was his.

The Hundred Years’ War had several consequences, including France losing about half of their population. Other consequences include:

  • The decline of the medieval knight due to the use of longbows, gunpowder and cannons
  • The end of the feudal system due to the loss of labourors and the passing of power from the lords to the common people and monarchs who collected the taxes

It was not all loss though, both England and France had great achievements including advances in military technology and science.

europe1382      Western Europe before the Wareurope1470     Western Europe after the War