The Hundred Years of War-Castles, Battles and Why It Started

By: Stephanie Ling

Group: Grace and Jessica

Why the Hundreds Years of War started

The Hundreds Years of War started roughly around 1337 and ended at 1453 between England and France. The feud started after the King of France had died and left a confusing successor for the throne. Due to the fact that King Henry III died, he did not have any sons and all his brothers were dead. Having Edward III being the nearest owner to the throne; he thought he was the rightful successor to the crown. However his blood was from his mother’s side, Isabella (King Charles sister); having it to be that a female successor was not suitable and was avoided at that time. Therefore Phillip of Valois was the preferred King being the fair choice, as he was the cousin of the late King and the closest to the Kings side. The French people favoured Phillip and chose him to be king as he was ‘one of the club’.

Edward III was furious but was in no position to do anything, however in time he was King of England. But by 1328 or so, Phillip was now king and requested from Edward to pay homage. Though resistant to this Edward accepted and his succession as well, in return for a fief, land in Gascony and Ponthieu.

In 1337, Edward had recognized Phillip has his “liege lord” (a feudal lord entitled to allegiance and service); therefore he was determined to regain what was supposedly his-the French crown. War had struck against Phillip and Edward, but it wasn’t until three years into the war that Edward raised the assumption of the French crown. By doing that, Edward III was able to legally win over the war against Phillip “who tried to seize and hold the position of king by force or without legal right, a usurper”. Edward also feared that Phillip was a risk to the ownership of the French thrown.

This was one of many reasons to why the Hundreds Years of War started.

Battle

Keeping expenses down-Tribunes

Since armies were very expensive especially fighting overseas, kings came up with a way to avoid that. Tribunes were offered to keep the costs down of waging a war, by doing that expenses were paid to their king in areas that they controlled. A tribune was a sense of a deal, ‘buying their protection’. Tribunes assured protection from the troops, stopping them from stealing valuables, crops and animals as well as preventing them from damaging homes. In a way, the area that payed a tribune was a boundary to the army.

Medieval Castles and Fortifications

Medieval castles were a fundamental building in the Middle Ages and in war. Structures were alike but provided safety to troops, the lord and his family; they too provided requirements of a fortress, such as stables, armoury and cavalry. Facilities were also offered to a castle if owned by a lord and his family for comfort.

A siege was ‘the act of surrounding and attacking a fortified castle in a way to isolate it from help and supplies for the purpose of weakening the resistance of the defenders making capture possible.’ It was a laborious and time wasting process and would have taken months to years of sufficiently breaking down the defenders, making a castle appropriate, well-built and relied upon.

Building a castle

A castle was so effective that the walls were even built around some towns and cities, therefore building a castle were no easy task; designs were improved and features were added to enhance their purpose.

Materials and their costs varied, wood was once used as it costed very little and was quick to build, however it was very weak as it was to build; wood was highly flammable and easily broken down. Stone was a preferred option and became more popular, it took years to construct and was very expensive but the end result was admirable.

Manpower was the only method for such buildings to be made; it consisted of slaves and labourers. Slaves and labourers were forced to work between eight to twelve hours every day. They were payed very little only by inadequate shelter, food and perhaps little cash.

Defence Features of a castle

All castles consisted of walls, height varied from all castles but width usually measured up to three to six metres thick. Sometimes the walls were sloped outwards at the base when built to give strength to the structure and reduce the effectiveness of the battering rams from the invaders. A concentric curtain wall was used as another defence mechanism to the enemies where once they broke through the first wall they were faced with another being trapped in between.

Stairs were a great feature to the castles when the attackers broke through and entered, as the builders of the castle had constructed ‘trick or stumble steps’. Trick steps were made of different rises and heights in each layer, causing anyone to trip and fall making the rest follow like falling dominoes slowing down progression.

Doors were a great factor and were often made of two thick and strong layers of wood, bolted together by iron studs and bands. Studs were pointed in hope of dulling the attackers’ weapons when trying to break in.

Moats surrounded the castles and were deep ditches that could be filled with water. It made the intruders find it hard to get to the castle walls and use the method of ‘undermining’. Undermining was the process of digging a tunnel underground the outer defences and providing access into the walls or to collapse it by filling it with combustible material leaving it to break or burn away. This was useless however if the castles were built on top of solid or stone material. Drawbridges were used for access into the castle avoiding the moats, they were lifted however when defending, blocking access to the main gate.

Siege, Warfare and battle

There were many methods of breaking into a castle and attacking it, some that would have taking months to succeed or commence on.

Biological warfare was when warriors would have catapulted dead animals or humans carrying diseases over the castle walls in hope of spreading the disease. Psychological weapon was when an army would try to psychologically break down the enemy. Such examples was when ancient armies of Alexander up against the Persians would leave behind monstrous armour after a battle for the Persians to pick up and find; spreading rumours that Alexander’s soldiers were of great size and strength like giants. Another is when Christendom would spread rumours of great success from past wars; making loud noises or throwing bruised heads back into the enemy camp of their own soldiers (Celtic practice). Defenders of castles also may throw scraps of food over the walls as a sign of plentiful storage or create dummies and place them beside the walls as to show there were more defenders in the castle as there really was. Dame Carcass used this method to show off to the Franks.

Structures Used In Battle

The cat was a wooden structure used by manoeuvring an arm to claw and break away the castle wall. Feared by the castle defenders they would still try to destroy the machine, by burning it or abolishing it with stone throwing contraptions. Used in the siege of Beaucaire.

The weasel was a smaller and lighter edition to the cat. However instead of a claw used to break away the castle walls like the cat, a spike was used instead. Its name was gotten by the structure of the machine looking long and thin like a weasel’s body and by its nose.

All wooden siege machines were constantly covered in fresh skins of a slaughtered animal and splashed with water to prevent them from catching on fire.