The Hundred Years War
What is it?
The Hundred Years War was a 116-year war for the reign of France between England and France from 1337 to 1453. It was made up of various wars and brought in many other countries and alliances. How did it start? After the death of Charles IV of France in 1328, as he had no sons, his only daughter claimed the throne for her son Edward III of England. As women had no right to claim the throne Philip VI of France laid claim to the throne and the people preferred him, as they did not want a foreign king. This disagreement started the war. What Happened? The war started by each country trying to gather allies. The French to going to Scotland and the English going to the lower countries. The first great victory for England was at sea in 1340 at the Battle of Sluys when the French tried to invade England. Then France lost again in 1346 in the Battle of Crécy and from then most of the wars were fought in French territory. France had 17 million people against England’s 4 million. A reason for England’s success was the long bow, superior to the French crossbow as it could fire further and faster ideal for taking out cavalry. Then from 1348 to 1356 the Black Death halted the war. Edward III’s eldest son known as the ‘black prince’ led the major victory of the Battle of Poitiers and captured John II of France who reigned at that time. Edward III held John II for ransom and struck a deal with France, which gave them possession of about a quarter of France and 3 million crowns. By then France had a new king, Charles V of France who led many victorious battles and won back many French cities. The ‘black prince’ was leading other wars and Edward III was too old to lead. Then once Edward III died, Richard II, the son of the ‘black prince’ became King at the age of 10. A time of relative peace followed. When Henry V became the King of England in 1413 he once again claimed the throne of France and led the Battle of Agincourt a miraculous battle of around 6,000 Englishman versus around 25,000 Frenchman and slaughtered the French to lay claim to the throne. As the French king Charles V was seen as unfit to rule the Queen married her daughter to Henry V and signed the Treaty of Troyes that Henry V would become the next King of France but Charles V and Henry V died about the same time. So now the French believed the new King should be Henry VI of England but Charles VI also laid claim to the throne. The English kept on conquering land until Joan of Arc led the French army in many successful battles reclaiming their land including the Battle of Patay in 1429 and the Siege of Orleans. She also brought Charles VII to his coronation. Eventually she was captured and burned at the stake but her legacy lived on and inspired the French to keep fighting to reclaim their land. In 1435 the Treaty of Arras was signed which was a diplomatic win for France and the war ended in 1453. |
An artists impression of the Battle of Sluys
A gif displaying the land ownership of France during the Hundred Years War
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