Hundred Years War: The Most Influential Events In Medieval History

Wars were also part of the crisis, notably the Hundred Years War between England and France. In 1328 the French Capetian line ended. England’s Edward III (d.1377) claimed the French throne, but a cousin to the Capets, Philip of Valois, became king (d.1350). War soon began. Armored knights on horseback were the backbone of medieval armies, but English peasants using the longbow had begun to change the face of war. When the French king was captured, a treaty was signed in 1360: France agreed to pay ransom, the English received land in France, and Edward renounced his claim to the throne. Using guerilla tactics, the French regained their lands, but in 1415 England’s Henry V (d.1422)

The Hundred Years' War was a series of conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, against the House of Valois, rulers of the Kingdom of France, over the succession to the French throne. Once this war was over people were able to travel without having an immediate threat because no one was roaming the sea.

Henry Tudor left France on August 1 with 2,000 men and gathered more men as he travelled through Wales; by the time of battle on the 22nd of August he had a 5,000 strong army (Hickman, 2009). Richard III had an army of 10,000 men. Henry had sent messengers to Lord Stanley and Sir William Stanley requesting assistance, they both agreed to desert Richard III during the battle. When both Stanleys swapped sides, this turned the numbers in favour of Henry's army. The battle only lasted approximately 2 hours ending with Richard’s death and Henry Tudor, despite being 13th in line for the crown at the time, was crowned King Henry VII.

The Hundred Years War was a pivotal moment in the relationship of England and France. The war caused trouble for both countries and their allies. France was even lead by Joan of Arc. Both countries suffered because of the long, drawn out war. They also had benefits.

1. What were the underlying and precipitating causes of the Hundred Years’ War? What advantages did each side have? Why were the French able to drive the English almost entirely out of France?

The 100 Years’ War was given a misleading name, as this conflict between England and France was not a war that lasted one hundred years, it was rather a series of related clashes that lasted just over a century. However, the fact that this conflict lasted more that one hundred years meant that many new tactics and weaponry came into play that changed the concepts of warfare forever. During this one hundred years, tactics changed from the system of feudal armies dominated by heavy Calvary, to the first attempt at some sort of ‘standing army’. The evolution in the types of tactics and weapons that nations used caused the battlefields of Europe to be covered in blood, as the more advanced the weapons, became, the more casualties amounted. The 100 Years’ War was the first time that strategy was used in order to command troops on the battlefield, and it was during this time that the fabrication of early martial handbooks also came into the battle. One of the more famous authors of one of these books was “the great Swabian practitioner and teacher, Johannes Liechtenauer” . Unfortunately, there are no French texts concerning martial handbooks that predate 1570, meaning that in order to look at tactics, sources from surrounding nations at the time have to suffice. Another thing that evolved extremely rapidly during the 100 years’ war, was the escalation of the types of weapons used during conflicts. Inasmuch there were 100 years of outright fighting, each side had a chance to

Prior to the 14th century, the Crusades were dominating the political system of Europe. However, the new era paved the way for a new political conflict, the Hundred Year War (1337-1453). At the center of every war is always the dispute over territories, and it was no different in the Hundred Years War. The conflict over territories was based on who held the legitimate rights to the French throne. Unfortunately solving the conflict was difficult because of medieval legality which stated that one king could be the vassal of another king if the first inherited land outside his own kingdom.

The Battle of Agincourt is known as one of the greatest because of the circumstances surrounding it. Arguably, it is among the most distinguished battle wins of the English because nobody expected them to defeat the French. The reason was that the French army had four times more troops than it did, and everyone expected it to lose because of this. However, there are a number of factors that were at play that surpassed the numbers the French had and necessitated the English win. Such factors had to do with the strategies that were employed by the English, the conditions at the battlefield, and, most importantly, the leadership in place.

The Hundred Year War was a war between the French and English in the 13th and 14th century. The war was a conflict over land, titles and rights between both the French and English. This involved several generations of French and English who have claimed a period of more than a hundred years(Hundred Years’ War, pars.1). This was said to last form around 1337 to 1453 by the House of Plantagenet. It was accompanied by some significant battles and people during this time period of the Hundred Year War. The origins of the Hundred Years War included Joan of Arc Liberates the Orleans, The Battle of Agincourt and Philip VI.

The next major battle that occurred during the Hundred Year War was the Battle of Poitiers. The Battle of Poitiers was a battle that occurred after a six year break from war, warfare broke out again as Edward III’s son, Edward the Black Prince had attacked France in 1356. The French had a line of defense, however Edward was able to break through the defenses and attacked the French head on. The current king of France was King John II. Edward the Black Prince was able to cause a disastrous battle in France and the result of the battle was that Edward the Black Prince was able to capture King John II (Jean II) as well as almost 2,000 aristocracy members of France. Edward the Black Prince wanted a ransom. France was at a loss without their king and did not know what to do so they signed the Treaty of Bretigny in 1360 that states that they would cede a large amount of northern territory and the shoreline to England. In exchange for this deal, Edward the Black Prince was required to give up his claim to the throne. After the loss of the two great generals of England, Edward III and Edward the Black Prince, the French regained control of most parts of France and in 1389 the two sides signed a true as well as extended the treaty in 1396 for 28 years. In 1964, The Battle of Auray was the battle where the English forces under John Chandos besieged Auray and the leader of the French army, Bertrand du Guesclin, was captured. During this time, the French King known as King Jean II died

The Hundred Years War was the last great medieval war. It was a war not just between Kings, but lesser nobles were also able to pursue their own personal agendas while participating in the larger conflict. Future wars saw far less factionalism, at least on the scale found in medieval conflicts. The Hundred Years War was actually dozens of little wars and hundreds of battles and sieges that went on for over a century until both sides were exhausted. While neither side won in any real sense, the end result was that while there were two kingdoms at the

Henry VIII realized that he needed to expand his territory in France, so in 1513 Henry VIII and his troops invaded France. They defeated France, and this battle came to be known as the Battle of the Spurs. At the time of this battle the Scottish invaded England as an attempt to distract Henry VIII from invading France. The Scottish’s attempt failed to get Henry VIII’s attention. Not long after this event, the Scottish were defeated at the Battle of Flodden Field. The battle between England and Scotland went from 1513-1517.

The Battle of Agincourt occurred in the middle Ages, on October 25, 1415. This battle is one of the most memorable and strategically fought battles between England and France. The Battle of Agincourt involved England and France near Agincourt. The Battle of Agincourt happened during the “Hundred Years War”. The hundred year War began in 1337 and ended in 1453. The hundred years war actually lasted 116 years. The Hundred Years war included England, France and later Burgundy. Sometimes England won the battles and sometimes France won (Keegan 79).

Between 1428 and 1429 during the Hundred Years’ War between France and England, the city of Orleans was besieged by English forces. The 5000 English soldiers lead by Thomas de Montecute, attacked for months. Around this time, Joan of Arc Appeared in at the court of Charles, and lifted the siege in 1429. This was the major turning point for the French in the war.

King Henry V sought to regain some French territory lost in the Hundred Year War and set out on a 120 mile journey to Maisoncelles where the English came head to head, or 300 yards, with the French. The English bowmen enticed the French to action and when the French responded they were met at the English line which consisted of three groups and archers on the right and left. Keegan goes on to tell of how the different groups of warriors affected each other: the archers versus the cavalry and infantry, the cavalry versus infantry, and infantry versus infantry. The worse effect must have been on the French soldiers that after the order was given to kill all survivors unless they were rich, noblemen, or worth a ransom.