The Hundred Years War: A Struggle In Western Europe

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)

One of the positive effects was the abundance of food. A second was the value in peasant labor which resulted in an increase in wages and work became easily attainable. The Hundred Years’ War was the largest, longest, and most wide-ranging military conflict Warfare since the third and second centuries. The principal antagonists were France and England but most of the major European powers become involved at some stage of the war. The cause of this war roots back to the 1920s when King Edward I of England attempted to conquer his neighboring kingdom of Scotland which caused the citizens of Scotland to begin an alliance with

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.

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.

The first underlying and precipitating cause of the Hundred Years’ War was that England and France were too closely proximate emergent territorial powers. Another cause of the Hundred Years’ War was that Edward III of England was a vassal of Philip the Fair of France, and therefore held several sizeable French territories as fiefs. Also one of the underlying and precipitating causes of the Hundred Years’ was the quarrel between

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 origins of the Hundred Years war included Joan of Arc Liberates the Orleans war, The Battle of Agincourt and Philip VI. All of these battle and people had a huge impact to this war with both the French and English. They had many disputes and disagreements within these wars and many had greats wins and horrific defeats. The Hundred Year war was related to another war called The Battle of Crecy. This war was also between both the French and English and was a resounding victory for the English. Philips army attacked but were soon overwhelmed by Edward’s 10,000 longbowmen. This marked a rise for the English as a world Power( The Battle of Crecy,

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

Europeans learned about auxiliary means of performing different actions. The Hundred Years’ War brought important developments. The use of two new weapons—the longbow and the cannon—weakened feudalism. The English longbow was 5 or 6 feet (1.5 or 1.8 meters) long, with a range up to 400 yards (360 meters). English foot soldiers armed with longbows completely defeated a French feudal cavalry at Agincourt in 1415. Knights on horseback were no match for foot soldiers with longbows. Europeans may have learned the use of gunpowder from the Muslims during the Crusades. To this knowledge they added the use of the gun. At

The Hundred Years' War was a series of wars between England and France that began in 1337 and ended in 1453.3 The war began when Edward III of England wrote a letter to Phillip IV of France, refusing to put the king of Scotland back on his throne and claiming he was the rightful heir to the French throne. This letter was written on October 7, 1337. The idea of England declaring war on France seemed insane. France was considered the richest and most powerful nation in Europe, whereas England was considered poor, small, and weak.2 Despite this fact, England won most of the major battles.

The Hundred Years War, which took place from 1337-1453, played a significant role in the history of Christendom and a major impact on the balance of power in Europe at that time. The Hundred Years War began over a dispute following the coronation of Edward III at the young age of 14. King Phillip VI of France claimed rights to the throne of England and Scotland using an ancient law of the Franks to justify his claim. This dispute was brought to the forefront after Phillips request to begin a crusade to the Holy Land was denied by Pope Benedict XII. Phillip used the funds planned for the crusade to turn his attention towards England. “He took the money he had collected for the crusade to finance a war against England…. the French king declared

     For the first few years of the war there wasn't much happening except English raids into France and Flanders. Then, in the 1340s, England and France took opposite sides in the long-running civil war over who should be the duke of Britanny. In 1346 this resulted in a French invasion of Gascony and the shattering French defeat at Crecy. The English then rampaged through western France, until a truce was signed in 1354, brought on by the devastation of the Plague, which hit France heavily in 1347 to 1348.

Then, England captured another King of France, Jean II, and England demanded an enormous ransom for his return. France could not afford the ransom and became paralyzed without a king. The first major naval battle was the Battle of La Rochelle. In this battle the French gained control of the English channel making it impossible for England to gather troops to Calais. About midway through the war, the Battle of Agincourt took place which was another decisive English victory (Hundred Years).

France refused to negotiate; so King Henry asked the Parliament to tax France for the inheritance that they owed him. France ignored England’s demands. On April 14, 1415, King Henry V asked the Parliament to sanction war against France. The Parliament agreed and the Battle with France will soon follow. England was preparing for the Battle of Agincourt (Middle-Ages.org).

A few years later, Henry V landed in France with ten thousand men and besieged Harfleur, a port town along the French coast. The siege lasted for a month, and Henry marched into the town, victorious, with very few men, because most of them died from disease. He then set course for Calais, but was stopped by French forces in Agincourt. Henry had only about six thousand men and the French force had twenty thousand. Henry used the woodland to give his forces a better chance. The French, on the other hand, set up three lines with knights in front. The knights were easily taken down by English longbowmen, the second line was slowed down by muddy swampland, and the third line retreated. This was a decisive victory for Henry and his outnumbered army. Henry continued advancing to Calais. Next, Scottish and French armies join forces and raid English holdings in Normandy. The English forces were decimated by the combined forces of France and Scotland. Soon after that battle, The French and Scottish tried once more to remove English control of Normandy, but their forces were easily cut down by longbowmen. Scotland stopped aiding France in the war, and England kept their hold in Normandy. The English started to take control of most of France again, started winning more battles. “The balance of power changed in 1429, with the appearance of Joan of Arc,