The Hundred Years War was a series of battles and conflicts during 1337 till 1453 between the House Plantagenet, leaders of the kingdom of England, against the House Valois, leaders of the Kingdom of France, for control of the Kingdom of France. Each side drew a lot of allies to the war.
To their French possessions, the English kings became vassals of the French since the Norman Conquest. The French kings attempted, in the centuries, to decrease the belonging and possessions of their overly powerful vassals, to the end that only the land of Gascony was left for the English. The retractions or threat of retracting these lands had been part of the French plan to keep the power of the English in check, especially whenever the English were at war with the Scots, an ally of France.
In 1316, the French passed a law that rejects women’s claims to the throne. When Charles IV died in 1328, Isabella of France, Charles’s sister, attempted to claim the throne for her son Edward III. The French immediately denies her claim due to the law that was established, and the throne went over to house Valois. For 9 years, the English accepted the succession, until the France interfered with Edward’s war on Scotland, which led to him reasserting his claim on the Throne.
The war is divided into three phases, split by Truces that were called in between. Firstly, we have the Edwardian Era War that lasted from 1337 till 1360. Secondly, we have the Caroline War that lasted from 1369 till 1389. Thirdly, we have the Lancastrian War that lasted from 1415-1453. During this time, small conflicts in surrounding areas directly related to the war included the War of the Breton Succession (1341–1364), the Castilian Civil War (1366–1369), the War of the Two Peters (1356–1375) in Aragon, and the 1383–1385 Crisis in Portugal.
Towards the end of the war, feudal levies have been replaced by professional soldiers. Although the war was initially a dynastic conflict, the war gave motivation to ideas of French and English nationalism. Overtime, English political leaders started to oppose the costly venture. The anger from English nobles eventually led to the Wars of The Roses.
For the first 10 years of Edward III's reign, Gascony had been a major point of conflict. The English argued that, since Charles IV had not treated his tenant with respect, Edward should be able to hold the territory free of any French interference. However, this line of disagreement could not be kept up by the English, so in 1329 the 17-year old Edward III swore fealty to Philip VI. Tradition required that vassals should meet their liege unarmed with nothing upon their heads; however Edward demonstrated his unwillingness by attending the ceremony wearing his crown and sword. Despite Edward complying, unwillingly, the French continued to burden the English administration.
Gascony was not the only tender point. One of Edward's important advisers was Robert III of Artois. Robert was an exile from the French court, having disagreed with Philip VI over an inheritance claim. He urged Edward to start a war to reclaim France and was able to offer extensive intelligence on the French court.
The France-Scot Alliance
The Kings of England had attempted to take over Scotland many times, which naturally made the Scots an ally of France. In 1326, Charles IV signed a treaty that if England were to attempt to invade Scotland, the French would interfere in favor of the Scots.
End of homage
At the end of April 1337, Philip of France was invited to meet the represent from England but refused. Then, in May 1337, Philip met with his Great Council in Paris. It was decreed that the Duchy of Gascony should be revoked from Edward III because it was believed that he was rejecting of his duty as vassal and had sheltered the king's 'mortal enemy' Robert d'Artois. Edward reacted to the confiscation of Gascony by challenging Philip's right to the French throne. When Charles IV died, Edward made a claim for the French throne, through the inheritance of his mother Isabella (Charles IV's sister), daughter of Philip IV.
In 1340, Edward III started to gain some allies with lower leaders and strengthened his own army. His supporters would be able to claim his as the “True King” of France and would not be rebels.
The Battle of Sluys
Edward gathered his fleet and sailed for Zwyn creek. The French fleet immediately went on the defensive, but the English manipulated the French into believing they were retreating. When the wind turned in favor of the English, they attacked with the sun at their backs to tamper with the French’s vision. The French fleet was almost completely destroyed in what became the Battle of Sluys. For the rest of the war, England was in control of the English Channel, preventing any oversea invasions from the French. However, at this point Edward started to lose funds and the war would have ended if it weren’t for the death of the Duke of Brittany.
Battle for Crecy
In July 1346, Edward started an invasion across the channel, starting in Normandy. The English army captured the unattended Caen in just one day, catching the French by surprise. Meanwhile, Philip had gathered a large enough army to oppose Edward, who chose to move northward to the Low Countries, raiding as he went instead of taking over territory. Edward then moved south, getting closer to Paris. He found a crossing at Poissy that was only partially destroyed and easily repaired. Further south, Edward discovered to he couldn’t get around Philip’s army, so he decided to position for battle and Philip attacked. The battle proved to be fatal for the French, due to Philip’s misjudgment of the situation, Edward’s longbow men were able to heavily weaken the attack and gave an opportunity for a counter-attack. Philip then looked toward his Scottish allies for help; the Scots then attacked England from the north but were defeated and their leader was captured in battle.
Battle of Poitiers and the Treaty of Brétigny
In 1348, the Black Death, which had reached Paris, began to desolate Europe. In 1356, after the plague had passed and England was able to recover financially, Edward's son, the Prince of Wales, later dubbed the Black Prince, invaded France from Gascony, winning a great victory in the Battle of Poitiers. During the battle, a Gascon noble, led a mounted unit that was concealed in a forest. The French advance was repelled, at which point he led a flanking movement with his horsemen cutting off the French retreat and succeeding in capturing King John II of France (known as John the Good) and many of his nobles. With John held hostage, his son the Dauphin (later to become Charles V of France) took over as regent.
Edward invaded France, for the third and last time, hoping to take advantage of the dissatisfaction of the French nobles and seize the throne. The French strategy was a passive one, deciding to not engage with the English army in the field. However Edward wanted the crown and chose the city of Reims for his coronation (Reims was the traditional coronation city). However, the citizens of Reims built and reinforced the city's defenses before Edward and his army arrived. Edward sieged the city for five weeks, but the defenses held and there was no coronation. Edward then moved on to Paris, but retreated after a few battles in the suburbs. The French made contact with him and forced him to negotiate. A meeting was held at Brétigny that resulted in the Treaty of Brétigny (8 May 1360). The treaty was authorized at Calais in October. In return for increased lands in Aquitaine, Edward abandoned Normandy, Touraine, Anjou and Maine and agreed to reduce King John's ransom by a million crowns. Edward also retracted his claim to the crown of France.
Thus the first treaty was signed that lasted from 1360-1369.
Although the Castilians had agreed to fund the Black Prince, they failed to do so. The Prince was suffering from poor health and returned with his army to Aquitaine. To pay off debts incurred during the Castille campaign, the prince started a household tax. Arnaud-Amanieu VIII, Lord of Albret had fought on the Black Prince's side during the war. Albret, who already had become dissatisfied by the influx of English administrators into the enlarged Aquitaine, rejected the collection of tax in his fief. He then joined a group of Gascon lords who pleaded to Charles V for support in their refusal to pay the tax. Charles V sent for one Gascon lord and the Black Prince to hear the case in his parliament in Paris. The Black Prince's answer was that he would go to Paris with sixty thousand men behind him. War broke out again and Edward III resumed the title of King of France. Charles V declared that all the English possessions in France were forfeited and before the end of 1369 all Aquitaine was in full revolt.
The war became largely unpopular with the English due to the high taxes needed to sustain it. These taxes were one of the reasons the peastants revolted. Richard's increasing disinterest in the war together with his treatment of a few close friends and advisors started an alliance of lords that included one of his uncles against him. This group, known as Lords Appellant, managed to fabricate charges of treason against five of Richard's advisors and friends in the Parliament. The Lords Appellant were able to gain control of the council in 1388 and tried, unsuccessfully, to start the war again. Although the will was there, the funds to pay the troops was not, so in the autumn of 1388 the Council agreed to continue negotiations with the French crown, beginning on 18 June 1389 with the signing of a three-year truce at Leulinghen.
In 1389, Richard's uncle and supporter, John of Gaunt, returned from Spain and Richard was able to regain his power excessively until 1397, when he reassured his authority and destroyed the main three among the Lords Appellant. In 1399, after John of Gaunt died, Richard II disinherited Gaunt's son, the exiled Henry of Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke returned to England with his supporters and overthrew Richard and had himself crowned Henry IV.
Henry IV of England died in 1413 and was replaced by his eldest son and heir Henry V. Charles VI of France's mental illness(basically madness) allowed his power to be toyed with by royal princes whose rivalries caused deep divisions in France. Henry V was well aware of these divisions and hoped to exploit them. In 1414 while he held court at Leicester, he received ambassadors from Burgundy. Henry sent envoys to the French king to declare his territorial claims in France; he also demanded the hand of Charles VI's youngest daughter Catherine of Valois in marriage. The French rejected his demands, leading Henry to prepare for war.
In August 1415, Henry V set sail from England with an army of about 10,500 and laid siege to Harfleur. The city resisted for longer than Henry had thought, but finally sumbitted on 22 September 1415. Because of the unexpected length of the siege, most of the opportunity to battle was gone. Rather than set directly for Paris directly, he decided to make a raiding expedition across France toward English-occupied Calais. In a campaign similair to Crécy, he found himself outmaneuvered and low on supplies and forced to battle a French army larger than his own at the Battle of Agincourt, north of the Somme. Despite the problems and having a smaller force, he gained a tremendous victory; the French defeat was catastrophic, costing many of the Armagnac leaders. About 40% of the French nobility was killed. Henry realized that a new concern was rising, which was the ammount of war prisoners he captured, which surpassed his own army; he eventually executed them.
Henry recaptured most of Normandy, including Caen in 1417, and Rouen on 19 January 1419, making Normandy English for the first time in two centuries. An alliance then started with the Duchy of Burgundy, which had taken Paris after the assassination of Duke John the Fearless in 1419. In 1420, Henry met with King Charles VI. They signed the Treaty of Troyes, by which Henry finally married Charles' daughter Catherine of Valois and Henry's heirs would inherit the throne of France. The Dauphin, Charles VII, was declared illegitimate. Henry formally entered Paris later that year and the agreement was consented by the Estates-General.
Joan of Arc's appearance sparked a revival of French spirit and the situation turned against the English.
In 1428, the English laid siege to Orléans. Their force was not enough to fully take over the city. In 1429 Joan convinced the Dauphin to send her to the siege, saying she had received visions from God telling her to drive out the English. Her presence strengthened the morale of the city and they started a counter attack to drive back the English. Inspired by Joan, the French took several English strongholds on the Loire.
The English retreated from the Loire Valley, pursued by a French army. Near the village of Patay, French cavalry broke through a unit of English longbowmen that had been sent to block the road, then swept through the retreating English army. The English lost 2,200 men, and the commander John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury was taken prisoner. This victory opened the way for the Dauphin to march to Reims for his coronation as Charles VII (16 July 1429).
After the coronation, Charles VII's army fared less well. An attempted French siege of Paris was defeated on 8 September 1429, and Charles VII withdrew back to the Loire Valley.
Although the Battle of Castillon is considered the last battle of the Hundred Years' War, England and France remained formally at war for another 20 years, but the English were in no position to carry on the war as they faced unrest at home. Following defeat in the Hundred Years' War, English landowners complained vociferously about the financial losses resulting from the loss of their continental holdings; this is often considered a major cause of the War of the Roses, that started in 1455.