Hundred Years' War

The Hundred Years' War is the name modern historians give to what was actually a series of related conflicts fought over a 116-year period between the Kingdom of England and France, beginning in 1337 and ending in 1453. Historians group these conflicts under the same label for convenience. The war was primarily fought in France, and though in retrospect it has the feeling of a French civil war as much as an international conflict, the historian Philippe de Vries suggested that it had "taken place at a more or less provincial level." Fernand Braudel, quoting him, adds that "England acted as a province (or a group of provinces) within the Anglo-French unit" that was both battlefield and prize (Braudel 1984 p. 353).

France united: 1422–1453

By 1424, the uncles of Henry VI had begun to quarrel over the infant's regency, and one, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, married Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut, and invaded Holland to regain her former dominions, bringing him into direct conflict with Philip III, Duke of Burgundy.

Related Topics:
1424 - Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester - Jacqueline - Countess of Hainaut - Holland - Philip III - Duke of Burgundy

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By 1428, the English were ready to pursue the war again, laying siege to Orléans. Their force was insufficient to fully invest the city, but larger French forces remained passive. In 1429, Joan of Arc convinced the Dauphin to send her to the siege, saying she had received visions from God telling her to drive out the English. She raised the morale of the local troops and they attacked the English redoubts, forcing the English to lift the siege. Joan proceeded to win several battles against the English, opening the way for the Dauphin to march to Reims for his coronation as Charles VII.

Related Topics:
1428 - Orléans - 1429 - Joan of Arc - God - Reims

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After Joan was captured by the Burgundians in 1430 and later sold to the English and executed, the French advance stalled in negotiations. But, in 1435, the Burgundians under Philip the Good switched sides, signing the Treaty of Arras and returning Paris to the King of France. Burgundy's allegiance remained fickle, but their focus on expanding their domains into the Low Countries left them little energy to intervene in France. The long truces that marked the war also gave Charles time to reorganize his army and government, replacing his feudal levies with a more modern professional army that could put its superior numbers to good use, and centralizing the French state.

Related Topics:
1430 - 1435 - Philip the Good - Treaty of Arras

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By 1449, the French had retaken Rouen, and in 1450 the count of Clermont and Arthur de Richemont, Earl of Richmond, of the Montfort family (the future Arthur III, Duke of Brittany) caught an English army attempting to relieve Caen at the Battle of Formigny and defeated it, using cannon to break up the archers. The French proceeded to capture Cherbourg on July 6 and Bordeaux and Bayonne in 1451. The attempt by John Talbot (the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury) to retake Gascony, though initially welcomed by the locals, was crushed by Jean Bureau and his cannon at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, which is considered the last battle of the Hundred Years' War.

Related Topics:
1449 - Rouen - 1450 - Clermont - Arthur III, Duke of Brittany - Battle of Formigny - Cannon - Archer - Cherbourg - July 6 - Bordeaux - Bayonne - 1451 - John Talbot - 1st Earl of Shrewsbury - Jean Bureau - Battle of Castillon - 1453

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