The Hundred Years War was a war made up of a series of battles between England and France that lasted from 1337 to 1453. It took five generations of English and French monarchs before the war ended.
Background
English and French kings have hated each other for centuries. England owned land in France at the time, which the French didn’t like. They took away land from England whenever they could.
The Hundred Years War wasn’t one long war, it was separated into three separate conflicts which in total lasted 116 years.
These conflicts were The Edwardian War, The Caroline War and the Lancastrian War.
Edwardian War
The war started because Philip, the King of France, became allies with the Scottish king, David II. In revenge, King Edward allowed Robert III of Antois into England. As Philip wanted Robert in prison, he wasn’t happy.
The English were mostly successful at this stage of the war, especially the Battles of Crécy and Poitiers, which took place in 1346 and 1356. At the Battle of Crécy, the English army had set land two miles from Paris on fire.
Caroline War
The Treaty of Brétigny, signed in 1360, gave some French land to King Edward.
But by 1378, with King Charles V “The Wise” leading France, the French had taken back most of the land it had given to King Edward.
Lancastrian War
In 1413, Henry V was crowned king. A year later, he tried to negotiate with the French. He offered 1.6 million crowns and giving up his claim to the French throne. In return, he wanted France to give up some of it’s land that Henry V believed was rightfully his.
These negotiations didn’t work out, as he felt that the French were mocking him.
So in 1415, Henry V wanted to restart the war against France. He did so by invading Normandy in August 1415, with around 10,000 men, to take over the city of Harfleur in Normandy.
On the 22nd September, Henry’s army successfully sieged Harfleur. However, this victory wouldn’t last for long.
Battle of Agincourt
It would lead to the Battle of Agincourt, where 50,000 French soldiers outnumbered the 5,000 English troops.
But Henry V and his advisers had a plan. They would base themselves at the narrowest point of the battlefield, creating a bottleneck for the French soldiers. His army also fired lots of arrows at their enemy, which forced the French army to retreat.
Henry’s army had earned such a large victory that there were more French prisoners than English soldiers, so they killed them all.
For several years afterwards, the English had a series of victories, forcing the French to accept more compromises. But the war continued.
One factor that hindered the English was that the Scots had joined the French side. And another problem for them was a woman called the Joan of Arc.
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc was a woman born in the north east of France. She was special to many people because of what she saw as an 11 year old girl.
Joan claimed that she had visions of Saint Catherine, who had converted hundreds of people to Christianity before she turned 18. Saint Catherine was a princess who became a Christian when she was 14 years old.
She believed that it was her destiny to save France from the English, so she offered to help the exiled French King, Charles VII.
Who won the Hundred Years War?
Eventually, the French won the Hundred Years War, having taken back nearly all of their land. Back in England, people who owned land in France were angry about what they had lost. Some people say that this was one factor that caused the War of the Roses.
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