The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) was a complicated ongoing conflict between the kingdoms of England and France, rooted in territorial disputes and control of the French crown. Spanning about 116 years during the 14th and 15th centuries, it started when English King Edward III, grandson of Philip IV of France, was denied his claim to the French throne and launched a retaliatory attack.
Although the fighting wasn’t continuous, with long periods of peace, many battles occurred during the war. Famous clashes, such as the Battle of Agincourt, showcased the might of the English forces, while strong leaders, including Joan of Arc, inspired the French to fight for their land.
Ultimately, France claimed victory, driving the English out of the country, except for the strategic town of Calais on the coast of the English Channel. The drawn-out war exhausted both countries but strengthened the French monarchy and led England to shift its focus to expanding the British Empire.
Causes of the Hundred Years' War
In the early 1200s, France regained most of its land from England, but the 1259 Treaty of Paris kept the Duchy of Guyenne (also known as Aquitaine) in southwestern France under English control. When French King Charles IV died in 1328 with no male heirs, a cousin, Philip VI, was named his successor over Charles’ nephew, England’s King Edward III.
However, in 1337, Edward formally asserted his claim that as France’s proper heir, he should rule both countries. In response, Philip reclaimed the Duchy of Guyenne for France, resulting in an English invasion that started the war. The English won several early battles, including the 1340 Battle of Sluys naval attack, where Edward commanded his English fleet with longbow attacks that won them control of the English Channel.
At the 1346 Battle of Crecy, Edward led England’s much smaller army against Philip’s French forces, again using longbows to defeat the armored knights. The nearly year-long Siege of Calais (1346-1347) gave England another significant victory, gaining control of the strategic port town that provided a stronghold in France for more than 200 years.
The English victories, the 1356 capture of French King John II, and power struggles within the French monarchy led to the 1360 Treaty of Bretigny, which called for the king’s release in exchange for a ransom and Edward ceding his claim to the French throne while still holding control over French territories.
Renewed Hostilities and the Rise of Joan of Arc
Following King John’s death in 1364, his son, Charles V, took the throne and sought to regain the territories France had lost to England. With the truce broken, the war resumed in 1369 and France, helmed by military commander Bertrand du Guesclin, recaptured important regions, including Normandy, Brittany and Aquitaine.
Under King Henry V’s rule, England also revived its campaign, achieving one of the war’s biggest victories in the 1415 Battle of Agincourt. Despite the French’s much bigger army, with approximately 24,000 soldiers compared to England’s 6,000, England’s use of longbows brought a decisive win that led to the 1420 Treaty of Troyes recognizing Henry as heir to the French throne and agreeing to his marriage to Catherine, daughter of then-King Charles VI. However, a French resurgence occurred when Henry died two years later, and his 9-month-old son, Henry VI, ascended the throne.
In 1429, Joan of Arc, a 17-year-old peasant who believed God had chosen her to lead France against England, convinced Charles VII, who became king in 1422 after his father’s death, to put her in charge of an army to end the Siege of Orleans, a critical French city under attack by the English. Her success inspired French troops, boosted morale and rallied support for Charles’ official coronation in 1429. Although she was captured by the English and burned at the stake in 1431, her leadership served as a turning point in the war, favoring France.
Hundred Years' War Draws to an End
In 1453, with the French pushing back the English, the war entered its final stage. At the Battle of Castillon in southwestern France, the French claimed a decisive victory using new artillery tactics, effectively ending England's claims to most of its territories. The 1475 Treaty of Picquigny cemented France’s control of its land, with the English retaining the port of Calais, which it held until 1558.
After the war’s end, France turned to recovery and strengthening its monarchy. England, meanwhile, focused on its civil war, the 1455 Wars of the Roses, along with building its naval power and exploring new land across the Atlantic.
Sources
The Hundred Years War, BBC.
The Origins of the Hundred Years War, Historic UK.
How Britain Gained an Empire: The Hundred Years' War, BBC/Bitesize.
Joan of Arc, Library of Congress.
The Battle of Agincourt, The National Archives, UK.
