The Hundred Year's War (Which Actually Lasted 116 Years!)

By Princess Charlotte (Medieval Warfare Specialist)

There's something I need to clear up. The Hundred Years' War did not last one hundred years. It lasted an impressive 116 years and ran between 1337 to 1453. And whilst I hugely appreciate that 'The One Hundred and Sixteen Years' War' doesn't have the same ring to it, accuracy matters.

Now that is out of the system...why did it start?

Like many medieval arguments, it started with land, power and a disagreement over who was entitled to wear the crown. When King Charles IV of France died in 1328 without a surviving son, there was no obvious direct male heir.

The English king, Edward III, believed he had a strong claim to the French throne through his mother, Isabella of France, who was Charles IV's sister. The French nobility disagreed...strongly.

Instead, they recognised Philip of Valois, who became Philip VI, arguing that the French crown could not pass through the female line. This principle later became associated with Salic Law, although the legal arguments were more complicated than people sometimes imagine.

Edward initially accepted Philip as king and continued to rule his French lands as Philip's vassal. The relationship gradually deteriorated.

Disputes over the duchy of Gascony, French support for Scotland, English involvement in Flanders and wider political rivalry eventually pushed both kingdoms towards war. In 1337, Philip VI declared Edward's lands in France forfeit.

Edward responded by reviving his claim to the French throne. That disagreement would dominate western Europe for more than a century.

Who was involved?

The war stretched across several generations, so there wasn't one English king or one French king fighting throughout. For the English there was Edward III, followed by his famous son Edward, the Black Prince, and later Henry V, whose victories became legendary.

For France there were Philip VI, John II, Charles V, Charles VI and finally Charles VII, who would eventually see France emerge victorious.

There were plenty of other important players too.

Scotland consistently supported France through the Auld Alliance, creating problems for England on two fronts, while the powerful Duchy of Burgundy changed sides during the war, first supporting England before later reconciling with Charles VII. That decision helped tip the balance decisively back towards France.

Changing sides was not especially unusual in medieval politics and warfare, loyalty often depended on circumstance and who offered the greatest financial reward!

Crécy, 1346

The first great English victory came at the Battle of Crécy in 1346. The English army, although outnumbered, chose strong defensive ground and relied heavily on the longbow.

French attacks, particularly those by mounted knights, became increasingly disorganised as the battle unfolded. The English longbowmen could loose several arrows a minute, and the combination of disciplined archery, defensive positions and confused French assaults produced a quite remarlable and decisive English victory.

Crécy demonstrated that heavily armoured knights charging across open ground were no longer guaranteed success. For medieval Europe, that was a sobering lesson.

Agincourt, 1415

If Crécy announced England's military strength, Agincourt cemented its reputation. It is possibly the greatest English victory in warfare. In 1415, Henry V led an exhausted English army through northern France after the siege of Harfleur.

The English were tired, hungry and greatly outnumbered.

On 25 October, they met the French army near the village of Agincourt. Heavy rain had turned freshly ploughed fields into thick mud. The advancing French struggled to move, became tightly packed together and came under relentless attack from English longbowmen (see a theme here).

When the French finally reached the English line, many were already exhausted.

The English won one of the most famous victories in their history. Exactly how much the longbow alone determined the outcome is still debated by historians. Terrain, leadership, discipline and French tactical mistakes all played important parts.

Joan of Arc

Every long war produces remarkable people. Few were more remarkable than Joan of Arc. By the late 1420s, the English position looked stronger than ever. Large parts of northern France were under English control and even Paris recognised English authority.

The Treaty of Troyes had even declared Henry V's heirs should inherit the French crown. Charles VII's position looked desperately weak. Then a seventeen-year-old peasant girl from Domrémy arrived claiming that God had instructed her to help save France.

Whether one believes her visions or not, what happened afterwards is beyond dispute. Joan inspired French troops during the Siege of Orléans in 1429, helping lift a siege that many believed would end French resistance altogether. Her success transformed French morale.

Soon afterwards Charles VII travelled to Reims, where he was crowned King of France in the traditional coronation ceremony. That single event dramatically strengthened his legitimacy. Joan was captured the following year by Burgundian troops, sold to the English and tried before an ecclesiastical court for heresy.

She was found guilty and burned at the stake in 1431. She was just nineteen years old. Twenty-five years later the verdict against her was overturned. In 1920, the Catholic Church declared her a saint.

History sometimes takes a remarkably long time to apologise.

Who won?

France. By 1453, England had lost almost all of its territories in France. Only Calais remained under English control, and even that would eventually be lost in 1558.

Edward III's claim to the French throne was never realised. Charles VII transformed a kingdom that had seemed close to collapse into a far stronger and more unified monarchy.

The war also changed the way wars themselves were fought. Professional armies became increasingly important. Powerful artillery began replacing medieval siege methods. The age of armoured knights dominating the battlefield was gradually drawing to a close.

The medieval world was changing, and if we can learn anything from the Hundred Years' War, sorry the One Hundred and Sixteen Years' War, it is that one determined person can change history. Joan of Arc proved exactly that.