The Hundred Years' War

The Hundred Years’ War was split up into three parts. Those parts were named:

• ·         The Edwardian Era (1337-1360)

• ·         The Caroline War (1369-1389)

• ·         The Lancastrian Era (1415-1453)

The exact date of which the war started was June 22, 1340. This war was against the English and the French. As the name of the war states, it lasted roughly one hundred years. There were lots of different disagreements between both of the countries.

Edward III of England led his army into the first battle of The Hundred Years’ War. They had a wonderful victory against the French and that battle was called the Battle of Sluys. The English were on a role in the beginning of the Hundred Years’ War and accomplished great things. One task that they accomplished was in 1346; Edward and his Englishmen invaded Caen and captured that city. The reason why that was such a great accomplishment is because they captured that city in one day.

Phillip from France decided to face the English in another battle called the Battle of Crecy. That was a very unfortunate choice that Phillip made because that battle was another winning victory that the English experienced. During that battle the English were able to capture a city in France called Calais. That was a successful move for the English because owning a city in France gave them an opportunity to have their own troops located there.

The war did end up not continuing for a few because the Black Death moved across lands in 1348 which was a terrible time.

But, the war did indeed start back up again after that period ended and Edward III’s son was starting to be the head of England. Also the king changed in France as well to be John II. Edward (this was a different Edward who was also known as the Black Prince) led the upcoming battle in 1356 better known as the Battle of Poitiers. He invaded France and the English did in fact have another victory in defeating France. 

Unfortunately John II who was king of France was captured by the English so his son Dauphin took his place and he reigned.

The first peace treaty was created to try to bring peace back into the countries but unfortunately at some point it did end. The treaty was known as the Treaty of Bretigny. The peace lasted a great deal of time but it did end (1360-1369). During this time John was still under the control of the English and did indeed die in 1364. He was later succeeded by Charles V.

Edward III and his son Edward the Black Prince were both not doing very well health wise. The English were now going to go back into battle while they did still own the city Calais in France.  At this time there was no longer any peace going on.

The Son of the Black Prince, Richard II started to reign England at a very young age. Unfortunately while Richard was King of England he lost many lands in France.

Now there was a second peace that was being made in 1389-1415.

War then resumed in 1415 and King Henry V decided to sail to France and invade. He did have a victory but he decided that he did not want to have another war so he started to travel back to the city Calais. The French thought of a different idea though, they wanted to start a surprise attack on the English. That was the Battle of Agincourt. Agincourt wasn’t the best battle area.  It was a very small land that was very muddy. Even though England at the time had a weaker army the terrain and the size of the land was a big advantage to them. The French were covered in heavy armor and were all prepared but they were not prepared for the muddy small area that they encountered. The mud was making the French sink since the armor was so heavy. On the other hand the English did not have that much trouble with the mud because they were not covered in heavy armor they were dressed rather lightly so they were able to travel across the terrain much easier than the French.

Again, the English did have another big victory and the outcome of the war was rather gruesome. There were roughly 6,000 French soldiers killed in this battle. That was a big difference compared to the 400 men that were killed o the English side. 

King Henry retook Caen and Normandy and he again became Duke of Normandy.  At this time in 1420 he then married a French Princess named Catherine.

There was another treaty made called The Treaty of Troyes. And this was another treaty that was to supposedly bring an end to this war and also state that King Henry’s heir was to inherit the French throne. Henry then died in 1422 while he and his queen were living in Senlis.

Henry did have a son but he could not control both thrones so The Duke of Bedford was to oversee him and the wars. After this there were several battles that were successfully won by France. Although The Treaty of Troyes did state that it was suppose to bring an end to the war it did not end up doing so.  But, even though the English did try they did not get to take over the throne.

From the beginning of The Hundred Years’ War till now the French have gotten many defeats by the English but that was about to change. But still, the English could not take over the French throne after these hundred years of fighting. In the mid 1400’s lots had changed though.

Born in 1412 there was a girl named Joan of Arc and she lived in a small French village. She accomplished many great things for herself and for others throughout her life. At the age of 12 she had claimed that she heard saints speaking to her. They told her many other personal things but one task they told Joan to do retake the country France for their King. So she put her mind to it and did what she was told.

At the age of 16 Joan went to try to get attention from the King but unfortunately failed on the first try. That was not going to stop her though. After three attempts she succeeded in able to see the King. She offered the king for her to lead and regain the country to victory. Even people who had given up on King Charles decided to join the army because they heard that a saint was leading them. Joan had a suit of armor made just for her. She even helped reform the army. She made them go to church; this type of requirement was not usually common with the army. She led a siege in England and did have a winning victory.

More people ended up supporting her and she was able to conquer more areas as well. Joan ended up encouraging Charles VII to get coronated at Reims which was a very common place for people to be coronated. Even getting someone else to be crowned was an accomplishment to Joan. She then went on to accomplishing more great victories for France.

Joan was then captured by a Burgundian army and was held captive for months before being transferred to England. When she was in captivity she was burned at the stake in England as a heretic on May 30^th, 1431.