Notes from The Western Heritage “The Hundred Years War and the Rise of National Sentiment”

  • The Hundred Years War 1337-1453
  • Feudal government practiced on a larger scale- strong centralized government (monarchies)
  • National consciousness develops
  • described as a struggle for national identity as well as control of territory
  • Causes:
  • French King Charles IV dies in 1328
  • there is no male heir to succeed him
  • English King Edward III then asserts his claim to the French throne
  • Edward’s wife is the daughter of Philip IV (and Charles IV sister), therefore Edward has a legitimate hereditary claim (Salic Law)
  • French barons (nobles) do not want Edward
  • he is an English king and only 15 yrs old
  • they choose Philip VI of Valois
  • things get more complicated, Edward is a vassal of Philip VI
  • Political and Economic considerations:
  • France was struggling internally
  • becoming a centralized state was difficult with a powerful nobility (Estates General) and territorial divisions
  • England was already a centralized monarchy
  • both Eng and Fr were trying to control Flanders
  • area known for manufacture of cloth
  • depends upon supplies of imported English wool
  • England and France had a history of competition on the seas
  • raids on port towns were common
  • The War

 English military superiority

  • disciplined infantry
  • archers (longbow)

 three stages of war

1. conflict during the reign of Edward III

  • wool embargo
  • rebellions in Flanders follow (led by merchants)
  • city of Ghent, revolts against the French
  • 1340 acknowledge Edward III as king of France
  • Eng defeat French at Bay of Sluys
  • English win at Crécy 1346
  • Black Death forces a truce 1347-1350
  • French King John taken hostage
  • French political order is weakened
  • Estates General takes control
  • Merchants demand a Magna Carta
  • not granted by the Fr nobility
  • French nobles increase taxes
  • Jacquerie results 1358
  • England forces peace of Brétigny 1360
  • declares Ed’s end to vassalage to king of France
  • affirms his sovereignty over Eng terr in Fr
  • France pays a ransom of 3 mil gold crowns for John the Good
  • Edward renounces his claim to the French throne
  • Peace was short lived, Edward dies in 1377

2. French defeat and Treaty of Troyes

  • 1381 English peasants revolt crushed
  • Led by John Ball and Wat Tyler
  • Henry V (r. 1413-1422)
  • Burgundians join with the English
  • Treaty of Troyes results 1420
  • proclaims Henry V as successor to French throne (Charles VI)
  • 1422 both kings die
  • infant Henry VI proclaimed king of Eng and France
  • many French people ignore the Treaty and see Charles VII, the son of Charles VI as the legit heir and true King of France
  • the French rally

3. War’s conclusion

  • Joan of Arc (1412-1431)
  • in 1429 promises to win back Orléans
  • Charles VII gives his support
  • France enjoys victories over the weary English
  • Charles receives his crown back
  • in 1430 the Burgundians capture Joan
  • Charles does little to help her
  • she is turned over to the English Inquisition
  • she is executed 1431
  • 1920 decalred a saint

Concluding remarks:

  • 68 yrs of peace and 44 yrs of war
  • lasting political and social consequences
  • hastens France’s transition to a centralized monarchy
  • Burgundy as an English ally
  • encourages English to develop their own cloth industry