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

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