The other group joined with King Edward. Counts of Flanders had a tendency to take England's side against France in every battle, because of relations with England in the crucial wool exchange. Dominant lords in other distant areas such as Brittany and Normandy dreaded the motives of those who sought a stronger unified French kingdom. They joined with the English to help preserve their freedom. Strategically Edward had a solid position, with the French trapped in a "nutcracker" stuck between Edward's land held by Duke of Aquitaine to the south and his Flemish and other supporters to the north.
One of the first disasters for the French was when they lost control of the English Channel. In 1340, the French king organized the first obstacle for the English when he created a big fleet which was set to defeat England’s allies which were in Flanders. It was than supposed to set out for England. The French however were attacked by the English and destroyed at sea off of Sluys (east of Dunkerque, in modern Holland). Both the French and English anchored their fleet and battled. The French fleet was no match for the English fleet which was more organized and advanced.
http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/archive/hundredyearswar.cfm
The King of England, Edward III, gained control of the Channel and viewed it as an opportunity to invade France and wage war on French land which was disastrous for the individuals to the North. “The English army was a mixed force of infantry, archers, pike men and light cavalry - battle-hardened after successfully fighting the Welsh and Scots, and made up of well-trained and organized English mercenaries, enthusiastic supporters of his cause and eager for plunder. They proved to be the most effective army Europe had seen since the Romans” (Invicta Media, 2003). The second disaster for the French was losing their best knights at Crecy. In 1346, the English were debilitated by illness and were withdrawing to the channel harbors. They took a stance on a hill at Crecy. By this time the French had caught up to them. What hurt the French the most and cost them this battle is the heavily armored knights were trying to climb up a muddy hillside with no cover and the English massacred the French by using their infantry and archers.
The third disaster for the French was losing Calais, which in turn gave England ground in North France. Edward III then surrounded Calais. English soldiers were in Calais for a year and by this time the people were starving to death. Under the medieval tradition “they would expect to be killed if the attackers succeeded, because they had fought back. Six leading citizens offered their own lives if Edward III would spare the rest of the townsfolk” (Invicta Media, 2003). The queen of England took pity on the townspeople and asked King Edward III if their lives could be spared if the entire town surrendered. After King Edward granted the citizens their lives and their freedom, all the citizens of Calais moved out of the city and all the homes were given to English citizens who turned the town into an English fort which was a base for future military missions into France for the next two centuries.
The first part of the Hundred Years War was as disastrous for England as well as for France. Vicious fighting disturbed the economy, there were horrendous plagues such as the Black Death in 1348 which killed at least a third of the population in both England and France, and also the bloody and vicious peasant revolts which pillaged the nobles’ houses and castles.
A ceasefire was declared in 1360. The English had earned a huge win at Poitiers when they apprehended the French King Jean le Bon. He was held for length of time but was soon ransomed for gold coins which were called francs or free gold. This was the beginning of the Franc in France. Upon his release he agreed to leave large portions of land in western France to the control of the English.
This ceasefire allowed the French King to gain more control. “In 1369 the Count of Flanders died, and the French king, Charles V, had - for the time being - driven the English from their early conquests in the north of France. He broke the Anglo-Flemish alliance, by forcing the Count's only child, Marguerite of Flanders, to marry his brother Philippe, Duke of Burgundy. The marriage joined the Low Countries in the north with Burgundy in the east. After a few skirmishes, Flanders acquiesced” (Invicta Media, 2003).
By 1382, Richard II has lost most of the French lands won by his grandfather Edward III
During this time the English King fell very ill and was dying. Before he died he had hoped to build a stronger Anglo-Flemish alliance by marrying the heiress to his fifth son. This was not allowed to happen because his ally was now under the control of France. This made the English grow weaker and weaker. King Philippe brought the whole Flanders area under his control where it remained for the reign of four French Kings. http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/100yearswar.htm
In 1381 the young king, Richard II, was faced with a very challenging problem. The English Peasants revolted which was initiated by a very bitter hatred to the unfair Poll Tax which was organized to pay for the cost of all the French wars. The French got word that the revolt was taking place and they took advantage of the distraction. The French drove out almost all of the English except for the few in Calais and a few other places in France. The French, with the help of the Spanish, than went across the Channel to invade England. In savage raids in the 1380s, the French briefly captured the Isle of Wight, and burned south coast towns like Sandwich, Winchelsea and Gravesend. In Kent, Canterbury and Dover hurriedly build town walls. Bodiam Castle was built to protect Sussex. The English knew the French had gathered a big fleet; and expected an invasion in 1386. French success did not last! In 1380 the French king Charles V was succeeded by his son, Charles VI, who sadly became insane. He had no children, and a feud developed over who should take over (Invicta Media, 2003).
1430 - The height of English power in France.
In 1407 a very big change occurred. The French royal family was separated into two camps, the Armagnacs and the Burgundians. This soon set the two families into a civil war which included all of France. The Duke of Burgundy was unsuccessful to win the French crown. The Duke however decided to set up his own kingdom instead. In 1415 the English took over some of the French divisions which led them to invade Normandy again. At this time the king of England, Henry V, was heading towards Calais at the same time the French army was. The two met up at Azincourt. This battle resulted in another total destruction of the French Army. Yet again the English archers wiped out most of the French nobility. http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/100yearswar.htm
After this success, Henry V captured the north and west of France. This gave him the opportunity to be successful in accomplishing his grandfather Edward III's goals. Once again the Duke of Burgundy became allies with England and helped the King conquer more land in France. “But France experienced trouble once again upon the death of their king, Charles V. His son who succeeded him, Charles VI (also called Charles VI the mad), was mentally ill. Tensions within the country between different houses allowed England's King Henry V to begin regaining lost ground. The defeat of the French at Agincourt in 1415 solidified his position” (Nosotro, 2005). The French lost to the English at Agincourt. It is believed that this loss was due to similar strategies that caused the French to also lose the battles of Poitiers and Crecy. Although the English were far outnumbered at Agincourt, they surprisingly pulled all their tactics together and defeated the French. This loss gave way for the Treaty of Troyes to be signed by Charles VI with the English in 1420. The Treaty of Troyes guaranteed that upon his death, Henry V would become the ruler of France. The treaty was very complex and difficult for most to understand. It became even more complicated when two years later both Charles VI and Henry V passed away. This caused some problems when the rule of France and England were given to Henry V’s son who was still an infant. This upset Charles VI’s son who should have been the ruler of France. He was so disgusted by this that he commanded a resistance movement against England.
http://aipetcher.wordpress.com/tag/airfix-model-kit-joan-of-arc/
By 1425, the English had the advantage and were preparing for an offensive move on the French who were to the south of them. The first goal for the English was to secure a victory at the bridgehead on the Loire just to the south of Paris, Orleans. “Orleans was invested in September 1428, but the besieging force was too small to attempt an immediate storming. The aim had to be to starve the garrison out. At first it looked as if there was little chance of a relief for the defenders, but in February 1429, Joan of Arc arrived at the dauphin’s court at Chinon with her story of the voices that had given her the mission of ridding France of the English” (Keen, 2011). Her charm brought new assurance into the dismayed army that she commanded to Orleans in May, and it effectively ruined the blockade. On June 12 in Jargeau and on June 17 in Patay, Joan of Arc helped defeat the English. On July 16, she watched as Charles VII was crowned king of France in the Rheims cathedral. A year later, Joan of Arc was caught by the Burgundians who traded her to the English. The English were ready to get rid of Joan of Arc because she was a great threat to their country. The English decided to put her on trial for heresy and she was found guilty. On May 30, 1431 in Rouen, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.
After Joan of Arc was burned, the English were successful in regaining some of the land and towns that they had lost to Joan of Arc and the French army. The English were faced with a devastating blow in 1435 when Philip, the Duke of Burgundy, decided to abandon his agreement with England at the Congress at Arras. Philip had decided to acknowledge Charles VII as his one and only king. This made the English realize that they had no hope of making the Troyes settlement stick.
In April 1436, Paris allowed Charles’s general, Arthur, Constable de Richemont to enter the city. Although the English still had control over most of Normandy, they started to think that they were going to lose the war and they started to question why they were even fighting anymore. Negotiations began in 1435 between France and England. Although they went nowhere for years, finally in 1444 there was a general truce at Tours. Both sides were hoping that the arranged marriage between the French princess Margaret of Anjou and Henry VI of England would be the first step in ending the war.
By 1470, the English have lost everything except Calais
In 1449 the newfound peace between the two countries was quickly destroyed when an English force sacked and robbed Fougères in Brittany. This gave Charles VII, who during the halt in fighting reorganized his army, the opportunity to back out of the treaty because England had failed to keep their part of the agreement. In 1449 Charles VII quickly dispatched his army to Normandy and overran the English. In 1451, once again the French defeated the English in Gascony. A year later, the English commander, John Talbot arrived in Gascony with some reinforcements and retook Bordeaux. His victory was short lived. On July 17, 1453his army was catastrophically beaten at Castillon and Talbot was killed. http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/100yearswar.htm
Now that the French had regained Bordeaux, the English had no more territory in France other than Calais. This was ultimately the end of the war as far as England was concerned. A formal treaty between England and France was finally signed in 1475. Particularly, the Hundred Years' War is perceived by several scholars as a period in the apparently continuous struggle amongst the English and French countries, as disagreements and open war were recurrent, which was constant as late as the Napoleonic times, and which stretched well outside Europe as the two countries fought for global territories.
References
Alchin, L. K. (2006, September 20). Hundred Years War. Retrieved from http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/hundred-years-war.htm
Gormley, L. (2001). The Hundred Years War: Overview. Department of History, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Retrieved from http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/archive/hundredyearswar.cfm
Invicta Media. (2003, November 6). Hundred Years' War 1337-1453. Retrieved from http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/100yearswar.htm
Keen, M. (Writer) (2011). The Hundred Years War. BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/hundred_years_war_01.shtml
Nosotro, R. (2005, February 18). The Effects of the Hundred Years War. Retrieved from http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/comp/cw07war100kings.htm
Petcher, A. (2011, July 7). [Blog entry]. Retrieved from http://aipetcher.wordpress.com/tag/airfix-model-kit-joan-of-arc/
by
smille17 (student)
