Hundred Years' War

Long ago, England and France fought a big war.

It lasted for over one hundred years. Two groups of kings fought for the crown of France.

The fighting started because of land and kings. One king from England wanted to rule France. This led to many battles between the two lands.

A very bad sickness called the Black Death happened too.

This sickness made life very hard for many people.

Later, a brave woman named Joan of Arc helped France.

She helped the French people feel strong again.

In the end, the French kept control of their land. The war changed how armies fought in the future.

The Hundred Years' War was a long fight between England and France.

It lasted for 116 years. It began in 1337. Two groups of kings fought for the French throne.

The war started because of land and family ties. King Edward III of England claimed he should rule France. French leaders said no. They chose Philip of Valois to be king instead.

The war had three main parts. At first, the English won many battles.

But then, a deadly sickness called the Black Death spread. It killed many people in both lands. This made life very hard for everyone.

Later, the war started again. A brave woman named Joan of Arc helped the French.

She helped the French people feel strong. In the end, the French won control of their land. The war changed how armies fought. They began to use new tools like cannons.

This helped create the first professional armies.

The Hundred Years' War was a very long fight between England and France.

It lasted for 116 years from 1337 to 1453. This was not one single fight. Instead, it was a series of battles and many quiet times called truces. The war was about who would rule the kingdom of France. At that time, France was the wealthiest land in Western Europe.

Because it lasted so long, it changed how people lived and how kings ruled.

The war began because of family ties and land disputes.

For a long time, English kings held lands inside France. This meant they had to answer to the French king. In 1328, the French King Charles IV died without a son. His nephew, Edward III of England, said he should be the next king. However, French leaders decided that a person could not inherit the throne through their mother. They chose Philip, Count of Valois, to be the new king instead.

Edward III protested this choice and eventually used his army to fight for his claim.

The conflict happened in three main stages. First was the Edwardian War from 1337 to 1360. During this time, the English had great success at battles like Crécy in 1346.

The second part was the Caroline War from 1369 to 1389. During these years, the French fought to take back their lands. The third part was the Lancastrian War from 1415 to 1453. This stage saw the English win big at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. However, the French eventually won back control of their kingdom.

Life was very hard for people during this long period. Between 1347 and 1351, a deadly sickness called the Black Death spread across Europe.

In France, millions of people died from this plague. It caused the economy to collapse and made it hard to find workers. Both England and France also faced poverty and social unrest. The war was interrupted by this sickness and by many years of peace. These hard times made the kings and their people struggle to stay in power.

The war changed the world in many important ways.

Before the war, armies were mostly made of knights on horses. By the end, countries used professional soldiers and new tools like artillery. These were early versions of cannons.

A famous woman named Joan of Arc also helped boost French spirit during the fighting.

In the end, the English lost most of their lands in France. This helped England and France become strong, separate nations with their own identities.

The Hundred Years' War was a massive series of conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France. It lasted for 116 years, spanning from 1337 to 1453. This was not one continuous battle, but rather an intermittent struggle. It included many periods of active fighting separated by long truces. The war was also a civil war within France itself. It involved five generations of kings from two rival dynasties. These leaders fought for control over the throne of France. At the time, France was the wealthiest and most populous kingdom in Western Europe.

The conflict grew from deep-seated feudal disputes over land and power. For centuries, English monarchs held territories within France, such as the Duchy of Aquitaine. This made the English kings vassals to the French kings. Tensions rose when the direct male line of the Capetian dynasty ended. In 1328, King Charles IV of France died without a son or brother. This created a major succession crisis. Edward III of England was the nephew of Charles IV. He claimed the throne through his mother, Isabella. However, French nobility rejected this claim. They used Salic law to argue that women could not transmit rights to the throne. They instead crowned Philip, Count of Valois, as Philip VI.

Historians divide the war into three distinct phases. The first phase is the Edwardian War, which lasted from 1337 to 1360. During this stage, English forces saw major successes. They won famous battles at Crécy in 1346 and Poitiers in 1356. In the second phase, known as the Caroline War (1369–1389), the French fought to reclaim territory. Under King Charles V and the leader Bertrand du Guesclin, France took back most lost lands. The third phase is the Lancastrian War, from 1415 to 1453. This period began with English victories at Agincourt and Verneuil. However, the French eventually regained control of the kingdom.

External factors frequently interrupted the fighting. The most devastating was the Black Death, a deadly plague that spread between 1347 and 1351. This pandemic caused catastrophic damage across Europe. In France, the plague killed between 6 and 12 million people. This represented 30% to 60% of the French population. England also suffered, losing roughly 2 to 3 million people. The massive loss of life caused economic collapse and labor shortages. It also led to widespread social dislocation and unrest in both kingdoms.

During the final phase, several key events shifted the momentum. King Henry V of England seized an opportunity during a French civil war. This conflict was between the Armagnac and Burgundian factions. English victories at Agincourt raised hopes of total conquest. However, the emergence of Joan of Arc changed the course of history. She helped boost French morale during the Siege of Orléans in 1429. Although she was later captured and executed, her influence was significant. Following her, the French won decisive battles at Patay, Formigny, and Castillon. These victories allowed the Valois dynasty to secure the throne.

The war fundamentally changed how nations fought. Before this era, feudal armies relied heavily on aristocratic knights on horseback. By the end of the war, professional standing armies had emerged. New military technologies and tactics became standard. Artillery, including small hand-held cannons, played a crucial role. This shift meant that military power was no longer just for the nobility. The rise of these technologies helped create the first professional armies in Western Europe since the Roman Empire.

The long-term significance of the war is seen in the rise of nationalism. The struggle helped create stronger national identities in both England and France. Both kingdoms became more centralized and eventually emerged as global powers. For England, the loss of continental lands led to financial insolvency. This dissatisfaction among nobles helped trigger the Wars of the Roses. For France, the victory consolidated the power of the monarchy. The war remains the longest military conflict in European history. It transformed the political and social structures of the entire continent.