This summary is taken from a book titled The Dawn of a New Era 1250-1435 written by Edward P. Cheney, the first book in the 20-volume historical series The Rise of Modern Europe. The original copyright was in 1936; this particular copy is dated 1971, so the monetary figures in �modern value� are not accurate.
The Hundred Years War
The later decades of the 13th century and the early decades of the 14th century were filled with nearly constant half-feudal and half-national war. While France was busy warring against Flanders and Gascony, England was engaged in battles against the Irish, Welsh and Scots. The kingdoms of Castile and Aragon were at odds and they both fought against the Moors of Granada.
Swiss cantons fought their Austrian overlords, Italy was often invaded and also suffered from internal strife, and German nobility also slugged it out. There was also strife in Scandinavia, Prussia, Poland, Lithuania, Hussite wars in Germany and Turkish invasions of the eastern frontiers of Europe. With all this, however, the most well known conflict of this era was the Hundred Years War, the English invasions of France during the years 1338 to 1452.
The Causes of the War:
The author gives the following reasons for the war: the unstable feudal equilibrium between French and English kings; Scotland; sailor�s disputes; the wool market; foreign adventurers; Edward III ambition for the French crown; the rising spirit of nationality.
Edward was king of England, but he was also the feudatory of the French king. As the lord of Normandy, Anjou, Poitou, Guienne and many other provinces Edward was the vassal of the French king and had to swear homage and fealty to his feudal lord. This relationship also was a sore spot for France for as long as England held these lands the French king lacked the supremacy he sought over his kingdom.
In 1328 France demanded the homage of Edward and the following year the sixteen-year-old king of England left for the cathedral of Amiens to swear his fealty, the final act of full homage from an English king to the French. The homage ceremony included Edward kneeling in his armor; the French would have preferred him with his belt loosened, helmet and sword laid aside and with his hands placed between those of the French king as he swore.
Complicating matters was that Edward thought that he should reign over France due to a hereditary claim (Edward was the nephew of the just-deceased King Charles of France). The new king of France was Philip of Valois, the French king�s cousin.
France�s support of Scotland also was a hindrance to peace. They did not acknowledge England�s over-lordship of Scotland; French adventurers [mercenaries] fought alongside the Scots; France lent money to Scotland; Scottish exiles found refuge in France.
Trading and fishing towns of England and France were also at odds, dating back to 1293, culminating in murder, revenge and taking booty by sailors on both sides. There were similar incidents following this and wine and wool merchants were also rivals.
The Early Alliances of the War:
In 1337 King Edward was ready to invade France. With his opponent larger, more populous and wealthier, Edwards could not wage war alone. Sending a deputation to Valenciennes the residence of his father-in-law Count William of Hainault. Resulting from this was the alliances with the princes, nobles and gentry of the Netherlands and the lower Rhine. This would cost Edward money, loans that would lead to his bankruptcy a decade later.
England also sought assistance from Flanders. Before this an embargo was placed on wool and food items from England to France, including Flanders. Resulting from this was neutrality by Flanders in the upcoming war in return for removal of the embargo.
The invasion of Eastern France in 1339 was followed by a siege of Tournai in 1340, both resulting in little activity. Philip did little to prepare for the invasion, but he, as any French king would, expected Scotland to cause turmoil, negotiated for a Genoese fleet and crossbowmen and looked to block any aid to England from Flanders and Spain. Both sides anticipated a quick end to the war, but that was not to be. Edwards�s alliances fell apart. There was no large-scale fighting and except for the battle of Sluys, it would be a decade before an important battle would be fought.
The Ravaging of France:
This would be a war of devastation. Villages and crops were burned, orchards were felled, livestock seized and residents harried. On Edward�s entry into France he spent a week torching Cambrai and its environs. More than 1,000 villages were destroyed. France did what it could in England, at the war�s onset seamen ventured to the southeastern coast of England to burn and ravage there. Much plunder was taken back to England and the thought of acquiring ill-gotten gain enticed many to support the war. Ransom was another was of monetary gain and a king, nobles, knights and even citizens were taken hostage.
Cruelty abounded. After the city of Limoges was captured and burned, Edward ordered the townsmen executed. Much of Artois, Brittany, Normandy, Gascony and other provinces were reduced to desolation (circa 1355 to 1375) and France did the same to the provinces that sided with England. Walled towns were safe during the early period of the war, but churches, monasteries, villages and rural areas were ruined.
Truce and treaty were not observed. The �Free Companies� went into action, bandits of Either, English, French or hired mercenaries led by captains that dominated large areas and levied tribute on towns, villages and churches. They also seized women, took clergymen as accountants and correspondents, children for servants and plundered.
The first battle of importance was at sea, off the coast of Sluys in 1340. After Netherlanders invaded northeast France the previous year a 200-ship expedition from England sailed to the port city of Bruges, the easiest entry into the Netherlands. Already there were Philip�s ships, about 200 of them. After hours of battle the English feigned retreat and the French vessels followed. The English then turned and with their archers and longbows assailed the French sailors with a hail of arrows. After this came hand-to-hand combat. The French fleet sailed for safety; some were boarded and captured. The soldiers and sailors were murdered, some hung from the yards [the rods used to support a ship�s sail].
Edwards and his army landed in Flanders the next day. Other sea English sea victories were fought in 1342 and 1346. In 1350 they destroyed a Spanish merchant fleet on its way from Bruges to Spain, but in 1372 an English fleet loaded with soldiers, horses and equipment was defeated and its commander captured by French and Spanish ships.
The coasts and the islands were not spared, going back to before the war. France harassed the Channel Islands in 1337; during the next two years they plagued several coastal cities including Portsmouth, Southampton and Dover. Edward then returned the favor by sacking a town and burning fishing boats in 1346. In 1360 the French torched Winchester and brutalized the residents; in 1369 they struck the Isle of Wight and burned Portsmouth a second time. In 1370 France twice, led by a fugitive Welsh prince, ravaged the coast of Wales.
The Early Course of the War:
The author divides the war into three phases: from the outbreak [1338] to the treaty of Calais in 1360; the resumption of the war in 1369 marked by desultory fighting to the invasion of Henry V in 1415; the gain and loss of mastery by the English in the remaining 37 years of battle [ending in 1452].
After the two ineffective campaigns in northeastern France ended with a truce that lasted until 1345. During the truce period Edward interfered in the French king�s civil war with Brittany, and got fealty and homage from the Brittany dukedom and access to its harbors. In 1345 the English also landed at Bordeaux and invaded Gascony. The next year Edward landed at Normandy followed by pillaging. Confronted by the French army Edward sought a defensive position near the little town of Crecy.
Man things were to work against the French. Edward had his men on higher ground, rain made the bowstrings of the Genoese crossbowmen ineffective, the sun was in their eyes [that�s the oldest excuse, sports fans] and the footmen were weary. And as usual, when it comes to war, the French proved themselves to be incompetent. In other words the English routed them. Making the victory even sweeter for Edward, he was able to seize the three feathers from the helmet of the king of Bohemia.
The English longbow was of great value to the victory, rivaling the crossbow in directness of aim, range and accuracy and in some respects surpassing it. After the rain of arrows took out many opponents and their horses the English knights swooped down upon the French troops. Edward then set his sights westward and laid siege to Calais, taking control of it and repopulating it in 1347, and possessing it for the next 200 years. England�s base in France was Bordeaux. In 1356 France, led by King John, sought a battle near Portiers. The English were situated among the vineyards and the hedges that would protect them. The French, hampered by the narrow passages between the hedges, the deep mud of the freshly plowed fields, fell victim to the rain of arrows and were slaughtered. Their king was captured along with some of the nobles.
After four more years of alternate truce and ravaging England offered a treaty, though it was more like a dictated peace. While the king of England was to yield his claim on the title of King of France, all the southwestern provinces (the old group of English fiefs, with some additions) was to be separated from France and handed over to the English king without fealty or homage. This was to lead to the creation of a new state in Europe, a principality dependent on the English crown. In addition, a war indemnity of 3,000,000 crowns, equal perhaps to $30,000,000 in modern value, was imposed upon the French, and the king, two of his sons and a number of French nobles were to remain in England as hostages until it was paid.
The treaty was signed in 1360 at Calais, but was just a temporary cessation of war. France was not divided and they also did not pay the ransom. War resumed in 1369. In 1396 a 28-year truce was signed, guaranteed by the marriage of the young English king to the daughter of the King of France. The English revolution in 1399 robbed this second attempt at settlement of the war of its validity.
Later Stages of the War:
The invasion of France by Henry V in 1415, the conquest of Normandy and the battle of Agincourt were of a deliberate war of conquest. The Treaty of Troyes followed all of this in 1420, which was again a peace dictated by the conqueror. France did not honor this peace and this led to an alternating between campaigns and truces.
By the later years of the war the French countryside was so depleted the English armies had to bring their own supplies of horseshoes, nail and hay. When plunder and ransom money became meager the war became less popular in England.
Though the truces were poorly kept, provincial struggles, the mercenaries and guerilla warfare were constant problems, they were still beneficial to both sides and throughout the entire span of the war of 112 years there were 68 nominally years of peace and 41 years of war.
The weapons used early in the war were the pike and the lance, the arbalest and longbow, the mounted and armored knight, using spear, long sword and battle-ax. The cannon, the musket and loads of gunpowder used to undermine and topple city walls replaced these accoutrements of war. This led to the increase of siege warfare instead of the earlier pillaging campaigns. Upon invading Normandy, Henry V trained his cannons on the walls of Harfleur, which he took in a month�s time. A few weeks later Henry slaughtered the French army at Agincourt although the English army was a quarter its size. Aside from this battle the English armies from hereon mostly waged war en march. From 1416 to 1418 Henry made his way through France, reducing cities as he went; Caen, Bayeux, Lisieux, Alencon, Falaise, Cherbourg and Rouen were all devastated.
During the 6-month siege against Rouen in the year 1418 England lost much life and money and the citizens of the town suffered more. They were starving as a result of the siege and to assure that soldiers and citizens would have food the governor expelled all refugees and the poor, about 12,000 of them sent through the gates. They were refused passage by the English and reentry into the city and were subjected not only to starvation but the cold winter weather of November and December. On the last day of the year the city surrendered and the surviving refugees shared with them the food brought in by their captors.
Most of the time executions followed surrender. Prisoners, a governor, Scotsmen, monks, solders, even a trumpeter wound up on the wrong end of the rope. Cities that held out until it had to yield unconditionally was at the mercy of its captor, to be plundered, ransomed or slaughtered, its women violated or the entire city reduced to poverty.
Another development of the war was the production of a group of trained veteran commanders. Members of the royal or great ducal families; nobles and commoners became solders of experience. Leaders of the auxiliary forces, bastard sons of kings or dukes were uncontrolled in their operations were brutal men, even towards their own people. They were referred to as ecorcheurs, �skinners,� because they despoiled their victims. They and their bands of soldiers often went without pay and resorted to pillaging.
The commoners from the most troubled districts immigrated to other areas. Population declined. The 221 parishes of the diocese of Rouen had in the 13th century a population of 14,992; in the 15th century the population was 5,976. In 1435 Toulouse lost half of its inhabitants another city went from 10,000 people dwindled down to 400. After the capture and sack of Limoges only 5 persons had survived. In the winter of 1438 wolves wandered through the half-depopulated suburbs of Paris, attacking women and children and even entered the city.
The Advance of Nationalism:
England struggled against the increasing strength of France that lied within its sentiment of national separateness and unity. From the outset of the war assistance from other nations was not to be, pitting England against France without few allies at all for either side. While England expected help from some of the French princes, the princes eventually defected and fought for their king and nation. Brittany, Normandy, Aquitaine and Burgundy all were England�s allies that abandoned England for France.
Joan of Arc:
The greatest surge of nationalism was to been seen among the middle and even lower classes. The peasant girl, Joan of Arc, represented this emotion most fully and awakened it in others. On March 6th, 1429 she presented herself at the court of the Dauphin in Chinon, declaring that she was sent by the King of Heaven to free besieged Orleans, take the dauphin to Rheims to be crowned and to rid France of the English. Charles, the dauphin, had been considered king since 1422, but was disinterested in the kingship and oblivious to the wasting of his country by the English. Before Joan could see him she was sent to Poitiers to be examined by the bishop for any signs of sorcery.
Charles sent troops to Orleans. Joan, who was given a horse and armor, accompanied them. She also carried a banner that had her motto inscribed, �Jhesus Maria.� Not knowing how to read or write, Joan dictated letters to the English regent and other leaders commanding them in the name of the King of Heaven to abandon the cities they captured, to leave the government of the country to its true rulers, and to withdraw with their troops and followers from France.
Joan entered Orleans from the riverside and rallied the troops. After this they captured several English bastions and in three days the 7-month siege had ended. Joan was referred to as the �Maid of Orleans� ever since. There were a few more victories for France and then Joan returned to Chinon and urged Charles to be crowned. The nobles opposed her and Charles was not yet motivated.
But on June 29th, Charles, accompanied by 12,000 men traveled 250 miles to the old royal coronation city. On the 17th of July the dauphin was crowned as Charles VII, King of France, in the cathedral art Rheims. Once returned to the Loire country the king and his court sank back into apathy.
Joan was permitted to lead an advance on Paris. She suffered her first defeat and was slightly wounded. After the winter had passed Joan and some troops went to defend the city of Compiegne against a Burgundian force in March of 1430. By mischance Joan was late in returning to the city and when the gates were shut before her she was captured and became the prisoner of the Duke of Burgundy. Joan was sent to the English for payment in return and she was sent to Rouen where she was prisoner.
The English considered Joan a sorceress and sought to destroy her. She was sent before the ecclesiastical court at her trial at Rouen under the presidency of the Bishop of Beauvais. Lasting more than ten weeks and forty sessions, for three hours at a time Joan was questioned, scolded, threatened, and led into what were intended to be verbal or logical traps.
She had total conviction in her mission. The voices of the saints that she heard told her to aid the dauphin and see him placed on the throne, and to rid France of the English. A weary Joan frightened by threats of torture, declared that she was an imposter and threw herself on the mercy of the court. Sentenced to perpetual imprisonment and subjected to neglect and insult she withdrew her confession. Joan was summoned again before her judges, declared a relapsed heretic and a sorceress, and on May 30th, 1431, she was burned at the stake at the marketplace in Rouen.
Some 375 years later Joan was canonized in a great ceremony at Rome. Ten years after Joan was executed Charles VII recognized the greatness of her service. Rising patriotism and the breach between England and Burgundy opened the way for a review of her sentence. With a new court appointed at Paris supervised by the French king the testimony was reviewed. The conclusion of the earlier court was reversed and Joan was declared innocent.
The Close of the War:
There was another twenty years of warfare after Joan of Arc. Representatives of the English, French and Burgundians in 1435 failed to end the war. Other efforts after this were fruitless, England�s refusal to surrender the title of King of France and France�s insistence on it being the reasons why.
While there were still 10,000 English troops garrisoned in France, the French had grown enough in power and unity to keep the invading forces at bay. In England there was more of an interest in economic prosperity than war, and moral and intellectual opposition to the war were also becoming effective. But the war still continued, though on a small scale.
In 1499 France finally made the effort to expel the invaders. The cities of Normandy were retaken, leaving England with only Calais in the north. This happened in the south of France also. In the year 1453 English troops from Bordeaux tried to defend the town of Castillon, but were defeated. The French took Castillon and Bordeaux as well. English troops then departed from France and the war had ended. The Hundred Years War also took its toll on feudalism and the concept of a united Christian Europe.