The Hundred Years War between England and France is the longest military and political conflict in the history of the past. The term "war" in relation to this event, as well as its chronological framework, is rather arbitrary, since military actions have not been constantly conducted over more than a century. The source of the contradictions between England and France was the bizarre interweaving of the historical destinies of these countries, which began with the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The Norman dukes who established themselves on the English throne came from Northern France. They united under their rule England and part of the continent - the northern French region of Normandy. In the 12th century. the possessions of the English kings in France increased sharply as a result of the annexation of regions in central and southwestern France through dynastic marriages. After a long and difficult struggle, the French monarchy at the beginning of the 13th century. reclaimed most of these lands. Together with the traditional dominions of the French kings, they formed the core of modern France.

However, the territory remained under British rule in the southwest - between the Pyrenees and the Loire Valley. In France it was called Guienne, in England Gascony. "English Gascony" and became one of the main reasons that caused the Hundred Years War. The preservation of English domination in the southwest made the position of the French Capetian unreliable and prevented the real political centralization of the country. For the English monarchy, this area could become a springboard in an attempt to regain the former huge possessions on the continent.

In addition, the two largest Western European monarchies vied for political and economic influence in the de facto independent County of Flanders (present-day Netherlands). Flemish cities, which bought English wool, sent a wealthy merchant from Ghent, Jacob Artevelde, to England and offered Edward III the crown of France. At this time, the Valois dynasty (1328-1589), the younger line of the Capetian (the previous royal dynasty), settled in France.

Another object of sharp controversy was Scotland, whose independence was threatened by England. In search of political support in Europe, the Scottish kingdom sought an alliance with the main rivals of the English crown - France. As the Anglo-French contradictions intensified, both monarchies tried to strengthen their positions in the Iberian Peninsula. The Pyrenean countries were especially interested in them due to the fact that they bordered on the "English Gascony". All this led to the emergence of military-political alliances: Franco-Castilian (1288), Franco-Scottish (1295), between the English crown and the cities of Flanders (1340).

In 1337, the English king Edward III declared war on France, resorting to a legal form that was natural for that time: he proclaimed himself the legitimate king of France in opposition to Philip VI of Valois, who was elected to the throne by French feudal lords in 1328, after the death of his cousin, who had no sons. King Charles IV - the last of the senior branch of the Capetian dynasty. Meanwhile, Edward III was the son of Charles IV's elder sister, married to the English king.

There are four stages in the history of the war, between which there were periods of relatively long lull. The first stage is from the declaration of war in 1337 to the peace of 1360 in Bretigny. At this time, military superiority was on the side of England. The best organized English army won several famous victories - in the naval battle of Slays (1346) and Poitiers (1356). The main reason for the British victories at Crécy and Poitiers was the discipline and tactical excellence of the infantry, which consisted of archers. The English army went through a harsh school of war in the highlands of Scotland, while the French knights were accustomed to relatively easy victories and the glory of the best cavalry in Europe. Capable in fact only for individual combat, they did not know discipline and maneuver, fought effectively, but not prudently. The organized actions of the British infantry under the clear command of Edward III led to two crushing defeats of the French army. A chronicler, a contemporary of the Hundred Years War, wrote about the "death of French chivalry." The terrible defeats of France, which had lost the army and the king (after Poitiers, he was in English captivity), allowed the British to mercilessly plunder the country. And then the people of France - the townspeople and peasants themselves rose to their defense. Self-defense of the inhabitants of villages and cities, the first partisan detachments became the beginning of the future broad liberation movement. This forced the king of England to conclude a difficult peace for France in Bretigny. She lost huge possessions in the southwest, but remained an independent kingdom (Edward III renounced claims to the French crown).

The war resumed in 1369. Its second stage (1369-1396) was generally successful for France. The French king Charles V and the talented military leader Bertrand Dugueclin used the support of the masses, which helped the partially reorganized French army to oust the British from the southwest. Under their rule, however, there were still several large and strategically important ports on the French coast - Bordeaux, Bayonne, Brest, Cherbourg, Calais. The armistice of 1396 was concluded in connection with the extreme exhaustion of the forces of both sides. It did not resolve a single controversial issue, which made the continuation of the war inevitable.

The third stage of the Hundred Years War (1415-1420) is the shortest and most dramatic for France. After the new landing of the British army in the north of France and the terrible defeat of the French at Agincourt (1415), the independent existence of the French kingdom was threatened. The English king Henry V, in five years much more active than before, of hostilities, subjugated about half of France and achieved the conclusion of a treaty at Troyes (1420), according to which the unification of the English and French crowns under his rule was to take place. And again, the masses of the people of France intervened even more decisively than before in the fate of the war. This determined her character in the final fourth stage.

Warriors of the Hundred Years War

The fourth stage began in the 1920s. 15th century and ended with the expulsion of the British from France in the mid-50s. During these three decades, the war on the part of France was of a liberating nature. Started almost a hundred years ago as a conflict between the ruling royal houses, it became for the French a struggle to preserve the possibility of independent development and create the foundations of a future nation-state. In 1429, a simple peasant girl Jeanne d'Arc (circa 1412 - 1431) led the struggle to lift the siege of Orleans, achieved the official coronation in Reims of the legitimate heir to the French throne, Charles VII. She instilled in the people of France a firm belief in victory.

Jeanne d'Arc was born in the town of Domrémie on the border of France with Lorraine. By 1428, the war had reached this outskirts. "Great pity, biting like a snake", sorrow about the misfortunes of "dear France" entered the girl's heart. So Jeanne herself defined the feeling that prompted her to leave her father's house and go to Charles VII to become the head of the army and expel the British from France. Through the areas occupied by the British and their allies, the Burgudians, she reached Chinon, where Charles VII was. She was put at the head of the army, because everyone - the common people, experienced military leaders, soldiers - believed this extraordinary girl, her promises to save her homeland. Natural intelligence and keen observation helped her to correctly navigate in the situation and quickly learn the simple military tactics of that time. She was always ahead of everyone in the most dangerous places, and her loyal warriors rushed after her. After the victory at Orleans (it took Joan only 9 days to lift the siege from the city, which lasted more than 200 days) and the coronation of Charles VII, Joan of Arc's fame increased enormously. The people, the army, the cities saw in her not only the savior of the motherland, but also the leader. She was consulted for a variety of reasons. Charles VII and his inner circle began to show more and more mistrust towards Jeanne and finally simply betrayed her. During one sortie, retreating with a handful of brave men towards Compiegne, Jeanne was trapped: by order of the French commandant, the bridge was raised and the gates of the fortress were shut tightly. Jeanne was captured by the Burgundians, and they sold her to the British for 10 thousand gold. The girl was kept in an iron cage, chained to the bed at night. The French king, who owed her the throne, did not take any measures to save Jeanne. The British accused her of heresy and witchcraft and executed (she was burned at the stake in Rouen by the verdict of the church court).

But this could no longer change the real state of affairs. The French army, reorganized by Charles VII, won several important victories with the support of the townspeople and peasants. The largest of these is the Battle of Formigny in Normandy. In 1453, the English garrison surrendered in Bordeaux, which is conventionally considered the end of the Hundred Years War. For another hundred years, the British held the French port of Calais in the north of the country. But the main contradictions were resolved in the middle of the 15th century.

France emerged from the war extremely ruined, many areas were devastated and plundered. Nevertheless, the victory objectively helped to complete the unification of the French lands and to develop the country along the path of political centralization. For England, the war also had serious consequences - the English crown abandoned attempts to create an empire on the British Isles and the continent, and national identity grew in the country. All this paved the way for the formation of nation states in both countries.

Bibliography

Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Young Historian M., 1993

R.Yu. Wipper "A short textbook on the history of the Middle Ages"

1. The reasons for the war.
At the end of the 30s of the XIV century. The Hundred Years War between France and England (1337-1453) began, which was the final and most difficult stage of the long-standing conflict between the two states. Deployed on the territory of France, with the long-term occupation of the country by the British, it led to a decrease in population, and a reduction in production and trade.
One of the hotbeds of controversy that caused the military conflict was the territory of the former Aquitaine, especially its western part - Guienne, the object of the king's claims. The economic area was closely connected with England, receiving wool from there for cloth making. Wines, salt, steel and dyes went from Guienne to England. The nobility and the chivalry of Guienne, striving to preserve political independence, preferred the nominal power of England to the real power of the French king. For the French kingdom, the struggle for the southern provinces and the elimination of English rule in them was at the same time a war for the unification of the French state. The second, also a long-standing hotbed of contradictions, was the rich Flanders, which became the object of aggression for both warring parties.
The Hundred Years War began and took place under the sign of the dynastic claims of the English monarchy. In 1328 the last of the sons of Philip IV died, leaving no heir. Edward ???, who, as the female grandson of Philip IV, had a convenient opportunity to unite both crowns, declaring his rights to the French throne. In France, however, they referred to a legal provision that excluded the possibility of transferring the crown through the female line. It was based on the article of "Salicheskaya Pravda", which denied a woman the right to receive land inheritance. The crown was given to the representative of the Capetian side branch - Philip IV of Valois (1328-1350). Then Edward ??? decided to achieve his rights with the help of weapons.
In 1337 the English king Edward ??? declared war on France, resorting to a legal form that was natural for that time: he proclaimed himself the legitimate king of France, as opposed to Philip? V of Valois, who was elected to the throne by the French feudal lords.
This military conflict became the largest war on a European scale, involving such political forces and countries as Flanders, Aragon and Portugal through a system of allies on the side of England; Castile, Scotland and the papacy are on the side of France. In this war, closely related to the internal development of the participating countries, the issue of the territorial delimitation of a number of states and political entities - France and England, England and Scotland, France and Flanders, Castile and Aragon - was resolved. For England, it grew into the problem of the formation of a universal state that included different peoples; for France - into the problem of its existence as an independent state.

2. Stages of the Hundred Years War
2.1. The first period of the war (1337-1360)
The first stage of the war begins - from the declaration of war in 1337 to the peace of 1360 in Bretigny. At this time, military superiority was on the side of England. The British made their first invasion of the continent in 1339, where they laid siege to the Cambrai fortress in the province of Artua. It was not possible to take the fortress, and Edward returned to England to prepare for the next campaign. Having equipped a large fleet and a strong army, the British laid siege to the fortress of Tournai. In June 1340, the French hired ships from the Genoese, mobilized merchant ships, strengthening their fleet, and moved to the shores of Flanders to attack the English fleet, which was stationed at the mouth of the river. Scheldt. In the battle, called the Battle of Slays (Ecluse), the French fleet was completely destroyed and the British gained dominance at sea. But on land they failed again - the British failed to take Tournai. Edward lifted the siege and concluded an armistice, which lasted until 1346.
In 1341, Jean III, Duke of Breton died. The throne of Brittany was emptied, and the so-called. War of Succession (1341-1364), between French and English henchmen. Meanwhile, the British government, having collected significant forces, resumes hostilities. In 1346 the British landed in three places - in Flanders (a red herring), Brittany and Giani. They systematically plundered and plundered France, in the south they took possession of almost all the castles. In the second half of 1346, King Edward himself landed in Normandy. Having devastated this province, he decided to march to Flanders, which was probably due to the departure of his fleet to Britain. The French destroyed the bridges over the Seine and Somme, forcing the British to make a detour. However, Edward managed to force these rivers and get out north of Abbeville, where the famous battle of Crecy (Cressy) took place, brilliantly won by the British. Then Edward laid siege to Calais and took him 11 months later.
The main reason for the British victories at Crécy and Poitiers is the discipline and tactical excellence of the infantry, which consisted of archers. The English army went through a harsh school of war in the highlands of Scotland, while the French knights were accustomed to relatively easy victories and the glory of the best cavalry in Europe. They were practically capable of individual combat, they did not know discipline and maneuver, they fought effectively, but imprudently. Organized actions of the British infantry under the clear command of Edward ??? led to two crushing defeats of the French army. The chronicler, a contemporary of the Hundred Years War, wrote: "the death of the color of French chivalry." The terrible defeats of France, which had lost the army and the king (after Poitiers, he was in English captivity), allowed the British to mercilessly plunder the country. And then the people of France - the townspeople and peasants - themselves rose to their defense. Self-defense of the inhabitants of villages and cities, the first partisan detachments became the beginning of the future broad liberation movement. This forced the king of England to conclude a difficult peace for France in Bretigny.

2.2 The second period of the war (1369-1396)
The Hundred Years War resumed in 1369. The second period was completely successful for France. Charles V, unconventionally for the monarch, argued the need for a general struggle against the British and their allies - the Navarrians. In medieval society, a war was considered "just" for a religious idea (so to speak, "by the will of God") and for the legitimate dynastic rights of the sovereign. Incidentally, this was the basis of the propaganda appeals of Edward III (and at the beginning of the 15th century - his follower Henry V of the new Lancaster dynasty) to the population of England when justifying the justice of the British war in France. Karl U literally from the first months of his tenure in power, even as regent, began to use a different argument. The main emphasis was placed on the fact that the enemies were "devastating" the French land, that they "invaded the Duchy of Normandy and caused great damage to our subjects."
In 1369. Charles U, renewing the war against the English king, wrote in official documents not about dynastic disputes, which were the legal basis for a just war. In his addresses to the population of the country, the king appealed to thoughts and feelings that are much closer and understandable to ordinary people: “Let us all know that Edward of England and his eldest son Edward, Prince of Wales, began an open war against us and our subjects, they they plunder and burn our lands and cause all other evil and therefore are our enemies. "
The impetus for the official resumption of hostilities was the events in Gascony - the very heart of the British possessions on the continent. The lords of this region, due to its special historical fate, were distinguished by especially pronounced separatism. They were, as a rule, supporters of the rule of the English king, which was less dangerous to their independence than the French one. In the 60s. XIV century. The English governor, the Black Prince, put some pressure on them, primarily financial. Accustomed to maneuvering between two rival royal houses, prominent Gascon lords filed an appeal against Charles V.
Under the terms of the Bretigny peace, the French king had no rights in Gascony. The seniors' appeal gave him an excellent excuse to abandon the terms of the hated contract. Having secured a written opinion from two prominent doctors of law from Bologna on the legality of preserving French sovereignty in Aquitaine, Charles V collected a lot of complaints against the Black Prince and demanded an answer from him. The terms of the peace of 1360 were thereby rejected, the war actually resumed. It remained for Edward III to accept the challenge. January 3, 1369 he reappropriated the title of French king. In the spring of that year, he announced the imminent invasion of France.
However, this time, France had the initiative from the very beginning. With the support of the States General, Charles V declared war on England and sent troops under the command of Philip of Burgundy to Ponthier. In 1369-1370. large British armies landed at Calais twice. The British were guided by the old tried and tested tactics - a combination of single major battles with devastating raids. In this sense, the nomination to the post of military leader Robert Knollis, a well-known leader of the brigands, is symptomatic. Even the English knights called him "the old robber." The British, apparently, hoped that his gangster experience would find wide application. But the practice of the war at this stage from the first steps showed that the French had decisively changed their tactics. The English army twice tried to impose a battle on the enemy: in 1369 in Picardy, in 1370. near Paris, but the French both times evaded a decisive battle, preferring small skirmishes, sudden attacks on the march, the capture of individual fortresses, thereby preventing the British from resorting to their usual tactics of devastation.
Bertrand Dugueclin proved himself to be a talented commander, mastering the methods of warfare atypical for the medieval army. His favorite technique was a surprise attack on the rearguard of the English army, which was returning to its centers of location after a grueling campaign or siege. It was in this way that he inflicted significant damage on the Knollis army in Brittany and the Black Prince's troops in Gascony in 1370. It would be wrong, however, to attribute these innovations solely to the abilities of Dugueclin. The reasons were deeper. The liberation tasks of France in these years, the outlined change in the nature of the war, and finally, the almost ten-year experience of the participation of townspeople and peasants in the struggle against the British could not but affect the methods of warfare.
New tactics, for which the British troops were completely unprepared, began to bear fruit. Gradually, city after city, fortress after fortress, the French army liberated Gascony. This was the great merit of the townspeople, who in 1370 raised anti-British uprisings in a number of cities in the southwest. The most significant was the performance in Limoges. The Black Prince sent envoys to the inhabitants of the city, who tried to persuade them to come to their senses and voluntarily return to the rule of England. But, as Walsingham writes, "the dissolute rabble did not want to listen to anything, turned away from the ambassadors and strengthened the city even more." The English prince brutally dealt with the inhabitants of the rebellious Limoges, thereby sowing the seeds of hatred for the invaders.
Charles V and the military commander Bertrand Dugueclin drove the British out of the southwest, but several large and strategically important ports on the French coast remained under British rule: Bordeaux, Bayonne, Cherbourg, Calais. The second stage ended with an armistice concluded in 1396 due to the extreme exhaustion of both forces.

2.3 The third period of the war (1415-1420).
The third stage of the war was the shortest and most dramatic for France.
August 11, 1415 an armada sailed from the shores of England, ferrying the most numerous and thorough shell to France
etc.................

Hundred Years War 1337-1453 between England and France, the longest military-political conflict in the history of the past. The term "war" in relation to this event, as well as its chronological framework, is rather arbitrary, since military operations have not been constantly conducted over more than a century. The source of the contradictions between England and France was the bizarre interweaving of the historical destinies of these countries, which began with the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The Norman dukes who established themselves on the English throne came from Northern France. They united under their rule England and part of the continent - the northern French region of Normandy. In the 12th century. the possessions of the English kings in France increased sharply as a result of the annexation of regions in central and southwestern France through dynastic marriages. After a long and difficult struggle, the French monarchy at the beginning of the 13th century. reclaimed most of these lands. Together with the traditional dominions of the French kings, they formed the core of modern France.

However, the territory remained under British rule in the southwest - between the Pyrenees and the Loire Valley. In France it was called Guienne, in England Gascony. "English Gascony" and became one of the main reasons that caused the Hundred Years War. The preservation of English domination in the southwest made the position of the French Capetian unreliable and prevented the real political centralization of the country. For the English monarchy, this area could become a springboard in an attempt to regain the former huge possessions on the continent. In addition, the two largest Western European monarchies vied for political and economic influence in the de facto independent County of Flanders (present-day Netherlands).

Flemish cities, which bought English wool, sent a wealthy merchant from Ghent, Jacob Artevelde, to England and offered Edward III the crown of France. At this time, the Valois dynasty (1328-1589), the younger line of the Capetian (the previous royal dynasty), settled in France.

Another object of sharp controversy was Scotland, whose independence was threatened by England. In search of political support in Europe, the Scottish kingdom sought an alliance with the main rivals of the English crown - France. As the Anglo-French contradictions intensified, both monarchies tried to strengthen their positions in the Iberian Peninsula. The Pyrenees countries were especially interested in them due to the fact that they bordered on the "English Gascony". All this led to the emergence of military-political alliances: Franco-Castilian (1288), Franco-Scottish (1295), between the English crown and the cities of Flanders (1340).

In 1337, the English king Edward III declared war on France, resorting to a legal form that was natural for that time: he proclaimed himself the legitimate king of France in opposition to Philip VI of Valois, who was elected to the throne by French feudal lords in 1328, after the death of his cousin, who had no sons. King Charles IV - the last of the senior branch of the Capetian dynasty. Meanwhile, Edward III was the son of Charles IV's elder sister, married to the English king.

La guerre de cent ans is a tragic period in French history that claimed the lives of many thousands of French people. The armed conflict between England and France, which lasted with interruptions for 116 years (from 1337 to 1453), and if not for Jeanne D'Arc, who knows how it might have ended.

Today we will try to understand the causes and consequences of this war, which ended with the victory of France, but what did it cost her? So, we get comfortable in the time machine and go to the past, to the XIV century.

In the first half of the XIV century, namely after the death of the last representative of the royal dynasty of the Capetian (Les Capétiens) Charles IV in 1328, a difficult situation developed in France: the question arose, to whom to transfer the throne, if not a single Capetian remained in the male line?

Fortunately, the Capetian dynasty had relatives - the Counts of Valois (Charles of Valois was the brother of Philip IV the Fair). A council of representatives of noble French families decided that the crown of France should be transferred to the Valois family. So, thanks to the majority of votes on the Council, the Valois dynasty ascended to the French throne in the person of its first representative, King Philip VI.

All this time, England closely watched events in France. The fact is that the English king Edward III was the grandson of Philip IV the Fair, so he considered that he had the right to claim the French throne. In addition, the British were haunted by the provinces of Gien and Aquitaine (as well as some others), located in France. Once these provinces were the domain of England, but King Philip II Augustus took them back by recapturing them from England. After Philip VI of Valois was crowned in Reims (the city where the French kings were crowned), Edward III sent him a letter in which he expressed his claims to the French throne.

At first, Philip VI laughed when he received this letter, because the mind is incomprehensible! But in the fall of 1337, the British launched an offensive in Picardy (French province), and in France no one laughs anymore.

The most striking thing about this war is that throughout the history of the conflict, the British, that is, the enemies of France, from time to time support various French provinces, looking for their own benefit in this war. As the saying goes, "To whom the war, and to whom - the mother is dear." And now England is supported by the cities of the south-west of France.

From all of the above, it follows that England acted as the aggressor, and France had to defend its territories.

Les causes de la Guerre de Cent ans: le roi anglais Eduard III prétend àê tre le roi de France. L'Angleterre veut regagner les territoires françaises d'Auquitaine et de Guyenne.

French Armed Forces

It should be noted that the French army of the XIV century consisted of a feudal knightly militia, whose ranks included both noble knights and commoners, as well as foreign mercenaries (famous Genoese crossbowmen).

Unfortunately, the system of universal conscription, which formally existed in France, practically disappeared by the beginning of the Hundred Years War. Therefore, the king had to think and wonder: will the Duke of Orleans come to my aid? Will any other duke or count help with his army? However, the cities were capable of fielding large military contingents, which included cavalry and artillery. All soldiers received payment for their service.

Les forces armées françaises se composaient de la milice féodale chevaleresque. Le système de conscription universelle, qui existait formellement en France, au début de la guerre de Cent Ans presque disparu.

The beginning of the war

The beginning of the Hundred Years War, unfortunately, was successful for the enemy and unsuccessful for France. France suffered several defeats in a number of significant battles.

The French fleet, which prevented the landing of British troops on the continent, was almost completely destroyed in the naval battle of Slays in 1340. After this event, until the end of the war, the British fleet had supremacy at sea, controlling the English Channel.

Further, the troops of the French king Philip attacked Edward's army in the famous Battle of Crecy August 26, 1346. This battle ended in a disastrous defeat for the French forces. Philip then remained practically completely alone, almost all the army died, and he himself knocked on the doors of the first castle he came across and asked for an overnight stay with the words "Open to the unfortunate king of France!"

The troops of England continued their unhindered advance to the north and laid siege to the city of Calais, which was taken in 1347. This event was an important strategic success for the British, it allowed Edward III to keep his forces on the continent.

In 1356, the battle of Poitiers... In France, King John II the Good is already ruling. The 30,000-strong English army inflicted a crushing defeat on France at the Battle of Poitiers. The battle was tragic for France also because the front ranks of the French horses were frightened by the volleys of guns and rushed back, knocking down the knights, hooves and armor crushing their own soldiers, the crush turned out to be incredible. Many soldiers died not even at the hands of the British, but under the hooves of their own horses. In addition, the battle ended with the capture of King John II the Good by the British.

King John II is sent to England as a prisoner, and confusion and chaos reign in France. In 1359, the Peace of London was signed, according to which England received Aquitaine, and King John the Good was released. Economic hardships and military setbacks led to popular indignation - the Paris uprising (1357-1358) and Jacquerie (1358). With great effort, these unrest were pacified, but, again, France was worth significant losses.

British troops moved freely throughout France, demonstrating to the population the weakness of the French government.

The heir to the French throne, the future King Charles V the Wise, was forced to conclude a humiliating peace for himself in Bretigny (1360). As a result of the first stage of the war, Edward III acquired half of Brittany, Aquitaine, Calais, Poitiers, and about half of the vassal possessions of France. The French throne thus lost a third of the territory of France.

The French king John had to return to captivity, as his son Louis of Anjou, who was the king's guarantor, escaped from England. John died in English captivity, and King Charles V, whom the people would call the Wise, came to the throne of France.

La bataille de Crécy et la bataille de Poitiers se termèrent par une défaite pour les Français. Le roi Jean II le Bon est capturé par les Anglais. Le trône français a perdu un tiers du territoire de la France.

How France lived under Charles V

King Charles V of France reorganized the army and carried out important economic reforms. All this allowed the French to achieve significant military successes in the second stage of the war, in the 1370s. The British were driven out of the country. Despite the fact that the French province of Brittany was an ally of England, the Breton dukes showed loyalty to the French authorities, and even the Breton knight Bertrand Dugueclin became the constable of France (commander-in-chief) and the right hand of King Charles V.

During this period, Edward III was already old to command an army and wage war, and England lost her best military leaders. The constable Bertrand Dugueclin, following a cautious strategy, in a series of military campaigns, avoiding clashes with large British armies, liberated many cities, such as Poitiers (1372) and Bergerac (1377). The allied fleet of France and Castile won a landslide victory at La Rochelle, destroying the English squadron.

In addition to military successes, King Charles V of France was able to do a lot for his country. He reformed the taxation system, managing to reduce taxes and, thereby, make life easier for the common population of France. He reorganized the army, putting it in order and making it more organized. He carried out a number of significant economic reforms that made the life of the peasants easier. And all this - in a terrible war time!

Charles V le Sage a réorganisé l'armée, a tenu une série de réformes économiques visant à stabilizer le pays, a réorganisé le système fiscal. Grace au connétable Bertrand du Guesclin il a remporté plusieurs victoires importantes sur les Anglais.

What happened next?

Unfortunately, Charles V the Wise dies, and his son Charles VI ascends the French throne. At first, the actions of this king were aimed at continuing the wise policy of his father.

But a little later, Charles VI goes crazy for unknown reasons. Anarchy began in the country, power was seized by the uncles of the king, the dukes of Burgundy and Berry. In addition, a civil war broke out in France between the Burgundians and the Armagnacs over the murder of the king's brother, the Duke of Orleans (Armagnacs are relatives of the Duke of Orleans). The British could not help but take advantage of this situation.

England is ruled by King Henry IV; v battle of Agincourt On October 25, 1415, the British won a decisive victory over the superior forces of the French.

The English king captured most of Normandy, including the cities of Caen (1417) and Rouen (1419). Having entered into an alliance with the Duke of Burgundy, in five years the English king subdued about half of the territory of France. In 1420, Henry met in negotiations with the insane king Charles VI, with whom he signed a treaty at Troyes. According to this agreement, Henry V was declared the heir of Charles VI the Mad, bypassing the legitimate Dauphin Charles (in the future - King Charles VII). The following year, Henry entered Paris, where the agreement was officially confirmed by the States General (French parliament).

Continuing hostilities, in 1428 the British laid siege to the city of Orleans. But 1428 marked the appearance on the political and military arena of the French national heroine Jeanne D'Arc.

La bataille d'Azincourt a été la défaite des Français. Les Anglais sont allés plus loin.

Jeanne D'Arc and the victory of France

Having besieged Orleans, the British realized that their forces were not enough to organize a complete blockade of the city. In 1429, Jeanne d'Arc met with the Dauphin Charles (who at that time was forced to hide with his supporters) and persuaded him to give her troops to lift the siege from Orleans. The conversation was long and sincere. Karl believed the young girl. Jeanne managed to raise the morale of her soldiers. At the head of the troops, she attacked the British siege fortifications, forced the enemy to retreat, lifting the siege from the city. Thus, inspired by Jeanne, the French liberated a number of important fortifications in the Loire. Soon thereafter, Jeanne and her army defeated the British armed forces at Path, opening the road to Reims, where the Dauphin was crowned under the name of King Charles VII.

Unfortunately, in 1430, the folk heroine Jeanne was captured by the Burgundians and handed over to the British. But even her execution in 1431 could not affect the further course of the war and pacify the fighting spirit of the French.

In 1435, the Burgundians went over to the side of France, and the Duke of Burgundy helped King Charles VII to capture Paris. This allowed Charles to reorganize the army and government. French commanders liberated city after city, repeating the strategy of Constable Bertrand Dugueclin. In 1449 the French conquered the Norman city of Rouen. At the Battle of Formigny, the French utterly defeated the British forces and liberated the city of Caen. An attempt by the British troops to recapture Gascony, which remained loyal to the English crown, failed: the British troops suffered a crushing defeat at Castiglion in 1453. This battle was the last battle of the Hundred Years War. And in 1453, the surrender of the British garrison in Bordeaux put an end to the Hundred Years War.

Jeanne d'Arc aide le Dauphin Charles et remporte plusieurs victoires sur les Anglais. Elle aide Charles aê tre couronné à Reims et devenir roi. Les Français continuent les succès de Jeanne, remportent plusieurs victoires et chassent les Anglais de France. En 1453, la reddition de la garnison britannique à Bordeaux a terminé la guerre de Cent Ans.

What are the consequences of the Hundred Years War?

As a result of the war, England lost all of its possessions in France, except for the city of Calais, which remained part of England until 1558 (but then he returned to the fold of France). England lost vast territories in southwestern France, which it had owned since the 12th century. The madness of the English king plunged the country into a period of anarchy and internecine conflicts, in which the warring houses of Lancaster and York were the protagonists. The War of the Scarlet and White Roses began in England. In connection with the civil war, England did not have the strength and means to return the lost territories in France. On top of all this, the treasury was devastated by military spending.

The war had a significant impact on the development of military affairs: the role of the infantry increased on the battlefields, which required less costs in creating large armies, and the first standing armies appeared. In addition, new types of weapons were invented, favorable conditions for the development of firearms appeared.

But the main result of the war was the victory of France. The country felt its power and the strength of its spirit!

Les Anglais ont perdu les territoires françaises. La victoire définitive de la France.

The theme of the Hundred Years War and the image of the national heroine Jeanne D'Arc became fertile ground for the works of cinema and literature.

If you are interested in how it all began, what was the situation in France before the Hundred Years War and its first period, then be sure to pay attention to the series of novels "Damned Kings" by Maurice Druon. The writer describes with historical accuracy the characters of the kings of France and the situation before and during the war.

Alexandre Dumas also writes a series of works about the Hundred Years War. The novel "Isabella of Bavaria" - the period of the reign of Charles VI and the signing of the peace in Troyes.

As for the cinema, you can watch the film by Luc Besson "Jeanne d'Arc", based on the play "The Skylark" by Jean Anouille. The film does not quite correspond to the historical truth, but the scenes of the battles are shown on a large scale.

The Hundred Years War is more likely not a war between England and France, but a series of conflicts that lasted from 1337 to 1453, mainly on the territory of the Kingdom of France.
The war lasted 116 years, and it was not permanent, as it continued intermittently. The entire Hundred Years War can be divided into four periods:
- The Edwardian War (the period lasted from 1337 - 1360);
- Carolingian War (lasted from 1369 - 1396);
- Lancaster War (lasted from 1415-1428);
- and the final period of the Hundred Years War (from 1428 to 1453);

Causes of the Hundred Years War

The course of the Hundred Years War

The aftermath of the war