THE HUNDRED
YEARS' WAR, 1337-1453 (England vs France)
France: Territorial consolidation
as central policy of Capetian monarchs:
Phillip II Augustus (1180-1223) expands French royal domain
at expense of Henry II and his sons Richard, John
Louis IX (1226-1270) begins military campaign against southern
France
Albigensian Crusade (1220-1229) Languedoc incorporated into crown
1297 Louis canonized by Pope Boniface VIII: pressure from Phillip
IV
Phillip IV the Fair (1285-1314) all but Aquitaine (Engl) Brittany,
Burgundy
controversy with Boniface
VIII leads to Avignon Papacy
1328
end of Capetian line: longest lived dynasty in medieval history
Salic Law invoked to prevent succession through female line;
otherwise
closest heir = English Edward III (1327-1377), son of Philip IV’s daughter
VALOIS KINGS: dynasty rules 1328-1589
Phillip
VI (1328-1350) first of Valois line; early Valois = weak kings,
unable to control vassals, major role played by
ESTATES GENERAL: representative assembly (parallel to Parliament)
First Estate: clergy (those who pray)
Second Estate: nobility (those who fight)
Third Estate: bourgeoisie (townsmen) stand in for all others (those
who work)
fiscal function:
approval of "extraordinary" taxation for 100 Years War
100 YEARS WAR:
issue is English Duchy of Aquitaine -- French King attempts to
[Text, Ch. 10, 388-393]
subordinate English king as his vassal, Edward III refuses;
War caused by
French desire to unite territory, drive English out;
English determined to defend French lands, even regain Angevin territories
1337: Edward III claims French throne (through mother)
Unconsolidated
territories in France: independent Duchies have foreign ties
English Duchy of Aquitaine: precipitates 100 Year’s War
Count of Flanders (commercial ties to England): allies with Engl vs France
Duke of Burgundy = Count in Holy Roman Emperor = Vassal of Emperor as
well
1419-1435 allied with England (Burgundian role in trial of Joan of
Arc)
1477 absorbed into France at death of Charles the Bold
Duke of Brittany: independent to 1488, Anne of Brittany marries Charles
VIII
English
Tactics:
1) political alliances with vassals of King of France (e.g. Flanders)
2)
military recruitment: professionalization of military service;
not through older system of feudal levies ; now English King
contracts with mercenary captains to raise soldiers for long term
Free Companies: uncontrolled groups of mercenaries (see Geary 697)
3)
military strategies: English shift between first & second halves
of war
14th C.: prolonged raids (chevauchées) for plunder, pillage not invasion
see selection from Froissart Chronicles (in Geary 683
ff)
15th C.: shift to siege warfare in pursuit of complete military victory
1346
Battle of Crécy: English army defeats larger French army;
English smaller army of 7000 archers, 1000 lances, 1700 mounted
knights
English long bow (pierces armor) = ends supremacy
of mounted armored knight
Results for France
1355:
Estates General under Étienne Marcel (wealthy Parisian merchant)
forces King John II (Valois) to consult estates before raising war taxes
1356 Battle
of Poitiers: English victory by Edward's son, Black Prince (of Wales)
French King John II sons, nobles captured b Black Prince
low point of French monarchy, absence of King leads to
1357
Estates General asserts power
but undermined by inability to govern and by Marcel's "treason"
=
Marcel’s alliance with Prince of Navarre against Valois king
Charles
V (1364-1380) Valois; begins revival of French
monarchical prestige
"sacral kingship" as political weapon in enforcing monarchy's
claims
as feudal Lord over large, powerful, independent vassals
1415
Agincourt: Henry V
(1413-1422) defeats French again: crossbow vs cavalry
reconquest of Normandy as basis for project of winning French crown
1420
TREATY OF TROYES: confirms English victory:
English King Henry V marries Catherine, daughter of French King;
their son Henry VI to inherit both Engl & Fr thrones;
treaty disinherits the Valois heir, Catherine's brother, the Dauphin
JOAN
OF ARC (1412-1431):
1429 leads military campaign for coronation of CHARLES VII at Rheims
1431 captured, tried & executed by Inquisition, under English supervision
1430-53 gradual recovery of French military position
1453 capture of Bordeaux (capital of Aquitaine): end of 100 Years' War
1453-1500: policy
of territorial consolidation continues under Valois Kings:
independent Duchies of Burgundy, Provence, Brittany added to kingdom
Results
of War in England versus France: compare
growth of --
1) "national sentiment" on English side (France more
provincial loyalties)
2) royal taxation to pay for war (beyond traditional feudal
dues)
French royal taxes expand (role of Estates General limited)
1341 - gabelle (salt tax); 1356 aides (sales tax)
1356 - taille (hearth tax): nobles exempt (non-taillable)
3) representative institutions:
England: role of Parliament grows to approve &
limit taxation