Hundred Years' War 1337-1453

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HUNDRED YEARS' WAR
1337 - 1453

The Hundred Years' War was fought between England and France over a period of more than a hundred years, to be exact from 1337 - 1453.

Battles flared up sporadically and took place mainly because of disagreements concerning the legitimate successor to the French crown. The battleground was almost entirely in France.

Map of France in 1453, Time of the Hundred Years' War
FRANCE IN 1453

WHAT STARTED THE WAR?
In 1337, French king Philip VI confiscated Guyenne, an area in southwest France that belonged to the English king Edward III. This act became the straw that broke the camel's back and turned an ongoing quarrel between England and France into an outright war between the two.

WHAT ENDED THE WAR?
The turning point of the war was the raising of the Siege of Orleans by the English in 1429. They were driven out of Northern France and the final battle took place at Castillon on July 17, 1453, with a victory for France.

JOAN OF ARC -
NOT YOUR AVERAGE 17 YEAR OLD

Joan of Arc led the French army to victory at Orléans when she was only 17 years old. This event was the turning point in the Hundred Years' War. A peasant girl, Joan became a symbol of national consciousness.

At age 19, she was captured and burned as a heretic because she claimed to have been guided by divine voices.

timeline of the Hundred Years' War
1340 Edward III of England declares himself king of France

1340 Naval battle of Sluys, Netherlands; English victory

1346 Battle of Crécy, also called the Battle of Cressy, France; English victory

1356 Battle of Poitiers, France; English victory and capture of the French King John II

1360 Treaty of Brétigny

1360 Treaty of Calais

1372 Naval battle of La Rochelle, France; the French regain control of the English Channel

1407 Civil war breaks out in France

1415 Battle of Agincourt, France; English victory

1429 English raise Siege of Orleans, France

1429, February 12 - Battle of the Herrings (Battle of Rouvay)

1431 Joan of Arc burns at the stake in Rouen, France

1450 Battle of Formigny, France; French victory

1451 Guyenne, France, recaptured by the French

1453 Battle of Castillon, France; French victory

VICTIMS
The Hundred Years' War together with the plague killed at least a third of the population of Europe (six to ten million.)

WHO WON? WHO LOST?
France was the victor of the more than 100 years of war. It regained all of its continental estates from the English, except Calais, which the English eventually relinquished in 1558.

More detail: France looked very bad in the first part of the Hundred Years' War. However, they managed to turn things around.

Here is the timeline chart for the Hundred Years' War.

MAPS ON THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Map of France in 1314 - Prior to the War