The Long Dispute Between France and England: From the Hundred Years' War to Its Consequences

What are the origins of the conflict?

Series of conflicts between France and England. Its origins were at the same time and dynastic policies. On the death of Philip IV, 1314-1328 succeeded to the throne of France and his three sons Louis X, Philip V and Charles IV, none of which had a male heir. An assembly of barons and bishops then gave the crown to Philip VI, son of Charles of Valois, in turn brother of Philip the Fair, by excluding from the succession (with arguments that only much later were founded on the Salic law) all daughters of previous rulers and especially Isabella, daughter of Philip the Fair, wife of Edward II of England and mother of Edward III.

Dynastic conflict and early tensions

The dynastic conflict came to light in 1337 when, in response to the attempt of Philip VI to seize the fiefs English in Aquitaine, Edward III proclaimed himself king of France. For these reasons it added the support given by England to the cities of Flanders in rebellion against the Count and the interference in the English succession in Britain, regions to which the French monarchy intended to impose a more solid bond of vassalage.

Initial phases of the war

On the military the first phase of the conflict was favorable to the British (victories of Crécy, 1346, and Poitiers, 1356, occupation of Calais, 1347, the Treaty of Brétigny, 1369). In the second phase of the war, between 1369 and 1380, France was able to resume almost all the lost territories, but the crisis that shook the country from 1392 following the madness of Charles VI and the civil war broke out in 1407 between factions the Burgundians and Armagnacs paved the way for a new English invasion. Winner at Agincourt in 1415 and supported by the Burgundians, in 1420 Henry V of England imposed the Treaty of Troyes in 1422 and his son Henry VI was crowned king of France. The regions south of the Loire were, however, remained under the control of the Dauphin Charles who, driven by Joan of Arc, had himself crowned in Reims in 1429 and then reversed the course of the war.

Conclusion and consequences of the war

In 1435 with the Burgundians, Charles VII repeatedly defeated the British (1448-1453), who after the fall of Bordeaux had to leave France, retaining only Calais. The formal peace followed only in 1475. Through the civil wars that accompanied him to France and England followed (War of the Roses), the Hundred Years' War had the effect of weakening the ranks of nobility and to strengthen the state structures , also making aware to both warring parties of their peculiarities "national".