Hundred Years War, which lasted from 1337 till 1453, between France and England, was the longest military and political event in the history of the two powers.In fact, it was not a war, but several military campaigns, alternating reconciliation.Differences between England and France has originated in 1066 when the Norman Conquest, when the King of England, at the same time being the notable grandee in France, took over vast areas of land in this country.The monarchs of France, seeing this danger, tried to stop the expansion of the British possessions.The continuation of this protracted conflict and began the Hundred Years War.
stages of the Hundred Years War
Hundred Years' War can be divided into four main stages.The first lasted '23 - a declaration of war by King Edward III of England to a truce declared in 1360 in Bretigny.During this time, France has suffered a lot of military defeats.The first days of the war, in the autumn of 1337, marked the onset of England in Picardy.Then there was a series of British victories - naval victory in 1340 when Sleyle, in 1346 at Crecy, and in 1356 the eldest son of Edward III, Prince of Wales, nicknamed the "Black Prince" because of the color of his armor, he led captivity of King John II.During this phase of the war in France was the Paris uprising and 1360 in Brétigny truce was signed, under which the French lost ground south of the Loire, and that a third of the country's land and sea port of Calais.
second phase lasted 27 years - from 1369 at 1396.In the mid-70s of the 14th century the French liberated a large part of their land. in France have been the uprising caused dissatisfaction of the people high taxes.In the country at that time was very restless, the Hundred Years War was aggravated by civil strife feudal parties in the country Burgundians and Armagnacs, have fallen into a civil war.The truce that has occurred in 1396, gave a breather to both parties for 18 years.
The third stage was the most fleeting, it lasted from 1415 by 1420, and marked a major victory for New England.Henry V, King of England, conquered many areas of France, Normandy and defeated the French army in 1415 at Agincourt.France was no money and no army, and strife between the Armagnac and Burgundians split the country.Independent Sovereign eastern and northern land of France Duke of Burgundy entered into an alliance with the British, and in 1420 was signed between the world of Troyes, in which the French regent Henry became the fifth.In addition, the regent joined in marriage to Catherine, daughter of King Charles VI, to translate into reality the union of the crowns.Son of Charles VI also deprived patronal rights.
fourth stage lasted from 1420 to 1453, and has become the most crucial and bloodiest.In 1422 King Charles VI died and regent Henry V, and the Duke of Burgundy, together with the British announced the King of France and England, the son of the Regent and Princess Henry VI.In turn, deprived of hereditary rights of the Dauphin Charles, son of the previous king, proclaimed himself Charles VII, King of France.France was split into three parts: the land conquered by the British under the rule of Henry V, the area under the political pressure of the Duke of Burgundy and southern territories to recognize the authority of Charles VII.In 1428 the Burgundians, together with the British laid siege to Orleans, which was a through ticket to the land of the south of France.At this point in the war joined the population, and the popular movement, headed by Joan of Arc, the beginning of the liberation of France.In 1429 Orleans was released, and it was a turning point Hundred Years War.In July this year, solemnly crowned Charles VII.The Duke of Burgundy went over to the new king in 1435, and in 1436 British troops were driven from the capital, and later from other southwestern cities and fortresses.By the summer of 1451 in fact, the Hundred Years War was over, but in the autumn of 1452 the British tried to win back the south-west of France, Bordeaux seized the fortress and some in hyenas.Charles VII in the spring of 1453 personally led an army to liberate the south-west of the country.In the summer of the same year, the French defeated the British troops at Castillon and Châtillon.And in October, the French surrendered to the enemy garrison in Bordeaux - October 19, 1453 became the day of completion of the Hundred Years War.
victory of France in the Hundred Years War meant not only the elimination of the British in the country and the release of the conquerors, as the centralization of France, the creation of a national of a strong state.The memory of the war remain in the hearts of the French, as the large-scale clash between the two powers, the complex and violent events, gradually arisen national identity and strength of mind of the French people.
