1. How long did it last?

2. 1347 - 1453

3. A FAMILY SQUABBLE?
IN 1328 CHARLES IV…THE FRENCH KING…DIED WITH
NO HEIR…NOT HAIR READ CAREFULLY!
IN ENGLAND EDWARD III, HIS GRANDSON, WAS
KING…OKAY, SO HE WAS ONLY 13, SO WHAT?
HIS MOM ISABELLA…SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF
THE DEAD FRENCH KING CHARLES (ARE YOU KEEPING
UP?)…WANTED HER SON TO BE KING OF ENGLAND
AND FRANCE…GREEDY, GREEDY!
THE FRENCH NOBILITY DID NOT WANT AN
ENGLISHMAN…OR BOY…ON THEIR THRONE AND SO
THEY CHOSE THE DEAD KINGS COUSIN PHILIP OF
VALOIS
IN FACT THE FRENCH NOBILITY CROWNED PHILIP
KING
EDWARD DECLARES WAR!!! HE WAS 13 DO YOU THINK
HE MEANT IT?
BOTH WANTED GLORY AND PRESTIGE…BOTH
WANTED THEIR OWN WAY…BOTH USED THEIR
NATIONS TO SATISFY THEIR OWN DESIRES

4. CAUSES CONTINUED
NOBLES ON BOTH SIDES WERE PROMISED LOOT,
PLUNDER, LAND, AND BOOTY!
WAR HAD BEEN A KNIGHTLY AFFAIR…KNIGHT IN
ARMOR AGAINST KNIGHT IN ARMOR…YOU HACKED
YOUR OPPONENT TO PIECES IN A CIVILISED WAY!
ENGLAND CHEATED…THEY HAD A BRAND NEW
SECRET WEAPON…
THE LONGBOW, AT THE BATTLES OF CRECY,
POITIERS, AND AGINCOURT, SLAUGHTERED THE
FRENCH NOBILITY.
DURING THE 116 YEARS of the 100 YEARS WAR…HUH?
THERE WERE 68 YEARS OF RELATIVE PEACE AND 44
YEARS OF FIGHTING
THE EFFECTS WERE HUGE!
PATRIOTISM WAS BORN…PEOPLE STARTED SEEING
THEMSELVES AS ENGLISHMEN OR FRENCHMEN
THE GOVERNMENTS TOOK ADVANTAGE AND RAISED
TAXES…
PROPAGANDA IS BORN IN CHURCH PULPITS

5. WAR MEANS OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE MONEY
NOBILITY INFLUENCE DECLINES, BECAUSE SO MANY
HAVE BEEN KILLED, AND THIS DECLINE WILL LEAD
TO THE KINGS TAKING MORE POWER
THIS IS HUGE…THE KINGS ARE NOW IN TOTAL
CHARGE…THEY DO NOT NEED TO ASK THE NOBLES
FOR MONEY ANY MORE
IT’S GOOD TO BE THE KING!
THEY TAKE CONTROL OF THE COUNTRY BY PUTTING
PEOPLE LOYAL TO THEM IN POSITIONS OF POWER…
SHERIFFS, BAILIFFS, JUDGES, TAX COLLECTORS…
THIS CENTRALIZING OF GOVERNMENT WILL GIVE
THE KINGS ULTIMATE POWER
IT IS ALSO THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF
FEUDALISM…YEAH, THE SERFS WILL SOON BE FREE…
DUDE!
REMEMBER THE CENTRALIZING OF
GOVERNMENT THEME IT IS TRES, TRES,
IMPORTANT!!!

6. 1. Controversy Over
Succession selected
The French nobility
Philip of Valois, a cousin of
the last king through the male
line…handsome dude no?
Y He founded a new French
dynasty that ruled through
the 16century…Valois
Y He was chosen in preference
to King Edward III of
England, whose mother was
the daughter of the late
king, Charles IV.
In 1340, Edward claimed the
title “King of France.”…what a
nerve!

7. FRENCH LAND BELONGS TO BRITISH
KINGS
A longer standing issue
was the status of lands
within France that
belonged to English
kings…remember
William the conqueror
and Eleanor of
Aquitaine?
Edward was actually a
vassal of Philip’s,
holding sizable French
territories as fiefs
from the king of
France [it went back to
the Norman conquest
and Henry II’s
conquest of Eleanor].

8. Conflict Over Flanders
The ‘dagger’ pointing
at the ‘heart’ of
England!
Wool industry…lots
of money in those
sheep…bah, bah.
Flanders wants its
independence from
French control…what
do we call Flanders
today?
They ask England for
help.

9. 4. A Struggle for National
Identity
France was
NOT a
united
country
before the
war began.
The French
king only
controlled
about half
of the
country.

11. Military Characteristics
The War was a series of short
raids and expeditions.
A few major battles, marked off
by truces or ineffective treaties.
Y The relative strengths of each
country dictated the sporadic
nature of the struggle.
Y The English had the Longbow
And the French had garlic

12. French Advantages
Population of about 16,000,000.
Far richer and more populous than
England.
At one point, the French fielded an
army of over 50,000  at most,
Britain mustered only 32,000…
Ah yes, but is it the size of the dog
in the fight or is it the size of the
fight in the dog?

13. British Advantages
Weapons Technologies…the
_______
In almost every engagement, the British
were outnumbered.
Y Britain’s most successful strategies:
/
/
Avoid pitched battles.
Engage in quick, profitable raids




Steal what you can.
Destroy everything else.
Capture enemy knights to hold for
ransom.
Sounds fair to me!

14. The Longbow as a Weapon
The English set up a defensive
position and then lured the
French into attacking…so they
could unleash the longbow…at
distance.
Its arrows had more
penetrating power than a bolt
from a crossbow.
Y Could pierce an inch of
wood or the armor of a
knight at 200 yards!
A longbow could be fired more
rapidly.
Y 6 arrows per minute.

15. The British Longbow:
The Battle of Poitiers, 1356

16. Early English Victories

17. The Effective Use of the
Cannon at Poitiers, 1356

18. King Henry V (r. 1412-1422)
Renewed his family’s
claim to the French
throne.
At Agincourt in
1415, the English, led
by Henry himself,
goaded a larger
French army into
attacking a fortified
English position.
Y With the aid of
the dukes of
Burgundy, Henry
gained control
over Normandy,
Paris, and much of
northern France!

19. A Burgundian Presence

20. Height of English
Dominance
And then…

21. The French “Reconquest”
Y Even though in 1428 the
military and political power
seemed firmly in British
hands, the French reversed
the situation.
In 1429, with the aid of
the mysterious Joan of
Arc, the French king,
Charles VII, was able to
raise the English siege of
Orleans.
Y This began the reconquest
of the north of France.

22. Joan of Arc (1412-1432)
The daughter of prosperous
peasants from an area of
Burgundy that had suffered
under the English…she was a
milk maid and she heard
voices!
Like many medieval mystics,
she reported regular visions of
divine revelation.
Y Her “voices” told her to go to
the king and assist him in
driving out the English.
She dressed like a man and
was Charles’ most charismatic
and feared military leader!
It’s lucky she was
French…
In France they gave her
an army…for hearing
voices and dressing like a
Here in the States we would have put her man…
on medication and sent her

23. Cannons Used at Orleans

24. Joan Announces the
Capture of Orleans to the
King

25. Joan of Arc (1412-1432)
She brought inspiration and a sense of national
identity and self-confidence.
With her aid, the king was crowned at Reims
[ending the “disinheritance”].
She was captured during an attack on Paris and
fell into English hands.
Y Because of her “unnatural dress” and claim to
divine guidance, she was condemned and burned
as a heretic in 1432.
Y She instantly became a symbol of French
resistance.

26. Joan as a “Feminist” Symbol
Today?
No, I don’t
know who
Martha is!

27. The End of the War
Despite Joan’s capture, the French
advance continued.
By 1450 the English had lost all their
major centers except Calais.
In 1453 the French armies captured
the last English-held fortress.
Y This was the last battle of the war.
There was no treaty, only a cessation
of hostilities.

28. France Becomes Unified!
France in 1453
France in 1337

29. Now show me what you know….
Questions:
Why did the nobility experience instability in the Late Middle
Ages? In what ways did that instability lead to the Hundred
Years' War?
Regarding the Hundred Years' War:
- What were its causes?
- Why did the war continue for so long a period in the 14c?
- What advantages did each side possess?
- What were the results of the war in the 14c for England and
France?
How did the role of representative institutions differ in France
and England during and after the Hundred Years' War? Why?
What role did Joan of Arc play in the Hundred Years' War? How
was her fate an example of a medieval response to a political
problem?
On the basis of the passage in your textbook, did misogyny play a
role in the trial and execution of Joan of Arc?
What were the long-term ramifications of the Hundred Years'
War for England and for France?
Why did the English nobility fight the War of the Roses? What
was its outcome?
Identify the major "power centers" in 14c Italy [be sure to list
their strengths and weaknesses, different types of government
structures, and the types of societies and trade/business
enterprises characterized each state.]
In what ways were the states of Italy able to gain relative
stability during the 15c?