make the rules. In other words, those with the gold have the power aswell as those with the power have the gold. History books willdiscuss the general reasons for war such as freedom from adversity orfreedom from religion. But the real issue for any war is the thirstfor power and control; and the means to finance them are the economicissues. Nations will endure years of fighting for power and control.
France and England fought each other for more than a hundred years tohave control of the Channel trade routes. 1 This century of warringwas known as The Hundred Years’ War and is the longest war in recordhistory. It began in 1337 when King Edward III invaded Normandy andended in 1453 when France won the Battle of Bordeaux. However, it wasnot a hundred years of constant battle; there were periods of trucesin between. 2One cause for the Hundred Years’ War was the claim to theFrench throne.
The conflict began when the direct line of successiondied without a male heir and the nobles decided to pass the crown to acousin, Philip of Valois. But this left two other male cousinsequally deserving of the crown; Charles, King of Navarre and EdwardIII, King of England. 3 Edward III claimed that he himself wasdeserving of the throne because his mother was the sister of the lateFrench king, while Philip VI was only a cousin. But according toFrench law, no women could inherit the throne, nor could the crown beinherited through a woman.
4″Philip of Valois chances of becoming King of France had beenremote and he had not been brought up as the future lieutenant of Godon Earth. Philip VI spent much of his resources on entertainment andfinery with gay abandon. ” 5 This caused conflict with the king’ssubjects. Since the king was considered to be sacred and inviolable,neither cousin would challenge Philip VI.
However, they would exploitthe situation and King Edward III lost no time and invaded Normandywith an army of 10,000men. 6This leads to another cause for The Hundred Years’ War. Theland along the Channel and Atlantic coasts was England’s first line ofdefense against an invasion. England held claim to this territoryfrom the twelth century through the marriage of King Henry II andEleanor of Aquitaine. King Edward III was determined to gain controlof the French coastline while providing himself with a bridgehead forfuture expeditions into France. 7But the major cause of The Hundred Years’ War was the economicinterest – the revenues to be gotten from this rich territory.
Winewas Gasgony’s largest export product and major source of income to thevassal. Wool was England’s largest export product and the source ofits wealth. English pastures produced fleeces that were the envy ofEurope which Flanders depended on for its wool and linen market. 8English sheep growers sold their long fine wool to weavers inFlanders, across the English Channel. Flemish weavers as well asEnglish sheep growers depended on this trade for their business. In1336, Philip VI arrested all the English merchants in Flanders andtook away all the privileges of the Flemish towns and the craftguilds.
Resulting in the Flemings revolting against the Frenchcontrol and making an alliance with England. 9 Consequently, theflourishing market of the industrial cities of Ghent, Bruges, Antwerpand Ypres were naturally coveted by the Kings of France and England. Moreover, the Bordeaux harbor was within the borders ofEnglish Gascony and was the center of the shipping and tradingindustry. Commodities such as grains, dairy products, dyes and saltwould be shipped into Bordeaux via the Dordogne and Garonne Rivers andthe merchants were charged a customs fee for these products. Also,Bordeaux would receive duties on wine, whether shipped-in or grown onGascon soil. Consequently, the profits from the tolls and customsmade Bordeaux the economic capital of Gascony.
Furthermore, controlof neighboring areas such as Guyenne and Calais were economicallyvital. Their union with Bordeaux would ensure England with a monopolyof the shipping and trading industry from Spain, Portugal andBrittany. 10France was the richest country in Europe and its army was muchlarger than England’s. In addition, France’s army consisted of hiredmercenaries.
Therefore, France should have quickly defeated England. But France’s army consisted of heavily armored knights who were lessmobile against the agile English swordsmen. The French militaryleaders soon realized the archer was the only effective when fightinga pitched battle. Consequently, France implemented a strategic planwhich was to avoid active warfare and to utilize the technique ofdiplomacy and concessions.
England could win battles, but Francecould avoid them. Pitched battles were accepted only when there wasno alternative. Otherwise, France would raid unprotected towns andvillages, take what they could, then burn them to the ground. 11Meanwhile, England could depend on the loyalty of hersubjects. The soldiers were happy to receive a salary and eager tofight on French soil.
They could profit from the plundering whiletheir homes didn’t suffer and damage. Moreover, England had superiormilitary tactics. They had perfected the fighting technique of thelongbow drawn by free swordsmen. Even though the archers were belowthe knight on the social ladder, they were not ashamed to fight sideby side. Subsequently, the archer could destroy the effectiveness ofa French calvary charge. Also, King Edward III was very popular withhis subjects.
He would fight beside his troops as well as to thefolks at home. As well, his sixteen year old son, the Black Prince,was a superb military leader. 12 He successfully continued to leadthe English armies into battle against France. As a result, Englandwon most of the initial battles and kept the war in France. 13One of the great English victories was the battle at Crecy. The English were outnumbered four to one by the French, led by PhilipVI.
The English occupied the side of a small hill, while the heavynumber of French men-at-arms and hired Genoese crossbowmen were at thefoot of the hill on a plain. The English were ready with their newlongbows at hand. The Genoese crossbowmen attacked the English, but were tootired due to the long day’s march and because of an earlier rainstorm,their crossbow strings were loose. The English’s longbow proved to betoo much for the Genoese, so they dropped the crossbows and began torun. King Philip was so outraged at the Genoese actions, he had hismen-at-arms kill many of them. At one point during this battle, the French came across agroup of English knights led by the Black Prince, the son of EdwardIII, dismounted from their horses and not prepared for battle.
AsEdward III heard of his son’s misfortune, he ordered no aid be sent tohim and his men. This was to be his day. Slowly, pieces of theFrench army began to flee, while the English army stood strong. England had won the first great land battle of the long war. They had already won control of the English Channel and a few yearslater, the town of Calais surrendered to them on September 28, 1347. For the next ten years, fighting was slowed.
This was due mainly tothe Black Death which killed more than a third of the population. 14Initially, England feared they would never be able to defendthemselves against a French invasion. France had enormous wealth,military prestige and a dominant position in European politics. However, the Battles of Vrecy and Poiters were major victories forEngland. In both battles, England was greatly outnumbered by Francebut, the English archers were more effective than the armor-cladFrench knights.
Therefore, the victories were perceived to be grantedby god because England was the rightful ruler of France. As Englandcontinued to win the early battles and keep the in France, themilitary’s feelings of inferiority and insecurity were replaced withself-confidence and optimism. The first phase of The Hundred Years’War went well for England. Eventually the false sense of prosperity created by thepillaging of the French towns and villages began to surface. Also,the commoners were becoming dissatisfied with the high war expense. The war was a strain on England’s resources and it was beginning toget difficult to pay the soldiers’ wages as well as maintain thegarrisons.
The English subjects were taxed out and tired of themisappropriation of the war funds by the corrupt royal officials andmilitary commanders. Moreover, the military began to decline. “KingRichard II was not a good general. Most of Edward III’s captains weredead or in captivity and the new generation of officers showed littleaptitude for war. ” 15 But King Richard II had to fight France notonly for glorious tradition but to save the wine trade with Gasconyand the wool trade with Flanders. These resources were needed to helpfinance the war.
However, his campaign ended in retreat. The Gascons were opportunists. They did not adhere firmly toone lord. Even though they did better under English rule, they werenot resistant to the French. Consequently, France gradually gainedcontrol of the Channel trade routes.
Then King Henry V renewed TheHundred Years’ War with a victory at Agincourt. He was a strong,brilliant military leader and continued to win battles against theFrench, recapturing the Gascon territory. 16 Also, with the marriageto Charles VI’s daughter, King Henry V achieved the goal of Frenchsovereignty. He became the French regent and upon Charles VI’sdeath, the King of England would succeed to a dual monarchy. However,when Charles VI died, the King of England was a child. 17Henry VI was too young and inexperienced to supervise akingdom and lead an army.
As a result, authority did not rest in anyone person, but in all of the lords together. This led to Englishdisputes and disunity. Also, the subjects believed this was theking’s war and the king should not finance the war through taxationbut from his own income from Gascony. The maintenance of a dualkingdom was a financial strain and England was far in debt on militarywages.
In addition, Gascony was very difficult to defend and theunstable economic conditions made it difficult to meet military crisesas they arose. Consequently, the English army in Gascony disbanded. 18When it seemed as if there was no hope for France, a new lightappeared for them. She was Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans. Joan ofArc and Charles VII were able to organize France. They invadedGascony with an overwhelming force and began to capture the Englishtowns along the Norman border without being drawn into a pitchedbattle.
Even after Joan of Arc’s capture and execution by the Englishand Burgundians, her spirit seemed to inspire the French. As aresult, the French offensive spirit was rekindled. Again, the Frenchoutnumbered the English. But this time the French army did not rest,instead they sped aggressively to the next battle. Moreover, theFrench implemented the use of the cannon-ball.
19Again, “the allegiance of the noble families to England orFrance was determined by the economic and judicial privileges of theirlordships. ” 20 But their land and goods were confiscated duringCharles VII’s invasion. Consequently, the nobles defected to France. As England continued to lose its control of the South-West, France’sability to allure the nobility away from England increased. “In thepast many had mocked the sovereignty of France. But in the politicalconditions of 1442-53 they were seldom able to resist the bribes,threats, and sanctions employed by a stronger and wealthier monarchy.
“21 He who controls the Channel controls, controls the gold. Subsequently, the high rate of the nobility defection to Franceseverely weakened England and ultimately caused its collapse ofterritory control. It took over a hundred years and five English kings to win thesovereignty of the French crown and thirty years and one king to looseit. Success in warfare depends on the combination of a king who is acompetent military leader, an enthusiastic ruling class prepared tofight and command the armies, and people willing to bear the costthrough taxation. For almost a hundred years England had thiscombination while France did not.
The English hated the French andalways feared an invasion. Also, the high demand for English wouldexports created a substantial treasury for King Edward to pay for thewar. However, the pendulum swung the other way. As a result, Englandmay have won the battle, but France won the war. —Works CitedBarnie, John.
War in Medieval English Society. Ithaca: CornellUniversityPress, 1974. Duby, Georges. France in the Middle Ages 987-1460.
Paris:Blackwell,1987. “Hundred Years’ War. ” Compton’s Online Encyclopedia. 1995. Hutchinson, Harold F. King Henry V.
New York: John Day Company,1967. Palmer, J. J. N.
England, France and Christendom. London: UniversityofNorth Carolina Press, 1972. Vale, M. G. A. English Gascony 1399-1453.
London: Oxford UniversityPress, 1970. —Notes1. Palmer, J. J. N. , England, France and Christendom.
London:University of North Carolina Press, 23. 2. “Hundred Years’ War. ” Compton’s Online Encyclopedia. 1995.
3. Palmer, 47. 4. “Hundred Years’ War”5.
Duby, Georges. France in the Middle Ages 987-1460. Paris:Blackwell, 1987, 274. 6. “Hundred Years’ War”7.
Barnie, John. War in Medieval English Society. Ithaca:CornellUniversity Press, 1974, 181. 8. Palmer, 120.
9. “Hundred Years’ War”10. Barnie, 219. 11. Duby, 233.
12. “Hundred Years’ War”13. Palmer, 161. 14. “Hundred Years’ War”15.
Barnie, 25. 16. Hutchinson, Harold F. King Henry V. New York: John DayCompany, 1967, 214.
17. Hutchinson, 214. 18. Barnie, 245. 19.
“Hundred Years’ War”20. Vale, M. G. A.
English Gascony 1399-1453. London: OxfordUniversity Press, 1970, 165. 21. Vale, 215.
