Back on July 14th, we talked about Bastille Day in France and how the storming of the Bastille kind of kicked off the French Revolution. And we mentioned that the Bastille was built during the Hundred Years’ War to help protect Paris.
Today, I thought we might talk a little about that war. The Hundred Years’ War was, needless to say, a long struggle between England and France — over succession to the French throne. The war lasted from 1337 to 1453, so it should be called the Hundred and Sixteen Years’ War.
Here’s how it all sort of came about….
When Charles IV of France died without a son in 1328, Charles’s first cousin was chosen to succeed him, becoming King Philip VI. But Edward III of England, as the deceased king’s nearest male relation, was considered by some to have the stronger claim to the throne. When Phillip VI confiscated the territory of Aquitaine from England in 1337, Edward III responded by pressing his claim to the French throne, beginning the Hundred Years’ War. The war began with several stunning successes by Britain and the English forces dominated France for decades. Then, the struggle see-sawed back and forth. In the 1360s, the French were winning. From 1415 – 1422, the English were winning. After 1415, King Henry V of England revived the campaign and conquered large portions of France, and won extraordinary political concessions. From 1422 onward, however, the French crown struck back.
The conflict saw major developments in military strategy and technology and the final French victory at Castillion in 1453 was the first major field engagement of the war to be decided by gunfire.
Joan of Arc, a 19-year old peasant girl, that claimed to hear God’s commands, led the French army to reclaim much of their land. But she was captured, tried and found guilty of heresy. Joan was burned at the stake. The story goes that she cried our for a cross as she was being burned, and one was hurriedly made by an English soldier from two sticks.
Joan of Arc was later declared a saint.
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