LESSON 11 CONFLICTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES
The Hundred Years War
• Political instability was a problem of the late Middle Ages
– The Hundred Years’ War was the most violent conflict during this period
– It would last from 1337 until 1453
• In 1328 the French king died without a son
– His nephew was King Edward III of England (his mother had been the king’s sister)
• Under French law, a woman could not inherit the throne nor a man inherit
through a woman
– He also had a cousin who had served as his regent
– The French decided that the regent was the rightful heir and he was crowned as Philip VI
• Edward felt that he was the rightful heir
• King Philip tried to gain back the duchy of Gascony, one of the last possessions that England
still had in France
– Due to all of this, Edward declared war on France and invaded with an army in 1337,
starting the war
• The war started out with a lot of knights who viewed battle as a chance to show of their skills
– However, the Hundred Years’ War was a turning point in the nature of warfare
– Peasant foot soldiers, not knights, won the major battles in this war
• The French relied heavily on armed noble knights
• Peasants were socially inferior
• The English also used knights, but they relied more on large numbers of peasants,
who were paid to be foot soldiers
• English foot soldiers were armed not only with pikes, but also the deadly
longbow
• It had great striking power, long range, and a rapid rate of fire
• The first major battle was at Crecy in 1346
– The French followed no battle plan, just simply attacked
– The English archers devastated the French knights
• At the Battle of Agincourt (1415) 1500 French nobles died on the battlefield
– The English won victory after victory and now controlled northern France
– The English, under King Henry V, advanced all the way to the gates of Paris
– The dauphin (heir to the French throne), Charles, didn’t own enough of France to be
crowned as king
• A French peasant girl named Joan of Arc came to the aid of France and her ruler Charles in 1429
– She was born in 1412 to prosperous parents and was deeply religious
– She believed that her favorite saints had commanded her to free France by leading the
French into battle
• She made her way to court and Charles allowed her to accompany the army to Orleans
– Joan’s army defeated a huge English army
– She led the French in several more victories
– Joan brought the war to a decisive turning point by inspiring people with her faith
• Joan was captured in 1430 and turned over to the English
– The English tried her for witchcraft and condemned her as a heretic
– Joan was then burned at the stake
• After her death, King Charles VII rallied his army and fought on
– They defeated the English at Normandy and Aquitaine, finally winning the war in 1453
– French success was helped by the use of gunpowder and the cannon
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The War of the Roses
• Civil war between the houses of York and Lancaster over the crown of England
– The house of York had a white rose as their emblem
– The house of Lancaster had a red rose
• The crown will pass back and forth between the two families for several decades
– Edward IV, a member of the York family, took the throne in 1461
– When he died, his two young sons were declared illegitimate and his brother took over as
Richard III
• The princes in the tower mystery – what happened to the young princes? Who
killed them?
• Henry Tudor of the house of Lancaster then invaded England
– At the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, Richard was killed and Henry crowned as the
new king
– Richard III was the last English king to die in battle and was the last Plantaneget king
• Henry VII united the two houses by marrying a princess of the house of York and ending the war
– Elizabeth was the daughter of the late Edward IV
– Henry had her declared legitimate
– Their son, Henry VIII, was heir to both houses
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