The Hundred Years War
1337 - 1453 C.E.
•What do you see here?
•What visual clues help
you distinguish between
the two armies?
•What is significant
about the person
holding the flag?
•What seems to be her
role in the battle?
•Why do you think the
soldiers respect this
woman’s leadership?
Jeanne d'Arc at the Siege of Orléans by Jules
Eugene Lenepveu, painted 1886–1890
How Did the
Hundred Years
War Begin?
In 1328, the French
king Charles IV died
with no male heir. He
did, however, have a
sister, Isabella, who had
a son, Edward III, who
was the King of England.
The French throne passed to the king’s nephew
in France, Philip of Valois. But the grandson in
England, Edward III, felt he should inherit the
throne of France, as a direct heir to the king.
So, in 1337 he sent a note to Philip renouncing
his allegiance as a vassal to the French
monarch, and claiming the French throne as the
legitimate heir to Charles IV. This began a
dispute over the French throne between the
kings of England and France. Edward’s act of
renouncing his allegiance to Philip of Valois
began the Hundred Years’ War.
Notes on the Hundred Years War:
How did the war begin?
•The French king Charles IV died in 1328 with no
male heir.
•Two men attempted to claim the vacant throne:
Edward III of England – nephew of Charles IV
Phillip of Valois (French) - cousin of Charles IV
For the first 90 years of the war, the English
armies won the battles.
The French knights wore
extremely heavy armor. They
could not move unless on their
steeds.
To counter the heavy
armor of the French,
the English invented
the long bow. It had a
much greater range, it
could be loaded much
more quickly, it fired
larger arrows that
could pierce thick
armor, and its bow
string could be
removed or replaced
quickly.
The French were still using the crossbow.
The original crossbows were actually very poor
weapons: very slow to load, prone to misfires,
and overly complicated for the generally
mechanically disinclined (that is, the
mechanically disadvantaged) population of the
period.
The English also began employing cannons, which
allowed them to blast holes in the heavily fortified
walls of a castle or city.
Castle of Arques la Bataille
Normandy, France
It was built between 1040 and 1045 C.E.
During the 100 years war, this castle was the site of
many confrontations between the French and English,
passing frequently from one side to the other.
What were the differences between the French and
the English Armies?
English Army
English kings created a
standing army of foot
soldiers recruited from
the common people.
English soldiers were
paid to fight making
them more reliable.
French Army
The French had an
army mostly of semiindependent nobles
bound only by oaths
of loyalty. These
oaths were often
broken
Who do you think the
Duke of Burgundy is loyal
to: England or France?
(England – because
of a well
established wool
trade)
Notes: 100 Years War
How did the nature of warfare change?
• Longbows eliminated the advantages of
armor.
• Cannons were used to blast holes in
castles.
• English monarchs began to use armies
recruited from common people and PAID
them.
What changed?
Joan of Arc put France on the path to victory.
Joan of Arc was born in
1412. For the first 17 years
she spent her life as a
shepherd tending her
father’s flocks in the
Lorraine region of eastern
France.
In 1429, when French
fortunes had sunk to their
lowest point, Joan of Arc, a
young peasant woman, rose
to put France on the path to
victory.
At 17, Joan claimed
she began hearing
the voices of Saint
Michael, Saint
Catherine, and Saint
Marguerite. Each
saint urged her to
save France by
defeating the
English and retaking
important cities like
Rheims and Paris.
Jeanne d' Arc, by Eugene Thirion (1876).
In 1429, Joan traveled to visit the uncrowned king
of France, Prince Charles. Charles did not believe
in her visions, and planned to play a trick on her.
When she appeared at court, Charles put another
man on the throne, while he stood among his
nobles. But, Joan went directly to the Prince,
knelt at his feet, and said, “I tell thee, on behalf
of the Great Lord, that thou art the true heir
of France and the son of the king.”
Now in ruins, the Great Hall of Chinon
Castle is where, in 1429, Joan of Arc
recognized the dauphin (prince).
From that point on, Charles supported Joan. In
command of an army of 4,000, Joan won her first
battle at Orleans, defeating a larger enemy
force. Next, French forces liberated Rheims,
with Joan in a suit of armor at their head.
The Prince was then
crowned Charles VII,
King of France, in
Rheims Cathedral in
1429 with Joan at his
side.
French fortunes had completely changed after
just two years of leadership by Joan of Arc.
Her leadership turned the tide of the war in
favor of the French, completely.
In early 1431 Joan of
Arc was captured by
citizens of Burgundy,
an independent region
of eastern France
allied with the
English. The
Burgundians sold her
to the English, who
accused her of being
a witch.
Joan interrogated in her prison cell by Cardinal
Winchester. By Hippolyte Delaroche, 1824
Throughout her trial,
Charles VII did nothing
to help or defend her,
even though it was Joan’s
victories that had put
him on the throne and
delivered France to the
brink of victory. After a
5-month trial she was
found guilty of heresy.
On May 30, 1431, she was
burned at the stake in
the main square of Rouen.
Painting, ca. 1485. This is an artist's
interpretation, since the only portrait for which
she is known to have sat has not survived
With Joan in armor and
riding a war horse at the
head of the troops, the
French army had pushed
the British out of
central France and
bottled them up on the
Atlantic coast.
By 1453, 22 years after
Joan’s death, France
finally defeated England.
Notes – 100 Years War
Who was Joan of Arc, and how did she change
the course of the war?
• She was a young French peasant woman
• She convinced the French King to let her
lead an army against the English in 1429.
• She helped push the English armies out of
central France.
• She was captured by the English, accused of
witchcraft, and burned at the stake in 1431.
Down with Feudal Lords;
Up with Monarchs!
Prior to the Hundred Years War, many French
commoners had more allegiance to their local lord,
and many high-ranking nobles acted practically
independently of the King. After the war,
however, the French people found themselves with
a new sense of patriotism towards their king and
their country. They became less loyal to the
feudal lords of the past.
Louis XI, the king of
France from 1461 - 1483
was the first French king
to establish absolute
power: He cemented his
right to collect taxes (to
finance a huge army that
answered only to him, not
noble lords). People
became loyal to him for
protection.
He reduced the military power of the nobles by
enlarging a new standing army that answered
only to him. He supported economic prosperity
of middle class merchants, reducing the power
of nobles and increasing his tax base.
In England, change also
occurred. The English
King, Henry VI and
Parliament (the seat of
government) used the
war to gain power.
Once they lost the war,
and all the French
territory, the English
monarchs were able to
concentrate more on
the running of the
country.
Notes: 100 Years War
Why did the war contribute to the end of
feudalism in France?
• People became more patriotic, and more
devoted to their king than their feudal
lord.
• Monarchs built huge armies with the taxes
they collected, instead of relying on the
loyalty of the nobles and knights.
On a clean sheet of paper, write your name, then
answer 3 of these questions:
• Today I learned….
• I was surprised by….
• The most useful thing I will take from this
lesson is…
• I was interested in…
• What I liked most about this lesson was…
• One thing I’m not sure about is…
• The main thing I want to find out more about
is…
• After this lesson, I feel…
• I might have gotten more from this lesson if…