Edward the Third and Hundred Hears War

Edward the Third and Hundred Hears War

April 09, 2008

INTRODUCTION

The Hundred Years' War was fought for 116 years during the years 1337 to 1453 between the British and the French for the throne of France. The throne had fallen vacant after the lineage of the Capetian French kings fell vacant. The main contenders for the throne were the Plantagenet from England and the Valois from France. It was during the reign of King Edward III of England, who lived between the years 1312 to 1377 that the war actually broke into a full-fledged battle. This paper examines issues such as how the war began in 1337 and the major events that Edward the third was involved in through 1360.

1. HOW THE WAR BEGAN

The seeds of the war were actually sown in 1066 when William, Duke of Normandy who was a vassal of the French king invaded England and defeated the Anglo-Saxon King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings and crowned himself as the King of England. As Duke of Normandy, he remained a vassal of the French King, and was required to swear fealty to the latter for his lands in France and he considered this very humiliating. On the French side, the Capetian monarchs resented a neighbouring kingdom holding lands within their own realm, and sought to neutralise the threat England now posed to France. After an era of civil wars and unrest in England during 1135 - 1154 known called as the Anarchy, the Anglo-Norman dynasty was succeeded by the Angevin Kings who ruled Normandy and England and other areas such as Aquitaine, Poitou, Anjou, etc. In fact, the British king had more French areas than the French King but the fact was that the French king was much weaker than the King of England though the latter was a vassal to the French King. This condition was a cause of continual stress and conflict. The French won three wars, the conquest of Normandy in 1214), the Saintonge War in 1242) and the War of Saint-Sardos in 1324 and this helped to reduce England's