When it came to friendly neighbors France and England were like America and Russia during the Cold War France wanted land that England had left behind centuries ago so it was considered alright, but when England found out they decided that they wanted their land back. It was a case similar to the Jews wanting control of Jerusalem after WWII. This had started the war that would later in history be known as the “Hundred Years War”. The bloody battles began in 1337 and did not end until 1453. Although there was a lot of land to fight over, it was not the only reason that the war lasted so long.
The Hundred years was fought over land that the French believed no longer belonged to the English, but it was also fought over the English Channel because of its economic value. The country that controlled the English Channel was able to control what went through such as trade ships and they could also have quick access to the other’s territory. The war lasted much longer than most but it was not solely because of the amount of land they had to take but the main reason was because of the strong national pride. In the face of declining pride, the French started to losing battles, but as the French were on their last will a young 17 year old girl named Joan of Arc who had revived the hope of the soldiers by saying it is god’s for her to lead the French troops to victory. With the belief that god was on their side the French were reborn with a brand new vigor. After the French redeemed the will to fight they ended up winning more battles but lost the war in the end. Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake for being accused of witchcraft in 1431. The French won many battles but in the end the English ended up winning a majority of them.
In the many battles fought in the war, all had their own unique weapons and infantry fighting styles. The French had a game changing weapon that was put into design in the year 1326 called the Bâton à feu which was a small metal tube that was put on the end of a stick lit to fire a small projectile. Although the idea was there, the baton never dealt enough power on a solider or building so it was still severely underpowered to the French longbow so that was still the main weapon for the troops. Around 1359 the baton got an upgrade and was reinforced and attached to a thick wooden stick so it could be aimed slightly letting it be a decent weapon at taking out horseman by disabling the horse or killing the rider. Around the early 15th century the cannon we know of today was designed and the true benefit of the device was shown. With its thick iron or steel cylinder with a length of almost 2 meters and ammunition weighing 200 kg(440 lb) and throwing them 100 meters was ideal for taking out a stone wall or fortress. The English longbow was the main infantry ranged weapon and the English had the crossbow. The cross bow took around 30 second on average to load because of the crank that had to be used to pull the string while the longbow much shorter with an average of 5-10 second reload, in short the longbow could fire 3 to 6 shots by the time the crossbow fired off one. the longbow and crossbow were made of a native wood called yew but were also made of ash or elm. These weapons were the major deciding factors in the battles of the Hundred years war.
The Hundred Years War consisted of 56 bloody and long battles that stretched over 116 years of war. There is no telling how many other battles that were not documented or the countless number of skirmishes done between small amounts of people and troops. Some of the most game changing battles that took place was the battle of Agincourt and Jargeau. The battle of Agincourt occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415, near modern-day Agincourt in northern France. The Battle of Agincourt fought by King Henry V. King Henry married a French kings daughter giving him the mindset that he was heir to the throne of France and England, but this created problems with the French people because King Henry of England thought he was entitled to the land of France. He took his army and also utilized the English longbow by making it the main infantry weapon for his English and Welsh archers. Although it was fought by archers mostly there was also a large number of hand to hand fighting which the king himself partook in. The battle of Jargeau occurred 11th-12th of June on 1429 shortly after Joan of Arc relieved the siege of Orléans. This battle was Joan of Arc's first offensive battle against the English. Jargeau was a small town that was on the coast of the Loire river about ten miles east of Orleans. The battle first started off by controlling the suburbs and after the enemy forces retreated they bombarded the city walls with artillery to break into the city and assault the English troops inside.
After all the fighting was said and done the war did not end with the countries at peace. There was still some tension between the two. In fact the French were ready to receive a invasion for a good 50 years after the war. Though the war was over the English still invaded not because of the territory but because King Henry VI still believed he held the throne at the end. Eventually King Henry went mad and all the noble factions were competing for control of current and future policy. This quickly led up to the War of the roses that was fought by mostly battle hardened veterans from the Hundred Years War, and at the end of it all a watershed was mad and the French south was permanently out of English hands. After all the fighting was halted the French came out of the war with the most damage done to it. Because the English had a more organized military they were able to come into France and burn, pillage, kill, rape, and massacre the people in France. This left France in a bad spot with ruined land and distressed people. Because of all the damage that was done, the economy was severely damaged and taxes had to be severely raised in order to rebuild and replenish the government. The English came out a bit more unscaved then the French. Since the English had a more organized tax structure as well as organized military the impact of the fighting was not as great as it had been on the French. Although England was more prepared to take on the war then France the royal family revenue drastically and to make matters worse the French had taken wealthy country like Normandy and Aquitaine. Even if the England lost a lot of wealth the people of England gained more wealth than ever before because of the plunder that stolen from during the war. Besides losing money and land the French gained a greater sense of identity do to the forced joining that had to be done in order to maintain revenue but the rebuilding of the structures and crops helped people get a stronger sense of nationality.
In the end The Hundred Years War ended up being one of the longest wars in history and affected the way that the world is today. The war had changed all of Europe in the late 1300’s and affected the way that things are done. Although the war brought great things later in the future it brought great depression and worry for the people living in that time. The people who lived in France at the time were always afraid of invasion and the government was not as strong as it is today and it was not able to protect individual people. During the war there were large numbers of battles that were fought and large numbers of people who died during the war. The war did not just last one generation like most but spanned over a century of violence. The fight scared the face of both England and France and it left both with a even darker history but an even brighter future.
Sources:
"Battle of Agincourt." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Nov. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
"List of Hundred Years' War Battles." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Nov. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
"Artillery of France in the Middle Ages." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Nov. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
"English Longbow." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Nov. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
"Hundred Years’ War." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
Ellis, Elisabeth Gaynor., Anthony Esler, and Burton F. Beers. Prentice Hall World History. Connections to Today. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. Print.
"Battle of Jargeau." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Nov. 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
Wilde, Robert. "Aftermath and Effects of the Hundred Years War." N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.
The Hundred years was fought over land that the French believed no longer belonged to the English, but it was also fought over the English Channel because of its economic value. The country that controlled the English Channel was able to control what went through such as trade ships and they could also have quick access to the other’s territory. The war lasted much longer than most but it was not solely because of the amount of land they had to take but the main reason was because of the strong national pride. In the face of declining pride, the French started to losing battles, but as the French were on their last will a young 17 year old girl named Joan of Arc who had revived the hope of the soldiers by saying it is god’s for her to lead the French troops to victory. With the belief that god was on their side the French were reborn with a brand new vigor. After the French redeemed the will to fight they ended up winning more battles but lost the war in the end. Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake for being accused of witchcraft in 1431. The French won many battles but in the end the English ended up winning a majority of them.
In the many battles fought in the war, all had their own unique weapons and infantry fighting styles. The French had a game changing weapon that was put into design in the year 1326 called the Bâton à feu which was a small metal tube that was put on the end of a stick lit to fire a small projectile. Although the idea was there, the baton never dealt enough power on a solider or building so it was still severely underpowered to the French longbow so that was still the main weapon for the troops. Around 1359 the baton got an upgrade and was reinforced and attached to a thick wooden stick so it could be aimed slightly letting it be a decent weapon at taking out horseman by disabling the horse or killing the rider. Around the early 15th century the cannon we know of today was designed and the true benefit of the device was shown. With its thick iron or steel cylinder with a length of almost 2 meters and ammunition weighing 200 kg(440 lb) and throwing them 100 meters was ideal for taking out a stone wall or fortress. The English longbow was the main infantry ranged weapon and the English had the crossbow. The cross bow took around 30 second on average to load because of the crank that had to be used to pull the string while the longbow much shorter with an average of 5-10 second reload, in short the longbow could fire 3 to 6 shots by the time the crossbow fired off one. the longbow and crossbow were made of a native wood called yew but were also made of ash or elm. These weapons were the major deciding factors in the battles of the Hundred years war.
The Hundred Years War consisted of 56 bloody and long battles that stretched over 116 years of war. There is no telling how many other battles that were not documented or the countless number of skirmishes done between small amounts of people and troops. Some of the most game changing battles that took place was the battle of Agincourt and Jargeau. The battle of Agincourt occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415, near modern-day Agincourt in northern France. The Battle of Agincourt fought by King Henry V. King Henry married a French kings daughter giving him the mindset that he was heir to the throne of France and England, but this created problems with the French people because King Henry of England thought he was entitled to the land of France. He took his army and also utilized the English longbow by making it the main infantry weapon for his English and Welsh archers. Although it was fought by archers mostly there was also a large number of hand to hand fighting which the king himself partook in. The battle of Jargeau occurred 11th-12th of June on 1429 shortly after Joan of Arc relieved the siege of Orléans. This battle was Joan of Arc's first offensive battle against the English. Jargeau was a small town that was on the coast of the Loire river about ten miles east of Orleans. The battle first started off by controlling the suburbs and after the enemy forces retreated they bombarded the city walls with artillery to break into the city and assault the English troops inside.
After all the fighting was said and done the war did not end with the countries at peace. There was still some tension between the two. In fact the French were ready to receive a invasion for a good 50 years after the war. Though the war was over the English still invaded not because of the territory but because King Henry VI still believed he held the throne at the end. Eventually King Henry went mad and all the noble factions were competing for control of current and future policy. This quickly led up to the War of the roses that was fought by mostly battle hardened veterans from the Hundred Years War, and at the end of it all a watershed was mad and the French south was permanently out of English hands. After all the fighting was halted the French came out of the war with the most damage done to it. Because the English had a more organized military they were able to come into France and burn, pillage, kill, rape, and massacre the people in France. This left France in a bad spot with ruined land and distressed people. Because of all the damage that was done, the economy was severely damaged and taxes had to be severely raised in order to rebuild and replenish the government. The English came out a bit more unscaved then the French. Since the English had a more organized tax structure as well as organized military the impact of the fighting was not as great as it had been on the French. Although England was more prepared to take on the war then France the royal family revenue drastically and to make matters worse the French had taken wealthy country like Normandy and Aquitaine. Even if the England lost a lot of wealth the people of England gained more wealth than ever before because of the plunder that stolen from during the war. Besides losing money and land the French gained a greater sense of identity do to the forced joining that had to be done in order to maintain revenue but the rebuilding of the structures and crops helped people get a stronger sense of nationality.
In the end The Hundred Years War ended up being one of the longest wars in history and affected the way that the world is today. The war had changed all of Europe in the late 1300’s and affected the way that things are done. Although the war brought great things later in the future it brought great depression and worry for the people living in that time. The people who lived in France at the time were always afraid of invasion and the government was not as strong as it is today and it was not able to protect individual people. During the war there were large numbers of battles that were fought and large numbers of people who died during the war. The war did not just last one generation like most but spanned over a century of violence. The fight scared the face of both England and France and it left both with a even darker history but an even brighter future.
Sources:
"Battle of Agincourt." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Nov. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
"List of Hundred Years' War Battles." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Nov. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
"Artillery of France in the Middle Ages." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Nov. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
"English Longbow." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Nov. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
"Hundred Years’ War." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
Ellis, Elisabeth Gaynor., Anthony Esler, and Burton F. Beers. Prentice Hall World History. Connections to Today. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. Print.
"Battle of Jargeau." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Nov. 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
Wilde, Robert. "Aftermath and Effects of the Hundred Years War." N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.