Agincourt in context: the Hundred Years’ War

The origins of conflict
The conflict between England and France began nearly 400 years earlier when the English were defeated by William, duke of Normandy, at the battle of Hastings in 1066. The Duke, a significant landowner in France, invaded England, took power and became king. Thereafter, the kings of England also owned and ruled over substantial parts of France. This inevitably led to tension with the kings of France.By the middle of the twelfth century, King Henry II, through inheritance and his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, possessed extensive territories in France, including the duchies of Normandy and Aquitaine, and the counties of Anjou, Maine and Touraine. Almost all of these territories were lost during the reign of King John, however, which meant that by the middle of the thirteenth century, the English only controlled a diminished area of the duchy of Aquitaine, in the south-west of France. By the time that Edward III (1327-1377) came to the throne, English territory in France mostly centred on the cities of Bordeaux and Bayonne in the region of Gascony.
The escalation of tensions
A further complication in Anglo-French relations occurred with the death of Charles IV of France, in 1328. His closest male heir was his nephew Edward III (of England), who possessed a claim through his mother, Isabella, who was a sister of Charles IV. Yet this was disregarded by the French nobility, who instead crowned a cousin of the dead man as Philip VI. Edward was not in a strong enough political position at that time to make his claim on the French crown. Thus, he was forced to offer his loyalty and submission to Philip VI of France, in 1329.However, conflict between France and England broke out again in 1337. This was in part due to French support for the Scots, who the English were at war with at the time, but also due to French aggression. Philip VI had decided that the duchy of Aquitaine should be taken back from the English and on the 24th May, he set about sending an army to invade the duchy.Although the duchy of Aquitaine (in the South West) was the direct cause of war between England and France at this time, most of the early fighting took place in the North of France. The first part of the conflict saw a number of English victories, such as at the naval battle of Sluys (slois) in 1340, where an English fleet destroyed a larger French fleet. Six years later, the first major land battle of the war took place at Crécy in northern France, where an English army led in person by Edward III was confronted by a much larger French army, under the command of Philip VI.
Capture of the king
In 1355, after the events in Calais, activities in the conflict moved to South-West France. Edward of Woodstock, who was Edward III’s eldest son, led a grand chevauchée or mounted raid into French territory in Aquitaine. Nicknamed the Black Prince, he won a resounding victory over a far larger French army and captured its commander, Jean II, the King of France himself.Holding the king of France as a prisoner put Edward into a very strong negotiating position and as a result, the English were very much in the ascendant by 1359, when Edward III again invaded France with a large army. A peace treaty was concluded the following year, known as the treaty of Brétigny. As might be imagined, the terms of this treaty were very favourable to Edward III. In return for releasing Jean II from captivity and renouncing his claim to the French throne, it was agreed that Edward should receive a greatly enlarged duchy of Aquitaine in full sovereignty.
Victories for France
However, war broke out again in 1369, and this time, was marked by a succession of French victories reversing almost all of the gains previously won by Edward III. Much of Aquitaine was lost and successive English armies were unable to regain ground. This situation continued throughout the 1370s. Edward III died in 1377 and was succeeded by his grandson Richard II (1377-1399), as Richard’s father, the Black Prince, had died the previous year.By the mid-1380s, the political situation in England had deteriorated and the English faced the prospect of a French invasion, with two attempts made in 1385 and 1386. In the event, neither expedition was launched against England, but it highlighted the country’s vulnerable state. Indeed, in 1387, Richard II’s authority was challenged by the Lords Appellant (a group of powerful noblemen) and he was close to being removed from power. He managed to regain his authority but recognised that a settlement with France would enhance the stability of his situation. The Truce of Leulingheman was duly agreed in March 1396 and it was decided that Richard should marry Isabella, daughter of the king of France, and that the two countries would agree to observe peace for a period of 28 years. English territory was limited to a small part of the duchy of Aquitaine and the town of Calais.A chance for peace?
However, the chance of securing a permanent peace – or even 28 years of peace – between England and France was made more difficult due to the deposition and murder of Richard II in 1399. Richard was killed by his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, the earl of Derby, the son of one of his other uncles, John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster. Henry took the throne to become Henry IV.
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Further reading
Sumption, J. Cursed Kings: The Hundred Years War IV (Faber & Faber, 2015). This link takes you to Amazon.co.uk.Our purpose is to transform access to education.
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