Hundred Years War Chronology

THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR

Compiled by Richard Abels

Overview

The war began in 1337 and lasted, intermittently, to the fall of Bordeaux (Gascony) to the French in 1453. (Legally the war did not end until 1492, when a peace treaty between England and France was finally signed, but there was no further threat to France from the English after 1453.) Between 1337 and 1453 there were only nine years of ratified peace (1360-1369). There was, however, an extended period from 1380 to 1417 in which there was little or no military activity. To complicate matters, the Hundred Years War also included side conflicts: Scotland (as an ally of the French) vs England, Flanders (as an ally of the English) vs France, the Burgundians vs the Armagnacs (a civil war between noble factions within France, 1407 to 1435), a civil war in Spain over succession to the throne and in Brittany over succession to the duchy in which the English and French supported different claimants.

The war can be divided into five phases:

1. 1337-1360: the early phase of the war was dominated by a series of English chevauchées (mounted raids designed to devastate regions economically, destroy the morale of the enemy, and provide plunder for the raiders), two of which culminated in battles won by the English, Crecy in 1346 and Poitiers in 1356. The latter battle resulted in the capture of King John II of France, which led a revolt of the Parisian bourgeois under Etienne Marcel, a feudal revolt by Charles the Bad of Navaree, and a peasant revolt known as the Jacquerie. All of this, tempered by a few French victories, led to the peace of Bretigny in 1360. Bretigny restored an enlarged Duchy of Aquitaine to Edward III and set John II’s ransom at 3 million gold crowns. An omitted clause would have granted Edward III sovereignty over Aquitaine in return for giving up his claim to the French throne. This period also witnessed innovations in taxation by dauphin Charles (the future Charles V)—the creation of the taille—as a mechanism for paying his father’s ransom.

2. 1364-1380: reign of Charles V. This phase of the war was characterized by the French adopting Fabian tactics under the constable Bertrand du Guesclin. The result was that Charles V recovered everything his father had lost. During this period the French and the English fought a proxy war in Spain, as each side supported a different claimant to the Spanish throne.

3. 1380-1413: England and France both suffered internal political turmoil. 1392 Charles VI went mad, which led to civil war between supporters of his younger brother the Duke of Orleans and the Duke of Burgundy (Orleanists-Armagnacs vs. Burgundians). In 1399 Richard II of England was deposed by John of Gaunt's son Henry Bolingbroke, who secured the throne as Henry IV (1399-1413). 1407 Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy had Duke Louis of Orleans assassinated.

4. 1413-1429: high point for English under Henry V (1413-1422). 1413: Burgundians ally with English. 1415: Henry V’s victory at Agincourt. 1417-1419: Henry V conquers Normandy by besieging towns with artillery and through diplomacy. 1419: Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy murdered on a bridge while meeting with the Dauphin Charles. 1420: Treaty of Troyes: Henry V marries daughter of King Charles VI and named as heir to French throne; Dauphin Charles declared a bastard. 1422: Henry V dies a few months before Charles VI, leaving infant Henry VI as successor to English and French Crowns.

5. 1429-1453: French win the war. 1429: Joan of Arc lifts the siege of Orleans, leading to Charles VII being crowned king of France. 1430: Joan of Arc captured and (1431) burnt as a witch. 1435: Burgundians abandon allegiance with English. 1436: Charles VII recaptures Paris. 1449-1450: Charles VII retakes Normandy through the use of artillery (Bureau brothers organize French artillery train). 1449-1450: Charles VII retakes Normandy through the use of artillery. 1451-1453: English lose Guyenne.

Causes of War:

1. Territorial and political causes: the question of Guyenne (aka Gascony) and the status of Flanders. The French possessions of the kings of England, which went back to William the Conqueror, 1066, and King Henry II, 1154, created lasting tensions between the English kings and their theoretical feudal overlords, the kings of France. By 1272 the only part of France that still remained under English control was Guyenne), a portion of what had been the duchy of Aquitaine in the southwest of France. Edward I (1272-1307), who strengthened the power of the English monarchy by monopolizing justice and asserting the lordship of the Crown over all subjects, regardless of rank, wanted to rule Guyenne as part of his English realm. King Philip IV the Fair (1285-1314) was equally intent on asserting his sovereignty within the realm of France, including Guyenne. Added to this were tensions over France’s alliance with Scotland (1295 and 1326) and English support of Flemish burghers hostile to the French Crown.

There were both constitutional and practical aspects to the dispute over Gueynne. The constitutional issue was Philip IV’s claim to sovereignty over all French lands. He claimed the right to hear appeals from ducal courts of justice in the Parlement of Paris (the highest royal court) and to make judicial inquiries throughout France, regardless of the wishes of the dukes and counts. Edward I acknowledged that Philip was his feudal lord for the county of Gascony, but claimed to possess sovereign rights to justice, taxation, coinage, etc., within the borders of Gascony. War loomed in 1293-1294 when Edward I was summoned by Philip IV to answer in the Parlement of Paris for the seizure of the port of La Rochelle by Gascon sailors from Bayonne. Edward I upped the ante by supporting Count Guy of Flanders in his dispute with Philip IV. Philip responded by confiscating the county of Guyenne, and Edward I answered by renouncing his feudal ties. The result was both kings geared for war, and there was sporadic conflict until 1303, when peace was established through the restoral of the status quo and ratified by the marriage of Philip’s daughter Isabella to Edward I’s heir, Edward, Prince of Wales, who was to become Edward II in 1307. The status of Guyenne remained a sore point. The Hundred Years War formally began on 24 May 1337 when King Philip VI (1328-1350) declared Guyenne to be forfeited by King Edward III of England (1327-1377), “because of the many excesses, rebellious and disobedient acts committed by the king of England against us and our royal majesty.” Edward III’s response in October was a formal defiance to “Philip of Valois who calls himself King of France.

2. Dynastic claims. The dispute over English claims to the French Crown was probably less a ‘cause’ of the war as a discovered excuse for it. The death of Philip the Fair’s third son King Charles IV without issue in 1328 left a confused succession to the French throne. The young Edward III, the nephew of the late king and grandson to Philip IV, was the nearest mail claimant, but his claim was through his mother Isabella. Edward’s older cousin, Philip of Valois, the nephew of Philip the Fair, was the nearest claimant through the male line. For reasons that had to do with personality and preference, the French barons chose Philip of Valois to become Philip VI, citing the ancient Frankish Salic Law which excluded women from succession in justification. Philip as a native French count was ‘one of the club.’ Edward III was king of England and a minor under the control of his obnoxious and despised mother Isabella, who was reputed to have murdered her husband Edward II.

Edward III initially accepted Philip VI’s accession and in 1329 went to Amiens to pay homage to his cousin and swearing to be his man for the Duchy of Guyenne and the small County of Ponthieu which lay just across the Channel. Two years later, under threat of military action, Edward III acknowledged Philip VI as his “liege lord.” Edward III, in fact, did not raise a claim to the French throne until 1340, three years into the war. By doing so, he could legally wage war against a “usurper” rather than as a rebel vassal. Edward III was willing to relinquish his claim to the French throne in return for full sovereignty over Guyenne. The Treaty of Bretigny in 1360 had in it an unconfirmed but agreed upon clause that had Edward do just this.

3. Economic and strategic causes. At the outset of the war English economic interests in France lay in customs levied on Bordeaux wines and in the English wool sold to Flanders, where it was worked into textiles. The customs taxes on Bordeaux wines produced an enormous amount of money for the kings of England. In 1307-1308 these taxes even surpassed the ordinary revenues of the English Crown. Guyenne, in return, was an important market for English grain, fish, wool, and cloth. Because of the wool trade (which the English kings profited from through export taxes), the English needed to keep Flemish ports open to English ships. Good relations with Flanders and access to its ports was also important for protecting the English wine trade with Guyenne and imports of salt from the Bay of Bourgneaf. Friendship with Brittany and access to Breton ports were similarly needed to maintain trade with Portugal.

4. Defense of the realm. Edward III in 1335-1336 was concerned about a French-Scottish plan to attack England simultaneously from north and south. Philip VI had given refuge to King David II of Scotland after he had been driven out by Edward III in 1334 and had made the restoration of David to the throne of Scotland a precondition for the settlement of the Guyenne question. Edward III responded by giving refuge to the exiled Robert of Artois, who was “a prince of the blood” and a possible claimant to the French throne. Philip VI was also concerned by Edward III’s stirring up problems in Flanders. Edward III used the ties that his wife Philippa had as daughter of the Count of Hainault to win over the Flemish burghers to his side. When Count Louis of Flanders chose to remain loyal to Philip VI, Edward III responded with an embargo on the export of wool to Flanders, which crippled the Flemish textile industry. The result was an uprising in 1339 of the Flemish burghers against Louis, who was forced to flee. Edward responded by lifting the embargo.

Timeline for the Hundred Years War

(adapted from xenophongroup.com, supplemented with material from http://www.jeanne-darc.dk/p_references/p_timelines/1100_1320.html , my with maps and pictures added)

Prelude

1154 Accession of Henry II count of Anjou, Maine and Touraine, to the English throne. Henry II began the Plantagenet dynasty in England. By inheritance (from his mother's side and sustained by force of arms) Henry II held ducal claim to Normandy. In 1152, he had become duke of Aquitaine by marriage to the heiress, Eleanor. King Henry II of England, as a duke, held far more French land in direct vassalage than did the French king.

1194-99 War over the Norman Vexin. Richard 'The Lionheart,' having returned from crusade and after a two year imprisonment in Germany, managed to protect most of it from seizure by the French king Philip II Augustus.

Chateau Gaillard, built by Richard on the Seine on the border of Normandy and France, 1197-1198

1214 King Philip Augustus of France defeated English-German coalition armies in the 'War of Bouvines', essentially confirming his confiscation/conquest of Normandy, Anjou, and Maine from the English duke-king John I 'Lackland' in 1204

1242 King Louis IX (Saint Louis) defeated the English king Henry III and a rebel force of French nobles in the Santonge War of 1242. The result was confiscation by the French crown of large portions of the former 'Aquitaine'. What remained was the territory known as Guyenne in the southwest, an area that included Gascony.

1259 Treaty of Paris between King Henry III of England and King Louis IX (St. Louis) of France: King Henry III surrendered Plantagenet claims to lands in France conquered by King Philip Augustus in 1203-5 (i.e. Normandy, Anjou, Main, Touraine, and Poitou). In addition, he acknowledged that he held the remaining Plantagenet lands in southwest France (Guyenne or Gascony, part of what had been the Duchy of Aquitaine) as a fief through liege homage to the king of France.

1294 King Philip IV “the Fair” of France confiscated the county of Guyenne/Gascony from King Edward I of England because of Edward’s refusal to acknowlege the authority of French royal justice within the county. Philip IV, intent upon asserting the authority and lordship of the French Crown over all his subjects, including counts and dukes, had been looking for an excuse to break the hold of the English king over southwestern France. He found that excuse in a private maritime war that broke out between sailors from English held Gascony and French held Normandy that led to Norman sailors being lynched in the Gascon city of Bordeaux. When Philip IV demanded that Edward I in his capacity as Duke of Guyenne hand over the malefactors for royal justice, Edward refused. The context for all this was expanding maritime commerce. Sailors from Gascony carried their local wines (e.g. Bordeaux) to England, whose aristocrats preferred them to inferior native English wines and beer. They also carried the salt essential to the English fishermen for their salting of the Poitevin marshes and the bay of Bourgneuf to English ports. For all of this, the Gascon ships, which rarely ventured far out to sea, needed a favorable reception in the Breton ports where they sheltered. Finally, English sheep-farming and the English treasury, which taxed the export of wool, depended on the Flermish market, where the raw wool was sold. Both Philip IV and Edward I prepared for war by raising war revenues and by seeking allies, the French with the Scots and the English with the Flemish.

1303 War between France and England was averted through a marriage treaty. The heir to the English throne Prince Edward (II) married Philip IV’s daughter Isabelle. There were several reasons for this peacemaking. Both kings were strapped for money; Philip IV was at war with Pope Boniface VIII; Edward I feared an uprising of the Scots; and the victory of the Flemish burghers at Courtrai in 1302 had dealt a major blow to Philip’s prestige and war preparations.

1325 King Edward II refuses to pay homage to Charles IV of France for Guyenne, resulting in the ‘small war’ of Saint-Sardos.

1327 Accession of Edward III (1327-77) to the English throne. His mother, Isabelle, was the daughter of King Philip IV and sister to three French kings, none of whom left a direct male heir to the Capetian throne.

1328 Death of the last [direct] Capetian king of France, Charles IV. Edward III's claim to succeed him as the closest male relative to Charles IV was rejected by the French nobility (who disliked his mother), and Philip of Valois, a cousin by direct male line, acceded to the French throne as Philip VI (1328-1350). This began the royal Valois dynasty in France. In 1329, Edward III went to Amiens and paid homage to King Philip IV of France for the duchy of Guyenne. He also paid homage for the small county of Ponthieu in northwest France (directly opposite the coast of Sussex in southeastern England).

1334 King Philip VI gave refuge to the young King David II of Scotland after he was driven from the throne by Edward III.

1335-1336 Philip VI threatened an invasion in support of the restoration of David II. In late summer of 1336, French ships raided Orford and the Isle of Wight.

Initial Period.

1337 King Philip VI of France declared the duchy of Guyenne forfeited by Edward III for the latter's harboring Robert d'Artois a troublesome criminal in the eyes of the French crown. Edward III sent letter of defiance to 'Pilip [sic] of Valois, who calls himself king of France'. These incidents are usually cited as the Beginning of the Hundred Years' War.

1338 Edward III's ambitions were supported by the newly appointed leader of the Flemish townsmen seeking independence from France. Jacob van Artevelde formed a commercial treaty with Edward III and encouraged Edward to claim the French crown.

1339 Edward III's first personally led campaign in France (launched from Flanders into Thiérache) proved ineffective, as well as financially costly. He returned to England to better prepare for a future invasion.

1340 Edward III assumed the title of "king of England and France" (26 January), and concluded a military alliance with the Flemish. Edward III's fleet defeated the French fleet at Sluys [l'Écluse] (24 June).

Battle of Sluys from a late fifteenth-century ms of Froissart’s Chonicles

1341 Death of the Jean III, duke of Brittany, led to a war of succession (1341-64) for the duchy between Charles de Blois (supported by the French king) and Jean de Montfort (supported by the English king).

1345 English campaigns in Normandy, Brittany and Aquitaine.

1346 battle of Crécy (26 August 1346). This battle proved the effectiveness in battle of the English longbow. The great length of this yew self-bow made it possible to draw long arrows (the longer the draw, the more energy stored), and the bows were so thick and stiff that they often had draw-weights of well over 100 pounds, and sometimes (it seems) as much as 180 pounds. A 150-pound bow could drive a heavy 60-gram arrow 320 yards, and a light target arrow 350. Henry VIII, a statute set 220 yards as the minimum allowable distance for target-shooting–they were also extremely powerful.

1347 capture of Calais (4 August 1347).

1348-49 The 'Black Death' (bubonic plague) spread in France and England. Winchelsea (August).
Death of Philip VI (22 Aug) and accession of John II (the Good (1350-64).

1350 English defeated a Castilian fleet in battle of Les-Espagnols-sur-Mer, off coast of Spain.

Effigy of Edward the Black Prince

1355-1356 English campaigns in northern and southern France. Very destructive and profitable chevauchées led by Edward the Black Prince, eldest son of King Edward III, in Languedoc in 1355 and in Poitou in 1356, culminating in the battle of Poitiers (19 September 1356), in which John II of France was made prisoner of the English.

From Anne Curry, Essential Histories: The Hundred Years War 1337-1453 (Osprey Publ, 2002)

1355
			Scots defeat English at Nesbit.
	Midsummers Day		.
	Oct.-Nov.		Plaisance, Mont Giscar, Carcassone and Narbonne are pillaged by the Prince.
	Nov.	2	Duke Henry and King Edward Land in Calais, raid in Pas de Calais, Artios and Picardy.
	Nov.	5-7	French Royal host is in Amiens.
	Nov.	12	French Royal host is in St. Omer. Between Amiens and there King John burned or carried off provisions, leaving the English without supplies.
	Nov.	15	Facing a threat of Scottish invasion, and not wanting to spend the winter in France, Henry and Edward return to England.
			Estates of Langued'oil (Northern France) meet in Paris, agree to support 30,000 man at arms, at a cost of 5,000,000 livres despite the grave misgivings of it's members, expressed by Etienne Marcel.
1356
	Sep.	3	Prince Edward reaches the Loire but, finding the bridges burnt turns west towards Tours, where he has reports of a large French Army.
	First Week Sep.		French army gathers at Chartres.
	Sep.	8-13	French army crosses the Loire at Orleans, Blois and other points. The city forces, disaffected about taxes, withdraw, though according to Froissart King Jean dismisses them.
	Sep.	12	Prince Edward is in Montbazon, receives Cardinal Tallyrand, on a mission to negotiate a truce, which Edward refuses.
	Sep.	17	At a farm called La Chavoterie a French force led by Raoul de Coucy overtakes an English scouting party. They engage and, though outnumbered, the English win. Raoul is taken captive.
	Morning, Sep.	18	King John and the French army block the line of march of Prince Edward. Edward draws up his forces for battle.
	mid morning, Sep.	18	In response to pleas by Cardinal Tallyrand to maintain the Truce of God, given the fact that it was Sunday, King Jean agrees to delay battle until the next day. English entrench their position.
	Sep.	19	Battle of Poitiers: Capture of King Jean II and son Phillipe, 1 Archbishop, 13 Counts, 5 Viscounts, 21 Barons and Bannerets and Ap 2,000 knights, squires and men-at-arms. Most were released on their promise to bring their ransom to Bordeaux before Christmas.

1358 In February, Parisian bourgeoise rebels, led by Etienne Marcel, murdered the Marshals of Champagne and Normandy; and threatened the life of the dauphin, Charles, who was forced to flee the city. In May, a peasants' rebellion, known as the jacqerie, began, but was put down near Meaux by Charles "the Bad," King of Navarre.

1359 King John signs the Treaty of London, surrendering most of western France and agreeing to pay 4,000,000 gold ecus ransom. Hoping to gain from the dauphin's difficulties, Edward III launched his last great campaign in France.

1360 Black Monday - While camped on the approach to Chartres the English army is devastated by a storm of immense hail and freezing rain. Yielding to the wrath of heaven (and the advice of the Duke of Lancaster) Edward agrees to negotiate a peace. Having failed to get himself crowned 'king of France' at Reims and being unable to take Paris, King Edward agreed to the preliminaries of the Treaty of Brétigny near Chartres (8 May 1360). A modified version of the treaty was ratified at Calais (24 Oct 1360). The terms were: Jean's ransom is reduced to 3,000,000 ecus, and Edward renounces the crown of France, and any territories not covered by the treaty. Edward is granted Guienne and Calais free of homage, and large grants of land were made between the Loire and the Pyrenees, amounting to approximately a third of France. Forty hostages are to be sent to England to ensure compliance.

1360-1369 relative peace in terms of direct combat between English and French armies until 1369 as the dauphin Charles gathered money to pay the ransom of his father. The French king, John II was released from English captivity in December, 1360.

1362 The Grand Companies ravaged the French countryside. John attempted to deal with the brigand companies. He hired the Archpriest Arnaut de Cervole and dispatched him with a small royal army led by the Comte de Tancarville and the Comte de la Marche. Against the advice of de Cervole de Tancarville and de la Marche stormed the height at Brignais, near Lyon. They are thoroughly defeated by the brigands. Edward III announced the creation of the sovereign principality of Aquitaine [a region of ancient designation that was more extensive than Guyenne, which it included] to be ruled by his son, the 'Black Prince', Edward of Woodstock.

1364 King John II returned to London in 1364 (and died there in the same year) when his son, the duke of Anjou, refused to remain a hostage until the full ransom was paid. Charles V, the Wise became king of France (1364-80). In supporting his brother, Philip the Bold, as duke of Burgundy (since 1364), Charles V incited Charles 'the Bad' of Navarre (who believed that he had a better claim to the dukedom) to lead an uprising. Charles of Navarre's forces were defeated in the battle of Chocherel (May 1364) by the French king's army, led by a low-ranking, unheroic, and ugly Breton knight, Bertrand du Guesclin, who had made his reputation by leading routiers.

Effigy of Bertrand du Guesclin

Du Guesclin was later captured by the English at the battle of Auray (29 September), in which Charles de Blois was killed. Montfort's son, became Jean IV, duke of Brittany, but paid homage to the French king, Charles V.

1366-1369 Charles deployed du Guesclin to lead a force of routiers to aid Enrique [Henry] of Trastámara against Pedro 'the Cruel', king of Castile, who was supported by an English force under the Black Prince. Against the advice of Bertrand du Guesclin and Marshal d'Audrehem, King Enrique gives battle to Don Pedro and Prince Edward. The result is the the battle of Nájera (2 April 1367) in Castile, an overwhelming defeat for Enrique, who is forced to flee. Don Pedro is restored to the throne, and du Guesclin is taken prisoner and ransomed by Charles V. On the positive side, the brigand companies are devastated, and France has some relief, until Prince Edward releases his English-Gascon troops. Later, the English withdrew support of Pedro, and Enrique (with du Guesclin's help) defeated Pedro at Montiel (14 March 1369). The new king of Castile, Enrique II, rewarded the French for their support by sending the formidable Castilian navy to assist the French in the struggle against England.

1369-73 Renewed warfare between France and England began in June. Charles V announced that he was confiscating Aquitaine (Guyenne) and launched an invasion which took several towns. The Black Prince, experienced revolts in his domain and sacked Limoges (19 September 1370). The Prince returned to England in 1371, leaving his French dominion to his brother, John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster.
Charles V had prepared his treasury for war, financed a new fleet, Clos des Galées at Rouen, and recruited commanders with proven battlefield experience: Oliver de Clisson, Boucicault, Amaury de Craon, the Bègue de Vilaines, the Admiral Jean de Vienne. In particular, Charles made du Guesclin constable (2 October 1370). In that same year the new constable and Oliver de Clisson routed an Entlish force at Pontvallain, near Le Mans.
This latter part of the first period (the final phase) of the Hundred Years' War receives little attention in most military histories, though it was the decisive part of the period. By mostly avoiding open-field battles, where the English longbow tactical system dominated, the French followed Fabian methods of raids, ambushes, night attacks, and harassment. Du Guesclin led most of the main French operations and reconquered several towns in Guyenne in 1372. In June of the same year, a Castilian fleet destroyed the English fleet off La Rochelle. The trend was repeated in Brittany and Normandy, as the French reclaimed, by force or bribery, most all of the territories that had been ceded to Edward III at Brétigny.

1373 John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (younger son of Edward III), landed in Calais with 3,000 men at arms and 8,000 archers. Though theoretically seeking a decisive battle, John of Gaunt conducted a chevauchée from Calais through Picardy, Champagne, and Burgundy. All the way, he was shadowed by du Guesclin and the French army, who refused to engage in a battle. Unable to pillage freely or to bring the French to battle, John of Gaunt arrived in Bordeaux at Christmas with 6000 starving troops, having lost most of the rest and virtually all of his horses to cold and hunger. John had covered 600 miles in five months without having captured a single town or finding anyone to fight him—a tribute to the effectiveness of Fabian tactics.

Return to Directory.

Interim Period.

1377 Death of Edward III (21 June) and accession of Richard II (1377-99) of England at age eleven.
Jean de Vienne directed French naval raids on English coast.
Battle of Eymet (1 September), French defeated Anglo-Gascon army.

1378 Beginning of the Great Schism (1378-1417) in the western Church. Charles V confiscated the duchy of Brittany.

1380 Death of du Guesclin (13 July) and of Charles V (16 September), and accession of Charles VI (1380-1422) at age eleven.

1382 Battle of Roosebeke (November). French knights defeated Flemish uprising led by Philippe van Artevelde.

1383 Upon the death of the count of Flanders, Louis de Mâle, his son-in-law, Philippe, duke of Burgundy (and brother to king Charles V, of France) became the count of Flanders.

1389 Truce of Leulinghen, renewed repeatedly, prevented any major campaign until 1404.

1392 King Charles VI of France went mad, killing four of his entourage. From this point on, the king would periodically lapse into insanity. When he was sane, the country was ruled by Charles’s brother Louis, Duke of Orleans; when he was insane, by the Duke of Burgundy (a cadet line of the Valois family). Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy arranged for Duke Louis to be assassinated in 1407. The result was armed conflict between the followers of Louis’s son Charles, called the ‘Armagnacs,’ named after Charles father-in-law the Count of Armagnac, and the Burgundy.

1396 Marriage of Richard II to Isabella of France, daughter of King Charles VI. A twenty-eight year truce was agreed to, but the two monarchs were unable to conclude a peace. Many of the English nobility resent no longer having an opportunity to plunder the natural richness of France.

1399 Richard II was deposed by John of Gaunt's son Henry Bolingbroke, who secured the throne as Henry IV (1399-1413), beginning the Lancasterian dynasty.

1402 French troops (primarily Orléanist) assisted a Scottish invasion of England.

1403 Charles VII was born (22 February) in Paris. He was the third son of Charles VI and his queen, Isabeau. There was low expectancy of him becoming dauphin, as he was preceded by his two brothers: Louis, duc de Guyenne (b.1397) and Jean, duc de Touraine (b.1398). French raided the English coast while Henry IV was preoccupied with scattered revolts.

1405 French sent an expedition to England to assit Owen Glendower's revolt in Wales, against king Henry IV, but withdrew as the rebellion faltered.

1406 French attacked English possessions in France, in Vienne, and Calais.

1407 Assassination of Charles VI's brother, Louis, duke Orléans, by Jean 'the Fearless', duke of Burgundy (since 1404) initiated a dramatic eruption in the ongoing friction between the two powerful houses. This resulted in open civil war in France between partisans of the duke of Burgundy (Burgundians) and those of the duke of Orléans, called 'Armagnacs'. (In 1410 Charles, son of Louis d' Orléans, married the daughter of Bernard VII, count of Armagnac. Bernard assumed leadership of the faction.)

1411 Both the Orléanists ['Armagnacs'] and the Burgundians sought aid from the English king, Henry IV.

1413 Henry V became king of England upon the death of his father.

The cabochienne uprisings (April and May) in Paris. The Armagnacs gained control of Paris in September, and ruthlessly expelled factions loyal to Burgundy. Charles [VII] was betrothed to Marie d'Anjou, daughter of duc d'Anjou and Yolande of Aragón. The House of Anjou allied itself with the Orleanist-Armagnac faction. In May, Jean 'the Fearless' allied Burgundy with the new English king, Henry V.

Return to Directory.

Final Period.

1415 As the powerful duke of Burgundy remained neutral, Henry V of England invaded France, captured Harfleur (23 September) and defeated the French army at Agincourt (25 October).

At Agincourt, King Henry had about 5,000 archers and 1,000 men-at-arms. The French army was composed of about 10,000 men-at-arms, 10,000 gros valets, and perhaps 4,000 archers, crossbowmen, and other communal militiamen. This would make the ratio of French to English combatants 4 to 1. The French advance was hindered by a muddy battlefield and the longbow again proved effective against men-at-arms. But, as Clifford Rogers points out, the battle was “far more lost by the French than won by the English.” The French used a flawed deployment and chose a battlefield better suited to defense than an attack. The French cavalry charge of 500 men-at-arms on the wings were supposed to ride down the archers, but the English longbowmen were able to loose approximately 17 volleys against the French as they covered the 400 yards, destroying the cavalry. This was followed by the charge of the first line of dismounted men-at-arms, which had been deployed in a far too compressed formation that allowed them to be enveloped by the fewer English. To make matters worse—turning defeat into disaster—the second French line advanced prematurely, which created havoc when the first line was beaten back and retreated into the advance. By the end of the day, at least 45% of the French forces lay dead, including about 2000 French nobles. The English lost a duke, an earl, a couple of knights, and perhaps a few hundred archers (at most). The English victory was total.

The defeat resulted in the deaths or capture of many of the leading French nobles that supported the Orléanst-Armagnac faction, and, thereby, strengthen the Burgundian position. In December, Bernard d'Armagnac became constable of France.

1416 Comte d'Armagnac, constable of France was defeated by English force at Valmont (11-13 March). English fleet defeated French-Genoese fleet in a naval engagment on the Seine (15 August). Henry V signed an alliance with Emperor Sigismond de Luxembourg, for the latter to remain netural in the English-French conflict.

1417 As Henry V began a conquest of Normandy (1417-19), save Mont-Saint-Michel, France was divided. The Armagnacs maintain themselves in the French capital. The duke of Burgundy, with close alliance with Isabeau of Bavaria, Charles VI's queen, set up a rival government at Troyes. The two eldest sons of Charles VI died while 'under the portection' of the duc de Burgundy (Louis, d.December 1415; and Jean, d.5 April 1417). This left the third son of the French king, Charles, as the dauphin.

1418 Jean the Fearless secured control of Paris and Armagnacs were massacred. The constable, Bernard, was killed. The dauphin Charles escaped to south of the Loire, to Melun (29 May). With the help of the Angevins, Charles established a rival government at Bourges. Dauphin Charles assumed (29 June) the position of lieutenant-general from his father. Charles retained a bodyguard of Scots archers. In July he led a force that siezed the Burgundian-held castle of Azay-le-Rideau. Henry V besieged Rouen in July.

1419 Rouen surrendered in January, and Henry V completed his conquest of Normandy. Jean the Fearless, while meeting (10 September) with the dauphin Charles at Montereau, was assassinated in revenge for the murder of the duc d'Orleans. Philippe the Good succeeded his father as duke of Burgundy, and continued the alliance with Henry V of England in December.

1420 French-Scottish army was defeated by English at Fresnay (3 March). The Treaty of Troyes (21 May) was the result of the English-Brugundian alliance and the mental illness of the French king, Charles VI. The treaty called for Henry V to marry Catherine, daughter of Charles VI, and to become king of France on the death of his father-in-law.

1421 The dauphin Charles' Scots allies and French (under Marshal Gilbert Lafayette) defeated an English force at Baugé (22 March 1421), in which Henry V's brother, duke of Clarence, was killed. A Burgundian force defeated French at Mons-en-Vimeu (31 August 1421), in which Jean Ponton de Xaintrailles and Etienne de Vignolles, le Bourg de la Hire, were captured.

1422 Henry V died (31 August) before Charles VI (21 October). Henry V's brother, duke John of Bedford, became the English regent in France and tried to establish Henry V's ten-month old son on the French throne.

1422 Bedford launched a campaign that gradually expanded English holdings in France, and Maine was added to Normandy as an English possession. With few reverses, the campaign continued until 1429.

1423 English forces defeated the dauphin's forces at Cravant (31 July).

1424 English forces defeated the dauphin's forces and at Verneuil (17 August), where the constable, the Scot Earl of Buchan, was killed and duc d'Alençon and Marshal Lafayette were captured.

1425 Charles VII awarded the Breton, Arthur de Richemont, the position of constable (7 March).

1426 Bedford defeated an army led by Arthur de Richemont at St-Jacques, near Avranches (6 March), which forced Richemont's brother, Jean V, duc de Brittany, to sign a treaty with Henry V; this led to Richemont's banishment from the French court (1427).

1427 Dunois and La Hire defeated an English army under Warwick at Montargis (September).

1428 The English invested Orléans (12 February).

1429 English food convoy (en route to besiegers at Orléans) repulsed an attack by a larger French force in the 'Battle of the Herrings' (12 February 1429) near Rouvray-Saint-Denis. Duke of Burgundy withdrew his forces supporting the siege of Orléans in April. French forces under the titular command of Jeanne d'Arc relieved Orléans (8 May) and continued their campaign with a series of small tactical victories: seized Jargeau (11/12 June) and Beaugency (16/17 June). At Patay (18 June), the forces of Jeanne d'Arc and the constable de Richemont defeated English in open battle, and captured Talbot. Charles VII was crowned and anointed king of France at Rheims (17 July). Jeanne d'Arc was wounded leading a failed attack on Paris (16 August).

1430 Jeanne was captured by Burgundians at Compiégne (23 May).

1431 Jeanne was burnt at the stake in Rouen (30 May).
René d'Anjou, duc de Bar and Lorraine, was captured by Antoine de Vaudement in a local territorial dispute, as battle of Bulgnéville.

1432 The duke of Brittany and the Angevins made a treaty of alliance (February). Richemont was reconciled with Charles VII (5 March). La Trémoélle, the scheming advisor to Charles VII, was overthrown and Charles [IV] d'Anjou (son of Yolande of Aragón, and held the title of comte de Maine) assumed the position. In August, Dunois's army defeated Bedford's English force besieging Lagny-sur-Marne, the latter abandoning their artillery.

1434 Jean Bureau joined the service of Charles VII.
Louis III, duc d'Anjou died in Italy while campaigning for the crown of Naples. His brother, René d'Anjou, while still a prisoner of the duke of Burgundy, inherited Louis III's claim to Naples, as well as the duchy of Anjou.

1435 Duke of Bedford died (14 September). Treaty of Arras (10 December) established peace between Duke Philip 'the Good' of Burgundy and Charles VII.

1436 Richemont recovered Paris (13 April), and allowed English to evacuate. The highly successful merchant, Jacques Coeur, was appointed Director of the Paris Mint. In July, the duke of Burgundy besieged the English at Calais. In August, an English force, under Humphry of Gloucester, counter attacked and drove the Burgundians back into Flanders in a campaign that lasted until 1438. Released from captivity, the English Lord Talbot [later made earl of Shrewsbury in 1442], aggressivley subdued French communities in Normandy and Maine.

1437 Charles VII entered Paris (12 November). Talbot continued to counter French attacks in Normandy, repulsing a Burgundian attack on Le Crotoy, and recovering other towns.

1438 Jacques Coeur was appointed Argentier (personal treasurer) to Charles VII. Charles VII issued the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges. French forces secured the upper Seine by capturing Montereau.

1440 Charles duc d'Orléans [a prisoner since Agincourt (1415)] was released from English captivity. Charles I, duc de Bourbon, led other nobles in the Praguerie revolt (15 February- 17 July) against Charles VII. The dauphin, Louis, and Jean II, duc d'Alençon, were associated with the rebels. The revolt was put down by Constable Richemont. Talbot continued to defend English-held towns and managed to recapture Harfleur (July).

1441 The French army captured Creil and Conflans. French besieged Pontoise in June, and took the town (25 October) after a long campaign and an artillery siege directed by Jean Bureau.

1442 Charles VII launched a major campaign into Guyenne and captured St.-Sever, Dax, and La Réole. Yolande d'Aragon died (14 November).

1443 Jean Bureau was made treasurer of France.

1444 Truce of Tours suspended hostilities between England and France (lasted until 1449). As part of a two-year truce, English surrendered Maine and the English king, Henry VI married [in 1445] Margaret d'Anjou [daughter of the brother-in-law to Charles VII of France]. Agnès Sorel was admitted to the court of Charles VII.
Charles VII sent his son, the dauphin Louis, to lead an expedition against the Swiss in Alsace and Lorraine (summer and autumn, 1444). The expedition resulted in a costly French victory over the Swiss at Saint Jacob-en-Birs (24 August). The campaign had nothing to do with the Hundred Years' War, but did manage to divert the écorcheurs from marauding French territory. In the same year, Charles VII personally led a limited campaign into Lorraine.

1445 Charles VII issued ordonnances (January-March) that created a 'standing army' from the men-at-arms. Jean Bureau was known to be a close advisor of Charles VII by this time. Guillaume Jouvenel des Ursins was appointed chancellor of the Grand Conseil.

1446-1447 Charles VII's court was plagued by schemes to support Charles d'Orléans and Charles d'Anjou in efforts to re-establish dynastic claims in Italy, and by intrigues instigated by the dauphin, Louis.

1448 The francs-archers were formed in April.

1449 The truce was broken by English attacks on the Breton fortress of Fougères (March). Charles VII ordered his army to invade Normandy (31 July). The English duke Somerset surrendered Rouen (10 November).

1450 Agnès Sorel died at Jumièges (9 February). The French besieged Caen in March. The decisive battle of Formigny (15 April) demonstrated the first real effective use of gunpowder weapons on the battlefield in the Hundred Years' War and saw the defeat of English longbow tactics. Caen captured (24 June) and Cherbourg was taken (12 August). Charles VII completed the reconquest of Normandy.

1451 First campaign to reconquer Guyenne (6 May - 21 August). Comte de Dunois, accompanied by Bureau's artillery, quickly siezed English held towns in Guyenne; Bordeaux surrendered 30 June. Dauphin Louis married Charlotte of Savoy (9 March) without the consent of Charles VII.

1452 A pro-English faction in Bordeaux sought help from England. John Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury, arrived in France, and was welcomed into Bordeaux.

1453 Jacques Coeur was charged with various, questionable crimes and imprisoned. He was condemened (29 May 1453). His wealth was effectively confiscated by the French crown. Charles VII deployed an army to reconquer Guyenne (1453). Jean Bureau directed the French force that invested Castillon. An English relief force advanced on the French fortified encampment. The French cannon and handguns which cut down many of the attackers before a heavy cavalry of Breton men-at-arms made a flank attack and routed the English, killing their commander, Talbot, outside of Castillon (17 July 1453). Bordeaux's final submission to Charles VII (19 October).