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The Hundred Years’ War: Why It Lasted 116 Years

England and France fought on and off from 1337 to 1453. The three phases, the truces between them, and why a war named by later historians ran 116 years.

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Key takeaways

  • Wikipedia dates the war 1337–1453 and notes the name was adopted by later historians; it was intermittent, broken by truces and the Black Death.
  • It is usually split into three phases: Edwardian (1337–1360), Caroline (1369–1389) and Lancastrian (1415–1453).
  • Wikipedia calls the dispute over Guyenne even more important than the dynastic claim in explaining why the war started.
  • Castillon on 17 July 1453 is counted as the last battle, but Wikipedia says the Treaty of Picquigny in 1475 formally ended the war.
  • England kept only the Pale of Calais, lost in 1558; English and British monarchs styled themselves sovereigns of France until 1802.
  • Southampton's Medieval Soldier project explains that the 1415 army was raised by indentures, contracts sealed mostly on 29 April 1415.

The Hundred Years' War is a label historians gave afterwards to a long, interrupted contest between the kings of England and France. Wikipedia dates it from 1337 to 1453 — 116 years — and stresses that it was intermittent, broken by truces and by catastrophes such as the Black Death. Asking why it "lasted" so long is really asking why a series of wars kept restarting.

A vassal who was also a king

The root problem predates 1337 by centuries. Since the Norman Conquest of 1066, Wikipedia explains, English kings had held lands in France, which made them vassals of the French king for those lands. By the time of Edward III, those holdings had shrunk to the Duchy of Gascony in the south-west, part of Aquitaine — partly because King John lost much of the Angevin inheritance by 1204, the defeat that set up Magna Carta.

Vassalage had teeth. A legal judgment in Gascony could be appealed to the French royal court, so the French king could in principle overturn decisions the English king made there. Wikipedia calls this dispute over Guyenne "even more important than the dynastic question" in explaining the outbreak. When Edward III paid homage to Philip VI in 1329, he did so wearing his crown and sword rather than bareheaded and unarmed, as tradition required.

1328: the succession that gave Edward a claim

The dynastic trigger came when Charles IV died in 1328 without a son, ending the direct male Capetian line. His nearest male relative by blood was his nephew Edward III, through Edward's mother Isabella. French barons, prelates and the University of Paris decided that a man could not inherit through his mother, and the crown went to a cousin, Philip of Valois, as Philip VI.

In May 1337 Philip's Great Council agreed to take Gascony back into his hands. Edward answered by reviving his claim to the French throne, and in 1340 formally took the title King of France.

Three wars with truces between them

Worked example. Wikipedia gives the conventional phases. Subtracting the years shows how much of the 116 was spent between them:

Stretch Years Length
Edwardian War 1337–1360 23 years
Gap after the Treaty of Brétigny 1360–1369 9 years
Caroline War 1369–1389 20 years
Gap after the Truce of Leulinghem 1389–1415 26 years
Lancastrian War 1415–1453 38 years

The phases total 81 years and the gaps 35 — the three wars cover just under 70 per cent of the span. Even inside the phases, Wikipedia notes, the fighting stopped for truces and was disrupted by the Black Death.

Edwardian (1337–1360). English successes dominated: the naval battle of Sluys in 1340, Crécy in 1346 and Poitiers in 1356, where the French king John II was captured. The Treaty of Brétigny (8 May 1360) set his ransom at 3 million crowns and gave Edward more land in Aquitaine in return for dropping his claim to the French crown.

Caroline (1369–1389). Under Charles V and the commander Bertrand du Guesclin, the French had by 1378 reconquered most of the land ceded at Brétigny. War taxes became unpopular in England and Wikipedia says they were seen as one of the reasons for the Peasants' Revolt. Lack of money led to the three-year Truce of Leulinghem, signed on 18 June 1389.

Lancastrian (1415–1453). Henry V reopened the war, taking advantage of Charles VI's mental illness and a French civil war between Armagnacs and Burgundians. He won at Agincourt in 1415 and, by the Treaty of Troyes in 1420, was made heir to the French throne. Both Henry and Charles died in 1422, and the war turned after 1429.

How an army for Agincourt was raised

The English side of 1415 is unusually well documented. The Medieval Soldier project, connected with the University of Southampton, explains in pages by Anne Curry, Dan Spencer and Adam Chapman that the army was raised through the indenture system, which had become the main way of raising armies from the late 1360s. Captains contracted with the king to supply a set number and type of troops for a campaign intended to last up to 12 months.

The contract was written out twice and cut along a toothed line — from the Latin dentes — so that each side's copy could be matched later and a forged copy would not fit. Most indentures for 1415 were sealed at Westminster on 29 April. The project notes that the French used musters and pay receipts rather than indentures, and that its counts of 228 musters and 343 receipts are work in progress.

That paperwork matters for the "why so long" question: war on this scale ran on contracts, wages and taxes, and Wikipedia ties the 1389 truce directly to a lack of funds to pay the troops.

Orléans, Castillon and an ending in stages

The English besieged Orléans from October 1428. In April 1429 Joan of Arc persuaded the Dauphin to send her there; she entered the city on 29 April and the siege was lifted within days. Victory at Patay followed, and Charles VII was crowned at Reims on 16 July 1429. Joan was captured at Compiègne in May 1430 and burned at the stake on 30 May 1431 after a trial organised by the English, and was rehabilitated 25 years later.

Burgundy's switch to Charles VII at Arras in 1435 returned Paris to the French king. Rouen fell by 1449, Formigny followed in 1450, and the English were decisively beaten at Castillon on 17 July 1453 — counted as the last battle. Yet Wikipedia notes England and France stayed formally at war for another 20 years; the Treaty of Picquigny in 1475 formally ended it, 138 years after 1337. England kept only the Pale of Calais until 1558, and its monarchs styled themselves sovereigns of France until 1802.

Choosing 1453 rather than 1475 as the end date is itself a periodisation decision, of the kind discussed in who decides where one age ends. The plague of 1347–1351, which struck during the Edwardian phase, is covered in the Black Death.

Following the war on a timeline

World History Timeline Sim, our own app, organises major events chronologically and lets you browse them by year, era, region, country or category, with a world history map and timeline-ordering games among its study modes. Its Time Travel Mode is alternate history: the chains of consequences it plays out are simulations, not what happened. Because it is built for curiosity-led learning, treat it as something to use alongside a course rather than in place of one. It is free on Google Play with ads and optional in-app purchases; more apps sit in education and brain training.

Good to know

Frequently asked questions

Why is it called the Hundred Years' War if it lasted 116 years?
The name was given by later historians, not by people at the time, and it is a round label for a long, intermittent conflict. Wikipedia dates it from 1337 to 1453, which is 116 years, and notes that it was frequently interrupted by truces and by outside events such as the Black Death.
What caused the Hundred Years' War between England and France?
Two linked disputes. The English king held Gascony as a vassal of the French king, so French courts could overrule him there; Wikipedia calls this Guyenne dispute even more important than the dynastic question. That question came in 1328, when Charles IV died and Edward III's claim through his mother was rejected in favour of Philip of Valois.
Who won the Hundred Years' War?
France. After early English victories at Crécy (1346), Poitiers (1356) and Agincourt (1415), the French relieved Orléans in 1429 and won at Patay, Formigny and Castillon. Wikipedia notes England kept only the Pale of Calais, which it held until 1558, and the Valois dynasty kept the French crown.
How did Joan of Arc change the Hundred Years' War?
Wikipedia says she persuaded the Dauphin to send her to the siege of Orléans in April 1429 and entered the city on 29 April, after which the tide turned within days. Charles VII was crowned at Reims on 16 July 1429. She was captured at Compiègne on 23 May 1430 and burned on 30 May 1431.

Sources

  1. Hundred Years' War (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed
  2. The English army in 1415 (opens in a new tab)The Soldier in Later Medieval England (University of Southampton) — accessed
  3. The French army in 1415 (opens in a new tab)The Soldier in Later Medieval England (University of Southampton) — accessed

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