INTRODUCTION
Modern era:
war seen as abhorrent & unnatural
need to justify military action & obeying the ‘rules of war’

Medieval views?
Augustinian theology >> sinfulness of man, war inevitable
PLUS God approves of war (with right intent) to punish the sinful
Plus reality that war endemic during the period:
‘Religious’ wars: Crusades, Hussites
‘National’ (?) conflicts: France v. England; Italian wars
Civil wars: Flanders; Armagnac v Burgundians; Wars of the Roses
Case-study: Hundred Years War
not 100 years and not continuous fighting
continually

1 CAUSES OF THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR

Traditional starting point for war = 1337
Robert of Artois (as discussed in the Vows of the Heron)
French confiscation of Aquitaine

But did 1337 mark a new situation?
long-term tensions caused by the English crown holding lands in ‘France’
Treaty of Paris (1259) raised the issue of Liege homage
War of 1294-5
War of Saint Sardos (1324-5)

The importance of the claim to the French throne
Difference in 1337 was Edward III’s claim to the French throne
Propaganda value
Genuine objective?

What were the deeper causes of the conflict?
Economic value of Gascony: contributes 7 tonnes of silver p.a. to the royal coffers
Divert French attention and influence from Scotland
Dynastic aggrandisement and chivalry

2 ENGLISH STRATEGY DURING THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR

Alliances:
o take advantage of animosities caused by the centralization policy of the French crown & civil disputes
o Flanders
o Brittany
o Burgundy

The chevauchée (predominantly in the C14)
objectives: destabilize the French polity or force the French crown into battle?
legitimate means of waging war?
effectiveness?
[France at Peace of Bretigny, 1360]

Conquest
o initiated under Henry V in 1417
o difficulties: manpower & cost; requires garrisons as a full-time activity rather than mere raiding parties
[France in 1429]

3 WHY DID THE ENGLISH LOSE THE WAR?

The French recovery
English success depended upon divisions within France
Joan of Arc and treaty of Arras (1435) >> French reunited

Conflicting goals for the English
objectives during the war?
Territorial gain: Aquitaine; Normandy; Maine and Anjou
Sovereignty and resort
The French crown
BUT the English wanted everything and would not compromise – eg giving up the claim to the French throne

Declining support in England
decreasing participation in the war
collapse in financial support for the war effort

CONCLUSION

Was the Hundred Years War a national conflict?
evidence of anti-French or anti-English feeling in poems and literary sources
but was this an English war?
soldiers were not fighting for the country but for the king
English armies included ‘Frenchmen’ from Aquitaine and other territories
ultimate objective to annex France into England, or keep the two crowns separate?
from the French side, it was more clearly defence against an invading enemy, but against the lines were blurry because the English built upon civil war and dissensions within France.

Wider context of war
experience of warfare for the majority of society?
Rarity of battles v. devastation of chevauchées
Damage caused by mercenaries and unemployed soldiers
Impact of garrisons on the countryside that they ‘protect’