Hundred Years War

The Hundred Years War was a long and discontinued war between England and France , which took place between 1337 and 1453, motivated by political and economic reasons.

Main Causes

The political cause of the Hundred Years' War was the scramble for the French throne , after the death of Charles IV in 1328, which put an end to the Capetian dynasty.

The King of England, Edward III, was the grandson of Philip the Fair, and claimed the right to the French crown. From an economic point of view, the reason was the dispute for the rich region of Flanders (Netherlands and Belgium present).

In addition to being a rich commercial center, Flanders had an important woolen fabric industry, whose raw material was imported from England.

As the exploitation of wool for Flanders was an important source of wealth for English nobles, they decided to face French pretensions in relation to the region.

The First Years of the War

In the first years of the war, the English, with excellent infantry, won spectacular victories. It wasn't until 1429 that an event changed the course of the war in favor of the French.

The peasant Joan of Arc commanded a small army sent by Charles VII, liberated Orleans , besieged by the British. Other victories followed until the French conquered Reims . Charles VII was then crowned King of France.

The war lasted more than a hundred years, it was not continuous, it presented moments of struggle, with victories on both sides, and moments of truce.

The conflict was always accompanied by other calamities, such as famine and plague. The famine was a consequence of the war, the prolonged droughts and the small harvests, which caused an increase in the prices of basic necessities, such as wheat.

In 1347, the Black Death quickly spread across Europe, killing more than a third of the population.

In 1358, with the crisis of feudalism, during the Late Middle Ages, a peasant revolution known as jacquerie took place in France. , because the peasants were called by the nobles of “Jacques Bonhomme”, the equivalent of caipira in Portuguese.

Of the approximately 100,000 peasants who participated in the revolution, most were massacred by nobles supported by the king.

In England, the situation of the peasants was also dire. Starved and oppressed by feudal lords, a mass of 60,000 rebels destroyed castles, murdered lords and tax collectors and marched on London, occupying the capital. The reaction of the king and nobles resulted in the failure of the revolution and the execution of thousands of rebels.

Last Phase of the War

The last phase of the Hundred Years' War was marked by the victories of the peasant Joan of Arc, which further stimulated the feeling of nationality of the French people.

The English, planning to kill her, arrested the French heroine. Tried by a Church court, she was accused of heresy and witchcraft, she was eventually convicted and burned alive in Rouen in 1431.

The death of Joan of Arc further stimulated the nationalism of the French, who from then on, advanced on the English, achieving significant victories.

In 1453 peace was signed. Charles VII began to govern France with almost absolute powers and ended the English pretensions to own dominions in France.