Effects of the Hundred Years War
Oct 30, 2010 Michael Streich
The Hundred Years’ War started in 1337 but lasted until 1453. It was a conflict that began with mounted knights and the waning code of chivalry but ended with primitive canons and the use of gunpowder. The long series of battles, representative of the different phases of the war, resulted in a spirit of early nationalism and, at least in England, increased the civil bureaucracy. The Hundred Years’ War characterized a transition for England and France from the medieval to the early pre-modern period. By 1453, only Calais remained in English hands, leaving a clearly defined France, at least geographically.
English Yeomen Archers against French Mounted Knights
At the start of the war in 1337, English king Edward III had more money to wage war than Philip VI of France, although the overall resources of both nations were equal. England employed the use of yeomen infantry armed with the longbow, an influence of the Welsh who had, in earlier years, opposed the English under Edward I.
English bowmen could shoot ten to twelve arrows a minute, each one capable of piercing chain mail, while the French, using the traditional crossbow, could only fire two arrows per minute. Edward III relied heavily upon his archers to stop the French mounted knights. This strategy was successful throughout the war, beginning with Crecy and Poitier and ending at Agincourt.
Effects of the Hundred Years War on English Government
The on-going Anglo-French conflict resulted in the expansion of government bureaucracy and Parliamentary interference with royal endeavors. Wars cost money and although the English Parliament raised funds, as in 1341, they served to remind the king that no direct taxes would be approved without the approval of Parliament.
But the English monarchy became unstable after the death of Edward III in 1377. Edward’s son, Edward, the Prince of Wales (also known as the “Black Prince”), died of plague a year before his father. Not until the second decade of the 15th Century would England be led by a king of the stature of Edward III, and that was Henry V.
After the Hundred Years’ War
Despite Henry V’s victory at Agincourt in 1415, France prevailed in the conflict. In 1429, an obscure young female named Joan arrived in Chinon to convince the French dauphin that she was sent by God to rid the land of the hated English. After raising the siege of Orleans, Joan enabled the heir apparent to be crowned king at Rheims.
By 1450 the English were beaten, forced to return to England and endure the War of the Roses before finally settling an internal peace under the Tudor dynasty. In France, the monarchy would spend decades consolidating power over powerful provincial nobles. Not until the reign of Louis XIV, the “Sun King,” in the 17th Century, would France be fully attuned to an absolutist monarch who controlled the restless French nobility.
Effects of the Hundred Years War on Military Traditions
Chivalry ended in the Hundred Years’ War. The rules of conflict changed. Cannons became a regular feature of siege warfare and gunpowder changed military strategies. In many ways, the Hundred Years’ War was a “military revolution” that forced Europe to adapt. In 1490, for example, the powerful Venetian city-state replaced bowmen with trained gunners.
The use of cavalry would remain as a core element of military preparedness until World War I, but the notion of knights clad in heavy chain mail ended. City walls were strengthened – as evidenced by the Italian city-states, to accommodate the new warfare. The ending of the Hundred Years’ War coincided with significant social, cultural, and intellectual changes in Western European history.
Sources:
- Christopher Allmand, The Hundred Years War: England and France at War c. 1300-c. 1450 (Cambridge University Press, 1988)
- Desmond Seward, The Hundred Years War: The English in France, 1337-1453 (Atheneum, 1978)
- Jonathan Sumption, The Hundred Years War I: Trial by Battle (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990)
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