It’s one of those history facts that feels like a prank. The 100 Years War wasn't a single war, and it definitely didn't last 100 years. It was a messy, sprawling series of conflicts that dragged on for 116 years, from 1337 to 1453. If you've ever wondered why the British and the French have that specific brand of sibling-rivalry-meets-historical-grudge, this is basically where it all started.
Imagine two families fighting over an inheritance for over a century. Now, make those families the most powerful royals in Europe, give them thousands of knights, and let them bankrupt entire nations in the process. That’s the vibe. It wasn't just about land; it was about the very idea of what "France" and "England" were supposed to be.
What Was the 100 Years War Really About?
Most people think it was just a border dispute. Honestly, it was much more personal. The whole thing kicked off because King Edward III of England thought he should also be the King of France.
His mother, Isabella, was the daughter of the French King Philip IV. When the last of Isabella's brothers died without an heir, Edward claimed the throne. The French nobility, understandably, weren't thrilled about an English kid running their country. They dug up an old legal code called Salic Law, which basically said "no girls allowed" in the line of succession. They crowned Philip VI of the House of Valois instead.
Edward wasn't having it.
But it wasn't just about the crown. There was also the issue of Guyenne (Aquitaine), a massive chunk of land in southwest France that the English kings held as dukes. The French kings kept trying to chip away at English control there. Throw in some drama over the wool trade in Flanders—which was basically the Silicon Valley of the 14th century—and you have a recipe for a century of chaos.
The Three Main Acts of the Drama
Historians usually break this massive timeline down into three or four phases because nobody can keep 116 years of names straight otherwise.
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The Edwardian War (1337–1360)
This was the "England is winning everything" phase. Edward III and his son, the legendary Black Prince, absolutely dominated. This is where we see the English longbow change warfare forever. At the Battle of Crécy in 1346, the English were outnumbered, but their archers turned the French knights into pincushions.
Then came the Black Death.
It’s hard to overstate how weird it must have been to be a soldier in 1348. You’re fighting this epic war for a crown, and suddenly half the population starts dying of the plague. Everything paused. Eventually, the English captured the French King John II at the Battle of Poitiers and held him for a massive ransom. The Treaty of Brétigny in 1360 gave England a huge chunk of France in exchange for Edward dropping his claim to the throne.
The Caroline War (1369–1389)
The French got their act together under Charles V. They realized they couldn't beat the English in big, open battles, so they started a war of attrition. They used "Fabian tactics"—basically harassing the English and avoiding major fights. By the time they signed a truce, the English had lost almost everything they gained in the first phase.
The Lancastrian War (1415–1453)
This is the part everyone knows because of Shakespeare and movies. Henry V invaded France and won the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Again, the longbow saved the day. Henry was so successful that he was actually recognized as the heir to the French throne. He married the French princess, Catherine of Valois.
He was this close to winning it all. Then he died of dysentery.
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The Joan of Arc Factor
If you think the story is weird already, enter a teenage peasant girl from Domrémy. Joan of Arc claimed she heard voices from saints telling her to drive the English out of France and get the Dauphin (Charles VII) crowned.
In 1429, she showed up at the Siege of Orléans and somehow—nobody is quite sure how a teenager convinced a whole army to follow her—turned the tide. She broke the siege in just days. Her presence gave the French a psychological boost that the English couldn't counter. Even though she was eventually captured by the Burgundians, sold to the English, and burned at the stake for heresy, the momentum she created never stopped.
By 1453, the English were kicked out of everywhere except for Calais. The war just... ended. There was no grand treaty to finish it off, but the English had too many internal problems (the Wars of the Roses) to keep fighting across the channel.
Why This War Actually Changed the World
We often look at the Middle Ages as a static time, but this war was a massive engine for change. It killed off feudalism.
Before the war, armies were made up of knights who owed service to their lords. By the end, kings were hiring professional, paid armies. The English longbow proved that a well-trained peasant could kill a noble who had spent his whole life training in expensive armor. It was the beginning of the end for the knightly class.
It also created national identities. At the start of the war, the English nobility spoke French. By the end, they were speaking English and saw themselves as distinct from the "others" across the water. The same happened in France. People stopped thinking of themselves as just "Gascons" or "Burgundians" and started thinking of themselves as French.
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Common Misconceptions to Unlearn
- It was continuous fighting. Nope. It was mostly long periods of truces, raiding, and waiting, punctuated by a few massive, world-changing battles.
- The English were the "bad guys." In modern history, we tend to side with the people defending their land, but at the time, the English legitimately believed their king was the rightful ruler of France. It was a legal dispute that got out of hand.
- Armor was useless. You’ll hear people say the longbow made armor obsolete. Not quite. Armor actually got much better during the war to counter the arrows. By the end, knights were wearing full plate that was incredibly tough to pierce.
How to Explore This History Further
If you're looking to get deeper into the 100 Years War, you don't have to just read dry textbooks.
Start with the primary sources if you want the real flavor of the time. Jean Froissart’s Chronicles is the go-to for the early part of the war. He was basically the world’s first war correspondent, traveling around and interviewing people about the battles. Just keep in mind he loved a good story and wasn't above a little bias.
For a more modern take, look at the work of Jonathan Sumption. He’s written a massive, multi-volume history of the war that is widely considered the gold standard. If you want something faster, Juliet Barker’s Agincourt is a brilliant deep dive into that specific moment in time.
You can also physically visit the sites. Many of the castles and battlefields are still there. The town of Orléans still celebrates Joan of Arc every year. Walking the fields of Crécy or Agincourt gives you a sense of the terrain that no map ever could—you can see exactly why the mud and the slopes mattered so much to those archers and knights.
Check out the "Hundred Years War" archives at the British Library or the Bibliothèque nationale de France online. They have digitized manuscripts from the era that show the actual letters and maps used by the people who lived through it. Seeing the actual handwriting of people from 1420 makes the 100 Years War feel a lot less like a legend and a lot more like real life.