You probably think you know the vibe. A bunch of guys in clanking armor, two kings yelling about a throne, and a timeline that—ironically—actually lasted 116 years. But if you’re asking who fought in the hundred years war, the "France vs. England" label is a massive oversimplification. It’s like saying World War II was just a spat between Berlin and London.
The reality? It was a messy, pan-European nightmare.
Most people picture a clear border with Englishmen on one side and Frenchmen on the other. That’s just not how the 14th century worked. National identity was barely a thing yet. People were loyal to lords, not flags. Because of this, the conflict sucked in mercenaries from Italy, knights from Bohemia, and sailors from Castile. It was a family feud that turned into a continent-wide industry.
The Plantagenets vs. The Valois: A Family Feud Gone Wrong
At its core, this whole mess started because Edward III of England thought he owned France. He wasn't just being greedy; he actually had a pretty solid legal claim through his mother, Isabella. When the last Capetian king died without a son, the French nobility panicked. They didn't want an English king, so they dug up an old rule called Salic Law to claim women couldn't pass on the right to rule.
They handed the crown to Philip VI of the House of Valois. Edward was... less than thrilled.
So, who fought in the hundred years war at the start? It was these two dynasties. But here’s the kicker: Edward III was technically a vassal to the French king for his lands in Gascony (southwest France). He was a king in England but a "subject" in France. Imagine your boss trying to fire you, so you decide to claim you actually own his entire company. That’s the level of drama we’re talking about here.
The Low Countries and the Money Men
Don’t think for a second this was just about "honor." It was about sheep. Well, wool. The County of Flanders (modern-day Belgium) was the industrial heart of Europe, and they desperately needed English wool for their looms. When the French king tried to mess with that trade, the Flemish burghers sided with England.
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You had guys like Jacob van Artevelde, a wealthy merchant from Ghent, leading revolts against his own pro-French count. These weren't knights; they were businessmen who realized that an English victory meant more profit. Money talks. It always has.
The Scots: France’s Secret Weapon
If you want to understand who fought in the hundred years war, you have to look north of the English border. The "Auld Alliance" between France and Scotland was the ultimate "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" situation. Whenever the English kings sent their best troops to France, the Scots would cross the border and start causing chaos in Northern England.
It was a brilliant strategic pincer move.
At the Battle of Verneuil in 1424, there was actually a massive contingent of Scottish soldiers fighting on French soil. They weren't just "helpers"; they were the backbone of the French resistance during some of the darkest years for the Valois dynasty. In fact, the "Garde Écossaise"—the Scottish Guard—served as the personal bodyguards to French kings for centuries after.
Mercenaries, Free Companies, and the "Great Company"
Here is the part they don't teach you in school. Between the big, famous battles like Crécy and Agincourt, the war didn't actually stop. It just became a business.
When the kings ran out of money to pay their armies, the soldiers didn't just go home. They formed "Free Companies." These were essentially wandering bands of professional thugs. They were English, German, Gascon, and Breton. They didn't care about the crown. They cared about loot.
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- Sir John Hawkwood: Perhaps the most famous mercenary of the era. An Englishman who fought in France before taking his private army (the White Company) to Italy to sell his services to the highest bidder.
- The Routiers: These guys were the scourge of the French countryside. They took over castles and held entire towns for ransom.
Honestly, the peasants suffered the most. To a farmer in Auvergne, it didn't matter if the guy burning his barn was from London or Brittany. The war was a constant state of insecurity fueled by men who knew nothing but how to kill for a paycheck.
The Navarrese and the Bretons: Civil Wars Within a War
Brittany was a mess. From 1341 to 1365, they had their own "War of the Breton Succession." It was a proxy war. England backed one guy (John of Montfort), and France backed the other (Charles of Blois).
Then you have Charles the Bad, King of Navarre. This guy was a wildcard. He was a French prince and a Spanish king who spent his entire life switching sides, trying to assassinate people, and generally being a thorn in the side of the French crown.
The Iberian Connection: Castile and Portugal
By the 1360s, the war spilled into Spain. The Kingdom of Castile had a civil war between Peter the Cruel and his half-brother Henry of Trastámara.
Why does this matter? Because Castile had a massive, powerful navy.
Edward the Black Prince (the English hero) marched an army over the Pyrenees to help Peter. Meanwhile, the French sent their best general, Bertrand du Guesclin, to help Henry. Suddenly, the who fought in the hundred years war list included Spanish galleys and Portuguese knights. The English fleet actually got crushed at the Battle of La Rochelle in 1372 by Castilian ships using primitive cannons and fire.
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Joan of Arc and the Rise of the "People"
Late in the war, the demographics shifted. It stopped being just about noblemen. When Joan of Arc showed up, she tapped into something new: populism.
The French army that finally kicked the English out wasn't just a collection of knights. It was a professionalizing force supported by a disgruntled, nationalistic peasantry. The introduction of heavy gunpowder artillery—led by the Bureau brothers—changed the "who" from "men with swords" to "men with big guns."
Why This Still Matters Today
The Hundred Years War is the reason England and France have the distinct identities they do. Before the war, the English aristocracy spoke French. By the end, they were writing in English. It forced both nations to create centralized governments, tax systems, and permanent armies.
It was the transition from the Middle Ages to the early modern world.
If you want to dive deeper into the gritty details of these battles, look for the works of historian Jonathan Sumption. His multi-volume history of the war is the gold standard. He avoids the romanticized myths and gets into the brutal logistics of how these armies actually functioned. Another great resource is Juliet Barker, specifically her work on Agincourt, which peels back the layers of Henry V’s "heroism" to show the desperate, starving reality of his troops.
Actionable Next Steps for History Enthusiasts
If you’re looking to truly understand the era, don't just read about kings. Look at the lives of the people who actually stood in the mud.
- Visit the Battlefields: If you're ever in Northern France, go to Agincourt or Crécy. Seeing the terrain—the way the hills slope and where the woods were—makes the tactical decisions of the longbowmen finally click.
- Read Primary Sources: Check out Froissart’s Chronicles. He’s biased, he loves the nobility, and he gets things wrong, but his descriptions of the "vibe" of 14th-century warfare are unmatched.
- Trace the Logistics: Look into how the English "chevauchée" worked. It was a scorched-earth policy designed to wreck the French economy. Understanding this explains why the war lasted so long; it was about attrition, not just big battles.
The Hundred Years War wasn't a single event. It was a generational trauma that involved almost every corner of Europe. Knowing who fought in the hundred years war means acknowledging that history is rarely as simple as two colors on a map. It’s a tangled web of mercenaries, merchants, and monarchs, all fighting for a piece of a world that was rapidly changing underneath their feet.