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DeJa Sawyer
Ms. Tierce
Gifted English IV
25 February 2015
The Hundred Years War
Now I know what youre thinking, The Hundred Years War, you would think that the war lasted
for only a hundred years; but did you know that the war lasted from 1337 to 1453? So I guess you could
call it the hundred and sixteen years war. The war was a feud between England and France over who
would control the French throne.
There are five significant battles of the hundred years war, the first one was the battle of Crecy
which took place in 1346. The English army was led by King Edward III, and the French army was led by
King Philip VI. King Edward sent a force of about 14,000 men to the coast of Normandy; from there they
continued to march northward. King Philip aware of the Englishmen arrival assembled an army of about
12,000 men. The French were surprised by the English bowman, who could reload and fire very quickly.
The bowman finally retreated and the French took this opportunity to infiltrate the English lines. Sadly,
the horses and riders were cut down by a shower of arrows. The French finally withdrew and the English
came out victorious.
The second battle was the battle of Poitiers which took place in 1356. King Edward III was
planning another attack on the French, landing in Boudreaux and then leading his army through
southern France to Carcassonne. What the English didnt know was that the Duke of Lancaster, John I,
landed a second force in Normandy who began to advance south leaving King Edward with not one, but
two opposing forces; leaving King Edward and his army no other choice but to back down.

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The third battle was the battle Agincourt which took place in 1415. King Henry and his army
landed in France on a mission to regain English territory that they had lost to the French, but the mission
took longer than intended and left him with little to no time. Henry had no choice but to lead his army
north and return back to England, but the French were one step ahead. The French ran ahead and
blocked the English path to the sea of Agincourt. The two forces faced off in the middle of a muddy field;
It was very clearly seen that the English were outnumbered, but that didnt stop them. King Henry and
his archers unleashed a storm of arrows upon the French and left the battlefield full of the bodies of
French soldiers.
After the battle of Agincourt, there was the lifting of the Siege of Orleans which took place
between 1428 and 1429. This was one of the biggest successes of the French throughout the entire war.
The English forces surrounded the Orleans, France, but a teenage peasant girl successfully led a French
force to destroy the English force; her name was Joan of Arc. The Roman Catholic Church canonized her
for this, meaning she was declared a saint. In this same year Joan was captured by the Burgundians who
handed her over to the English and burned her at the stake for heresy.
The fifth and final battle of the hundred year war was the battle of Castillion which to ok place in
1453. In 1451 Boudreaux was captured by King Charles VII and his French force. The residents of
Boudreaux of course resented their new French overlords and were secretly shipping agents to London
asking for an army to free their territory. Efforts were made to raise an army under the leadership of
John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. In October of 1452 John landed about 3,000 soldi ers near Boudreaux as
promise, but it wasnt enough. The English were outnumbered by about 3,000 soldiers and because of
this they were defeated by the French and lost the seat to the throne.

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The war ended in 1453, but there was never an official peace settlement. Although the war had
ended the French remained alert and prepared for the English to return; I guess the French were right to
do that, because the English never stopped claiming the French throne and they never stopped invading.
Until one final battle caused the south of France to be permanently turned over back unto French
control.
Wondering how the war ended? Official armies conducted bloody raids, civilians were killed,
buildings were burned, and they stole whatever crops and riches they could find in France. Slowly, but
surely, the territory across the channel had slipped away from the English and they lost Paris. France
regained control of Normandy, Aquitaine, and Boudreaux, which was one of the Englands biggest
traders. However the war wasnt all bad, it helped both England and France to become more
independent nations, and created a mutual antagonism which has lasted ever since the war ended.

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battleswars14011600/p/castillon.htm&gt;.

Cavendish, Richard. "End of the Hundred Years War." <i>End of the Hundred Years War</i>.
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