TOPIC THREE

• Edward III claimed the throne of France and declared war, starting the Hundred Years' War


  1337
• Battle of Crecy, with the English using longbows to defeat a larger French army and capture Calais


  1346
• Battle of Poitiers, with the English again using longbows to defeat the French army, capturing the French King and half the French nobility


  1356
• The French win back most of the lost territory, minus Gascony, Brittany and Calais


  1369-89
• Battle of Agincourt, with the English using longbows to defeat a much larger French army


  1415
• Treaty of Troyes, with Henry V marrying the French King's daughter and being named heir to the French throne


  1420
• Henry V dies of dysentery, with the French inspired by Joan of Arc driving the English out

  1422
• Peace treaty agreed, with all English territory lost except Calais


  1453
• Longbow


  English bow that could fire 12 arrows per minute up to 200 metres, a key advantage over the French
• Flanders


  Area in modern Belgium where the English used to process their main export wool into cloth
• Gascony


  South-west France, an important wine trade area for the English
• Chivalry


  The moral code of medieval knights, emphasising bravery, honour and fighting on horseback
• Knights


  Heavily armoured elite/noble troops, the "tanks" of early medieval warfare
• National identity


  Sense of being part of a nation with a unique culture, language and traditions
• The English desire to protect the Gascony wine trade and Flanders wool trade from French attack was a major cause of the Hundred Years' War
• The English wanted to conquer France to increase the land and taxable areas under their control
• There was a growth of nationalism and national identity in each kingdom, with the English rulers stopping the use of French at court and the separate French duchies unifying behind the French King to drive out the English
• The war was triggered by the conflict between Edward III and Philip VI over who would succeed to be King of France