The Hundred Years’ War.

The Hundred Years’ War.
Introduction
The hundred years war refers to a series of wars fought between the royal families and by extension Kings in England and France during the period of the mid-14th and mid-15th century. The wars majorly pitted the dynasty ruling England known as the House of Plantagenet against the house of Valois, the dynasty ruling France at the time. The wars for control over the Kingdom of France took on a regional and multi-territorial dimension drawing in many neighboring participants and even involving territories beyond England and France. A chronological account of the war would, therefore, be appropriate in explaining the historical phases undergone, as well as how it ultimately shaped the societies involved.
Causes
While described as a battle or wars for the control of the Kingdom of France, the largest and most prosperous in Western Europe at the time, there were similarly causative or instigating factors that led to the war. Firstly, a region described as the Duchy of Guyenne or otherwise Atiquaine, greatly shaped the war in that while it originally belonged to the English Kings, the French Kingdom equally claimed it. Thus, while the English royalty sought to claim the territory, the French royalty, on the other hand, perceived it as part of the fiefdom of the French crown, and battles ensued over the territory. According to (Corrigan 22), King Philip of France in May 1337 announced a takeover of Atiquaine leading to an English response through a massive military buildup within the territories bordering France.

Secondly, succession in France played another contributing factor to the wars; the death of the last of the Capetian Kings, Charles the fourth of France in 1328 marked another contribution to the war. For the first time in almost four hundred years, a king had died and without any direct male relatives as heirs. The royal dynasty of England attempted to claim the crown alluding to their position as the closest relatives.
Chronological Order
An allusion to the historical aspect of the war would classify the war into roughly between three or five periods, in a chronological order of events. Thus, the early period of the war between 1377-1360, which was marked by a series of raids by the English keen on plundering and capturing economic resources from French territories. It was notable given the capture of King John the Second of France at the battle of Poitiers in 1356, an event that led to multiple revolts in France. It, however, culminated in a peace treaty known as peace of Bretigny in 1360, translating into a return of Aquitaine territory to Edward the third of England. According to (Burne 2), by the treaty of Bretigny, France through its King at the time Charles, the Fifth renounced all territorial claims to Aquitaine. The second period of the war spanned the period 1364-1380 and occurred under the rule of Charles the Fifth of France in which the French armies adopted advanced military tactics. The consequence of the advanced military tactics was the recovery by King Charles the Fifth, of all that his father had previously lost, with the battlefields shifting to Spain, where each side fought a war backing different proxies to the Spanish throne (Burne 2).
The third phase of the war occurred in the period 1380-1413, a period that marked great social strife and turbulence in both England and France. The political turmoil was informed by King Charles the Sixth of France becoming mentally ill thereby leading to civil war in France. A coup in England, in the year 1399 saw King Richard the second overthrown by one Henry Bolingbroke, securing the throne under the title of Henry the Fourth. The fourth phase of the war lasted between the periods lasting 1413-1429 and saw significant victories for the English Kingdom. King Henry, the Fifth on the throne at the time, won victories at Agincourt, Normandy, and allies in Burgundy. The crowning event was, however, the treaty of Troyes in 1420 that confirmed Henry as an heir to the French throne. The last phase of the war, the fifth spanned the period 1429-1453 during which the French Kingdom ultimately won the war preceded by the crown King of France Charles the sixth retaking Paris, Normandy, Chatillon, and Guyenne.
Impact on Society
The hundred years’ war had a profound impact on the English and French Kingdoms as well as the larger society in Europe. Feudal armies over time gave way to professional militaries while the aristocratic hold on armies and war gave way to freedom in setting up and operations. Similarly, the wars inspired a great sense of nationalism in both the Kingdoms of England and France given the political and cultural dimension involved. The population of the two Kingdoms was equally, reduced a great deal by the wars and other phenomena such as famine and epidemics like the Black Death. According to Villalon and Kagay (322), the society was deeply ravaged by war, in terms of loss of population, as well as a weakened economic foundation and general famine due to the destruction of villages and farms. England, smarting from the loss of territories and land holdings became increasingly isolated, stagnating its development and denting its image for a very long time afterward.
Works Cited
Burne, Alfred H, and Anne Curry. The Agincourt War: A Military History of the Latter Part of the Hundred Years War from 1369 to 1453. London: FrontLine Books, 2014. Print.
Corrigan, Gordon. A Great and Glorious Adventure: A History of the Hundred Years War andthe Birth of Renaissance England. New York: Pegasus Books, 2015. Print.
Villalon, L J. A, and Donald J. Kagay. The Hundred Years War (part Iii): Further Considerations. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2013. Print.