Hundred Years war essays

Hundred Years war essays The Hundred Years War was similar to that of the Civil War in my opinion. It was said to have been started by the English king, Edward III. In 1328 when Charles IV, king of France died without a male heir, Edward III claimed the throne via his mother who was Charles IV sister. The French however choose the first cousin of Charles IV, Phillip VI of Valios over Edward III. Edward III was a vassal of Phillip. He held several sizable French territories as fiefs from the King of France. The biggest reason in my opinion for the Hundred Years War was the conflict over Flanders. Flanders was an area under French rule that manufactured cloth that was Frances main industry. France depended on wool, which came from England. Edward III had all exporting of wool stopped. This affected both England and France because the French were unable to make money from the cloth and the English were unable to make money from selling the wool. This sparked urban rebellion by merchants and the trade guilds. A ngry over this event they organized a revolt, led by Jacob van Artevelde, against the French and in 1340 signed an alliance with England acknowledging Edward III as king of France. For the next six years Edward led several battles with the French and in 1356 the English won their greatest battle, were they took the French king, John II captive back to England. This caused a complete breakdown of political order to France. Money got so tight that the peasants were forced to pay an increase in taxes and to fix war damaged properties without compensation. The peasants grew tired of this mistreatment so they revolted. In 1360 England forced the Peace of Bretigny on the French, which declared an end to King Edwards vassalage to the king of France. It also affirmed Edwardss sovereignty over English territories in France. France agreed to pay a ransom of three million gold crowns for the release of John II. In return, Edward renounced his claim to the French...