Dynasty Warriors Dynasty RP - Backstory to the Hundred Years War

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Dynasty Warriors Dynasty RP :: Blade Storm RP :: History of the Game :: Backstory to the Hundred Years War

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Backstory to the Hundred Years War
« Thread Started on Jul 28, 2006, 6:04am »

credit to Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_years_war

Early origins: 911–1314
The background to the conflict can be found 400 years earlier, in 911, when Frankish Carolingian ruler Charles the Simple allowed the Vikings of Rollo to settle in a part of his kingdom known afterwards as "Normandy" (after the Normans). The Vikings, known as Normans and led by William the Conqueror (the Duke of Normandy), conquered England in 1066. They defeated the Anglo-Saxon leadership at the Battle of Hastings and installed a new Anglo-Norman power structure.

The Kings of England, who were direct descendants of William the Conqueror, at the height of their power controlled Normandy and England, along with Maine, Anjou, Touraine and Aquitaine. The Kings of England therefore directly controlled more territory in France than the French kings. This led to the battles over homage that would eventually play a vital role in the Hundred Years War. The Hundred Years War was not the beginning of this conflict; it was a continuation of one that had existed since the time of the first Norman Kings of England. Every king from Richard I to Edward II had engaged in warfare against French Kings on the continent. However, by 1216, the Kings of England had lost a substantial portion of their lands in France including Normandy. They however still retained Aquitaine which had been acquired through Henry II's marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine. It short, it was the series of conflicts where the Kings of France tried to assert their authority over the lands that the Kings of England held as French lords that laid the foundation for the Hundred Years' War.

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Immediate precursors: 1314–1337
The specific events that led up to the war in the early 14th century began in France, where the Capetian dynasty had ruled for over 320 years, with one male heir after another taking the throne (the longest continuous dynasty in medieval European history). In 1314, the Capetian king Philip IV died, leaving three male heirs: Louis X, Philip V and Charles IV. The eldest son and heir, Louis X, died in 1316, leaving only his posthumous son John I, who was born 1316 and died that same year, and a daughter Joan, who was married to Philip, count of Evreux. In order to secure his claim to the throne, Philip IV's second-oldest son, Philip V, was obliged to buy off Joan's claims (using also the rumour that Joan was a product of her mother's adultery, and not a daughter of Louis X). When Philip V died in 1322, his daughters were put aside in favour of the third son and heir of Philip IV, Charles IV.

In 1324, Charles IV of France and the English king Edward II fought the short War of Saint-Sardos in Gascony. The major event of the war was the brief siege of the English fortress of La Réole, on the Garonne river. The English forces, led by the Earl of Kent, were forced to surrender, after a month of bombardment from the French cannons, and after being promised reinforcements which never arrived. The war was a complete failure for England, and only Bordeaux and a narrow coastal strip now remained in English possession. The recovery of these lost lands became a major focus of English diplomacy. Another effect of the war was to galvanize opposition to Edward II among the English lords of Aquitaine, many of whom became sympathizers of Lord Wigmore, who would later invade England and dethrone Edward II.

Charles IV, King of France and Navarre, the youngest son of Philip IV, died in 1328, leaving only daughters, and an infant daughter yet to be born. The senior line of Capetian dynasty ended thus in "tail male", creating a crisis about who would become the next king of France.

Meanwhile living in England, Charles IV's sister Isabella was the widow of King Edward II and was at the time effectively in control of the crown, having forced her politically-weak husband to abdicate in favour of their teenage son, Edward III. The young Edward III, being the nephew of King Charles, was his closest living male relative, and was at that time the only surviving male descendant of the senior line of the Capetian dynasty descending from Philip IV (Philip the Fair). By English interpretation of feudal law, this made the English Edward III the next heir to the throne of France.

The French nobility, however, did not want a foreigner on the throne; in particular, not an English king. The French nobility claimed that royal inheritance could pass only through an unbroken male line, and not through a King's daughter (Philip IV's daughter Isabella) to her son (Edward III). This principle, known as Salic Law, originated in the ancient tradition of laws belonging to the Salian Franks. The French nobility asserted that the royal inheritance should therefore pass to Philip of Valois (Philip VI), who had taken regency over the throne after Charles IV's death. Charles' unborn child, had it been male would have become king. When it was instead a daughter Philip VI became king. Both Edward III and Philip VI had good legal cases for the right to the crown, and the force to back it up.

Joan of Navarre, daughter of Louis X (or at least the daughter of Louis' wife), also had a good legal case to the French throne, but lacked the power to back it up. Navarre was accustomed to female rulers, and had no traditional "Salic" impediment. In time this line would produce an additional claimant to the french throne, Charles II of Navarre, grandson of Louis X.

Meanwhile the English controlled Gascony, in what is now southwest France along the Atlantic coast, a territory which was a remnant of the formerly large French territories inherited from the Anglo-Norman kings. Gascony produced vital shipments of salt and wine, and was very profitable to the English nobility. Gascony was a separate fief held from the French crown, rather than a territory of England; and the homage for this possession was a matter more difficult to resolve. Philip VI wanted Edward's recognition as sovereign; Edward wanted the return of further lands lost by his father. A compromise "homage" in 1329 pleased neither side; but in 1331, facing serious problems at home, Edward accepted Philip as King of France and gave up his claims to the French throne. In effect, England kept Gascony, in return for Edward giving up his claims to be the rightful king of France. In 1332, Joan, daughter of Louis X gave birth to a son, the future Charles II of Navarre. Edward III was now no longer Philip IV's male heir in primogeniture; although he remained Philip IV's male heir in proximity.

In 1333, Edward III went to war with King David II of Scotland, a French ally under the "Auld Alliance", and began the Second War of Scottish Independence. Philip saw the opportunity to reclaim Gascony, while England's attention was concentrated at home. However, the war was a quick success for England, and David was forced to flee to France after being defeated by King Edward and Edward Balliol, at the Battle of Halidon Hill, in July 1333.

In 1336, Philip made plans for an expedition to restore David to the Scottish throne, and to also seize Gascony. Open hostilities broke out as French ships began ravaging coastal settlements on the English Channel and in 1337 Philip reclaimed the Gascony fief, citing feudal law and saying that Edward had broken his oath (a felony) by not attending to the needs and demands of his lord. Edward III responded by saying he was in fact the rightful heir to the French throne, and on All Saints' Day 1337, Henry Burghersh, the Bishop of Lincoln arrived in Paris with the defiance of the King of England. War had been declared.

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