Changes

The immediate cause was the reassertion in 1337 by Edward III of England of his claim to the French throne as the son of Philip IV's daughter, Isabella. Philip's last son had died in 1327 without a male heir, and a council of French magnates had passed over Edward's claim on the ground that the royal power could not pass to or through a woman. Philip VI of Valois won the throne, and Edward accepted the decision. But there was constant friction between the two kings over the boundary of Aquitaine, and Philip actively supported the king of Scotland against the English. The French also established a control over Flanders, upon which England depended as a market for its wool, and in retaliation Edward built up an anti-French coalition and laid an embargo on the export of wool from England. Revolution broke out in Ghent in 1336, led by Jacob van Artevelde, which resulted in Flanders throwing off French control and signing a commercial and political alliance with the English. Edward III seized the opportunity to reassert his claim to the French throne.

The immediate cause was the reassertion in 1337 by Edward III of England of his claim to the French throne as the son of Philip IV's daughter, Isabella. Philip's last son had died in 1327 without a male heir, and a council of French magnates had passed over Edward's claim on the ground that the royal power could not pass to or through a woman. Philip VI of Valois won the throne, and Edward accepted the decision. But there was constant friction between the two kings over the boundary of Aquitaine, and Philip actively supported the king of Scotland against the English. The French also established a control over Flanders, upon which England depended as a market for its wool, and in retaliation Edward built up an anti-French coalition and laid an embargo on the export of wool from England. Revolution broke out in Ghent in 1336, led by Jacob van Artevelde, which resulted in Flanders throwing off French control and signing a commercial and political alliance with the English. Edward III seized the opportunity to reassert his claim to the French throne.

==Opening years==

==Opening years==

The war opened with an English and Flemish naval victory at Sluys in 1340. Edward then annually raided France with small forces. But in 1346, after Artevelde had been murdered, and Edward's position in Flanders was threatened, he landed in Normandy with an army of about 10,000 and marched towards the north. At [[Crécy]], Aug. 26, 1346, his yeoman soldiery, armed with the longbow, gained a brilliant victory over the much larger army of French knights. The following year Edward took Calais, which was made into a military and commercial base.  

The war opened with an English and Flemish [[Battle of Sluys|naval victory at Sluys]] in 1340. Edward then annually raided France with small forces. But in 1346, after Artevelde had been murdered, and Edward's position in Flanders was threatened, he landed in [[Normandy]] with an army of about 10,000 and marched towards the north. At [[Crécy]], Aug. 26, 1346, his yeoman soldiery, armed with the longbow, gained a brilliant victory over the much larger army of French knights. The following year Edward took Calais, which was made into a military and commercial base.

 

==Poitiers, 1356==

==Poitiers, 1356==

After Crécy in 1346 the war degenerated into a series of plundering expeditions and skirmishes until the Black Prince, Edward's son, repeated the tactics of Crécy with similar results at [[Poitiers]], Sept. 19, 1356. Thousands of French knights died on the field or were taken prisoner. The battle of Poitiers was one of the most important in European history. The capture of King Jean II of France inevitably, though not immediately, brought victory in the first stage of the Hundred Years War to England. Even more importantly and indirectly, the king's ransom demanded in the subsequent Treaty of Brétigny provided the impetus for a new tax structure that laid the foundations for the rise of a strong and relatively "absolutist" central French state. Coming near the end of a period that may have been the high-point of the chronicle genre, the battle was recorded with a richness of detail that only a few other medieval combats can match.  

After Crécy in 1346 the war degenerated into a series of plundering expeditions and skirmishes until the Black Prince, Edward's son, repeated the tactics of Crécy with similar results at [[Poitiers]], Sept. 19, 1356. Thousands of French knights died on the field or were taken prisoner. The battle of Poitiers was one of the most important in European history. The capture of King Jean II of France inevitably, though not immediately, brought victory in the first stage of the Hundred Years War to England. Even more importantly and indirectly, the king's ransom demanded in the subsequent Treaty of Brétigny provided the impetus for a new tax structure that laid the foundations for the rise of a strong and relatively "absolutist" central French state. Coming near the end of a period that may have been the high-point of the chronicle genre, the battle was recorded with a richness of detail that only a few other medieval combats can match.