The hundred years war

To expression Hundred Years' War, there arose in the mid-nineteenth century, identifying a series of armed conflicts recorded intermittently, during the fourteenth century and the fifteenth century (1337 - 1453), with the participation of France and England. The long duration of this conflict by the great might of the English on one side and the stubborn French resistance on the other explains. This was the first great European war which caused profound changes in the economic, social and political life of Western Europe. The kingdom of France was supported by the kingdoms of Scotland, Bohemia, Castilla and the papacy of Avignon. England had been allied with Flanders, German kingdoms and Portugal. The dynastic question which unleashed the War of the Hundred Years surpassed the feudal character of military political rivalries of the Middle Ages and frame the content of future confrontations enters the great European monarchies. The War of the Hundred Years Hard 116 years (although there were long periods of ceasefire, truce and peace for economic reasons, politicians and the bubonic plague that occurred in those years)

Causes of the Hundred Years War (1337 - 1453)

a) The possession of vast regions of France by the English crown, which forced France to unify the territory and destroy feudalism, expelling the English.
b) England needed his continental dominions that provided resources for its economy.
c) Claims of the kings of England to the crown of France, due to complex entroques family of the time.

Hundred Years War: You can see four periods:

1. First Period: The start ingles.- victory was claimed Guyenne when Philip VI (1337) and Edward III of England claimed the French crown. This stage concluded after a bloody war with the Peace of Bretigny (1360), under which Edward III renounces the French crown to change the properties of Calais and the territories south of the River Loire.

2. Second Period: The Triumph Frances.- Carlos V, after ensuring internal peace of France, beginning the war against the English, managing to recover almost all the territories ceded in the Peace of Bretigny.

3. Third Period: The Triumph ingles.- Henry V of England restart hostilities against Charles VI of France, whom I defeated and forced to sign the Treaty of Troyes (1420), for which recognized as heir to the French throne Henry V, who had become his son, having contracted this marriage to Catherine, daughter of the French king.

4. Fourth Period: Joan of Arco.- Within two years of the Treaty of Troyes, the signatories were dead kings. The crown of France and England recaayo in Henry VI, one year old, son of Princess Catherine (daughter of the king of France) and Henry V of England.

The French, imbued with nationalist sentiment, proclaimed King Charles VII, Catherine's brother, and continued the struggle for the liberation of France. When the French were being defeated, there arose the figure of Joan of Arc, illiterate woman who, notwithstanding their humble origin, owned a steadfast Christian faith and proven loyalty to the king. She commanded a small army, defeated the English at the siege of Orleans in 1429.

This event exalt the nationalistic spirit of the French, while begat the envy of the Burgundians, who seized the heroin and handed over to the British. They accused her of witchcraft and heresy, which was subjected to the penalty of the fire in the city of Rouen (1430). The war of liberation, initiated by Joan of Arc, continued successfully. 1453, only the British had left the port of Calais, which definitely would lose.

In England, King Henry VI after the defeats in France, he disputed the throne the House of york, giving rise to the Wars of the Roses (1455); supporters of the king, the Lancaster House (Rose Red) and opponents of the king, the house of York (Rosa Blanca), this war lasted thirty years. At the end the crown Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty, who took over the assets of many nobles disappeared and entrench the rule in England he married Elizabeth of York rival house girded.

Consequences of the War of the Century:

Policy Implications:
- Unification of the Netherlands (Flanders)
- Hegemonia maritima de Castilla
- Consolidation of the monarchy especially in England and France, and abandonment of medieval political forms.
- The long period of wars left greatly weakened the French nobility, because, as you were dying (feudal lords) nobles were dying, their fiefdoms were going to rule the King, weakening the feudal system.
- Final national and political unity in England and France.
- The 100 Years War contributed to strengthening the power of the Valois Dynasty in France, with the support of bourgeoisie, strengthening the French royal power, paving the way for absolute monarchies calls.

economic consequences
The conflicts have claimed thousands of deaths on both sides, and the unprecedented devastation of the territories and the paralyzation of agricultural production in France.

Military Implications:
- Replacement of medieval knighthood by the infantry
- Appearance of the artillery: all types of firearms.
- Recruitment of mercenaries and appearance of professional army.

Social consequences:
-The Construction of a national identity among French
- Final demise of feudalism.
- Increasing role of burquesía that quickly growing support in economic and culturally kings.
- We can say that the Hundred Years' War marked the end of Middle Ages and heralds the advent of the modern age.