50 Fun Facts About The Hundred Years' War

Despite its name, how many years did the Hundred Years' War actually span, from 1337 to 1453?

It was an intermittent conflict, repeatedly interrupted by truces and by the Black Death.

Edward III claimed the French throne in 1328 through which relative, a sister of the last Capetian king?

The French barons ruled that Isabella could not transmit a right she did not herself possess, and chose Philip of Valois instead.

The war is usually divided into three phases. Which is NOT one of their names?

They ran 1337–1360, 1369–1389 and 1415–1453, separated by truces.

Which French dynasty ultimately kept the throne of France at the war's end?

Philip, Count of Valois, had been crowned Philip VI in 1328 after the main Capetian male line died out.

Until which year did the monarchs of England and Great Britain continue to style themselves sovereigns of France?

The title was dropped in deference to the exiled Louis XVIII, then living in England after the Revolution.

Which duchy in south-west France, held by the English king as a vassal, was the war's most important territorial dispute?

Philip VI's council agreed in May 1337 to take it back into French hands, prompting Edward to renew his claim by force of arms.

Which exiled French nobleman, an adviser to Edward III, urged him to make war and supplied intelligence on the French court?

Sheltering the king's 'mortal enemy' was one of the reasons Philip gave for confiscating the English king's French duchy.

What was the name of the 1295 treaty between France and Scotland that meant Edward could not fight in France without a threat at his back?

Charles IV renewed it in 1326, promising French support if England invaded Scotland.

The English navy won a crushing victory in June 1340 off which port, giving England command of the Channel for the rest of the war?

The French had chained their ships into three lines as floating platforms and lost 16,000 to 20,000 men.

Which 1346 battle was 'a complete disaster for the French', credited to English longbowmen and a king who attacked before his army was ready?

Weeks later Scotland's David II, invading to help France, was defeated and captured at Neville's Cross.

How long did Edward III's siege of Calais last before starvation forced the city to surrender in 1347?

Philip VI had ordered the city to hold out at all costs but failed to lift the siege.

According to Froissart, who persuaded Edward III to spare the six burghers of Calais who came out with nooses round their necks?

She argued their deaths would be a bad omen for her unborn child; Rodin's famous sculpture captures the moment of their surrender.

Which sculptor's 1889 work commemorates the surrender of the burghers of Calais?

Twelve original castings exist; the city had been trying to erect a statue of Eustache de Saint Pierre since 1845.

Which French king was captured at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356?

A concealed Gascon force under Jean de Grailly, the Captal de Buch, cut off the French retreat and took him.

How large was the ransom set for King John II by the Treaty of Brétigny?

That was roughly two or three years of French crown revenue, the largest national budget in Europe.

Why did John II voluntarily return to captivity in England in 1363?

He felt honour-bound to go back after Louis of Anjou broke parole, and died in London the following year.

What freak event at Easter 1360, known as Black Monday, killed over 1,000 English soldiers and pushed Edward III to negotiate?

Weeks later the Treaty of Brétigny gave Edward more land in the south-west in exchange for renouncing his claim to the crown.

Which cathedral city, the traditional coronation site, did Edward III besiege for five weeks in 1359-60 in the hope of being crowned there?

The citizens had strengthened the walls in advance; the defences held and there was no coronation.

By what nickname is Edward of Woodstock, victor of Poitiers and eldest son of Edward III, best known?

The name is first recorded about 165 years after his death, and may refer to his black shield or his brutal reputation in the south of France.

Which Breton knight, nicknamed the Eagle of Brittany, led the French recovery under Charles V and became Constable of France in 1370?

He rose from minor nobility to lead the small professional army that pushed the English back to a few ports by 1380.

In which Spanish kingdom's civil war did Edward of Woodstock and du Guesclin fight on opposite sides in the 1360s?

The Prince restored Peter of Castile at Nájera in 1367, but the unpaid campaign wrecked his health and finances.

Roughly what share of France's population died in the Black Death of 1347-51, which interrupted the war?

Six to twelve million French people died; England lost roughly two to three million.

In which year did Charles VI suddenly descend into madness, forcing France into a regency under his uncles and brother?

The struggle to control that regency between Burgundy and Orléans grew into the Armagnac-Burgundian civil war.

According to Pope Pius II, what did the mad Charles VI sometimes believe he was made of?

He was nicknamed 'the Beloved' in his lifetime and only 'the Mad' in the 19th century.

Which Duke of Burgundy ordered the 1407 assassination of Louis, Duke of Orléans, igniting the Armagnac-Burgundian civil war?

He was himself murdered in 1419, pushing Burgundy into a formal alliance with Henry V.

On which feast day was the Battle of Agincourt fought in 1415?

That is 25 October; Shakespeare's Henry V turned the date into one of the most famous speeches in English.

Roughly what proportion of Henry V's army at Agincourt were English and Welsh archers?

He deployed some 1,500 men-at-arms and 7,000 longbowmen across a 750-yard front.

Which town had Henry V besieged for longer than expected in 1415, eating up his campaign season before Agincourt?

It surrendered on 22 September, and Henry then chose a raid towards Calais rather than a march on Paris.

Roughly what share of the French nobility is said to have been killed at Agincourt?

Many of the Armagnac leaders died, and Henry, fearing his prisoners outnumbered his men, ordered many of them killed.

By the Treaty of Troyes in 1420, Henry V married which daughter of Charles VI and became heir to the French throne?

The Dauphin was declared illegitimate, and the Estates-General ratified the deal after Henry entered Paris.

Henry V's brother and heir presumptive, Thomas, Duke of Clarence, was killed in 1421 at which battle after charging without his archers?

He attacked a Franco-Scottish force with barely 1,500 men-at-arms and was unhorsed by a Scot's lance.

Henry V and Charles VI both died in which year, leaving a nine-month-old Henry VI as heir to both crowns?

Henry died at Vincennes on 31 August, probably of dysentery, and Charles followed on 21 October.

Which English commander won the 'emphatic' victory of Verneuil in 1424, destroying the Dauphin's field army?

Henry V had given him charge of English France on his deathbed; the battle also finished the Scots as a force in the war.

How many days after Joan of Arc arrived at Orléans in April 1429 did the English abandon the siege?

She was about seventeen, and had persuaded the Dauphin she was guided by visions of Michael, Margaret and Catherine.

In which village in north-east France was Joan of Arc born to a propertied peasant family?

Her parents were Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romée; her surname was usually written 'Darc' with no apostrophe.

At which 1429 battle did French cavalry smash the retreating English and capture their commander John Talbot, opening the road to Reims?

The English lost 2,200 men, and Charles VII was crowned at Reims on 16 July 1429 with Joan at his side.

Who captured Joan of Arc at the siege of Compiègne in May 1430 before handing her to the English?

Her trial was run by Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, and she was burned at Rouen on 30 May 1431.

How many years after her execution was Joan of Arc's verdict overturned by an inquisitorial court?

The 1456 court found the trial tainted by deceit and procedural errors; she was rehabilitated under Pope Callixtus III.

In which Paris cathedral was the boy Henry VI crowned King of France in December 1431?

He had been crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey two years earlier, aged eight.

At which 1435 congress did Philip the Good of Burgundy desert the English and make peace with Charles VII, returning Paris to France?

The English regent in France died days later, and the English were said to have been unrealistic in their demands.

Which 1453 battle, the last of the war, was the first major European battle won through the extensive use of field artillery?

John Talbot attacked a fortified French camp laid out by Jean Bureau, believing the French were retreating, and died with his son.

Which was the last French province held by the English, its capital Bordeaux falling for good on 19 October 1453?

Its people's English sympathies had let Talbot briefly retake Bordeaux in 1452 after three centuries of English royal rule.

Which 1475 agreement, in which Edward IV was bought off by Louis XI with cash and a pension, formally ended the war?

England and France had technically remained at war for two decades after the last battle.

Which English conflict, beginning in 1455, was partly caused by nobles' anger at losing their French lands?

England was left insolvent, holding nothing on the continent but Calais.

In which year did English become the official language of England, as the war fostered rejection of all things French?

French stopped being used for teaching from 1385, though Anglo-Norman left its mark on the vocabulary.

Charles VII re-established a permanent standing army in 1445 with what name?

They were the first standing army in western Europe since Rome and survived until the gendarmerie system of the 17th century.

Which chivalric brotherhood did Edward III found around 1348, shaped by his experiences on the Crécy campaign?

Its circular garter carried echoes of the Arthurian Round Table.

Which Count of Valois was crowned King of France in 1328, passing over Edward III's claim?

He was Charles IV's first cousin and the nearest heir in the male line, and Edward at first paid him homage for Aquitaine.

In 1340 the Avignon papacy confirmed which principle, barring men from inheriting the throne through their mothers?

Edward III's claim ran through his mother Isabella, sister of the last Capetian king, which is why the ruling mattered.

Which ordinance officer laid out the French artillery camp that won the Battle of Castillon in 1453?

When the English pursued an apparent French retreat into the guns, they lost 2,200 men including their commander John Talbot.