Osprey Essential Histories 19 : The Hundred Years' War 1337-1453

The Hundred Years' War 1337-1453 did not exist until historians created it. None the less, there can be no doubt that military conflict between France and England dominated European history in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This war is of considerable interest to military historians because it went on for so long and was fought out in a number of theatres. In the fourteenth century, it was largely a war of short-term raids through enemy lands. In the fifteenth, the English concentrated on real conquest and settlement of French territory. Thus a study of the Hundred Years War through all its phases can reveal much about the changing nature of warfare - the rise of infantry and the demise of the knight; the impact of increased use of gunpowder; the effect on civilian populations, to name but three important areas of discussion. But why was the conflict between England and France so protracted and bitter? What kinds of armies did both sides raise? How and why did they choose to fight as they did? What was life like during the war for both the soldiers and civilians? This book sets military matters within the broader context of European politics in the later middle ages, but also looks in detail at the key events, and at the men and women whose lives they affected. Text by Anne Curry.

Contents

• Introduction
• Chronology
• Background to War : England and France at Peace and War : 1259-1328
• Warring Sides : English and French Monarchies on the Eve of the Hundred Years' War
• Outbreak : Mounting Tensions 1336-37
• The Fighting : The Hundred Years' War a Narrative
• Portrait of a Soldier : Bertrand du Guesclin : Companions in Arms : Andrew Trollope and Osbern Mundeford
• The World around War : War Cruel and Sharp
• Portrait of a Civilian : Christine de Pizan
• How the War Ended : The Loss of Normandy and Gascony
• Conclusion and Consequences : A Defining Moment in History?