English victories
Crécy, Calais and Poitiers show the effectiveness of an army combining archers, defensive positions and operational mobility, but territorial gains remain costly to hold.
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War
Hundred Years’ War
1337 — 1453
An intermittent war in which armies must follow taxation, strongholds and alliances
Military history
The strategic problem
The Hundred Years’ War is not a continuous front line but a succession of campaigns, truces and dynastic crises. The English exploit the longbow, chevauchées and port strongholds; the French learn to avoid certain battles, retake fortresses and make taxation an instrument of reconquest.
The French reconquest
Charles V and his captains favour sieges, harassment and the methodical recovery of strongholds. Great English chevauchées yield booty without always producing a political decision.
From occupation to expulsion
After Agincourt, the English monarchy gains dynastic advantages, then French resistance and artillery gradually recover ground until almost all continental possessions are lost.
Explore
5 published battles, in chronological order
AgincourtNarrow ground, mud and archers erode the French numerical advantage.CrécyHow did a halted and prepared English army exploit slope, fire discipline and staggered French attacks?PoitiersHow did a hard-to-reach position, the failure of successive attacks and an Anglo-Gascon counterattack allow the Black Prince to defeat a superior army?PatayHow did French cavalry surprise the English archers before they could reproduce their customary defensive system?CastillonHow did an entrenched camp organised around artillery reverse the traditional relationship between English attack and French defence?
Military history
Sources
Indirect medieval sourceJean Froissart, Chroniques
Court and battle narratives, valuable but marked by noble perspectives.
General historyJonathan Sumption, The Hundred Years War
Political chronology, campaigns, finance and the evolution of the balance of power.
Specialist studyAnne Curry, Agincourt
Agincourt, armies, sources and the limits of narratives of numerical superiority.