Hundred Years’ War

Historical Context Essay

Robert Clark (The Literary Encyclopedia)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.01: French Writing and Culture: Old French to the Middle Ages , 500-1400.
Vol. editors: Marianne Ailes (University of Bristol), Matthew Siôn Lampitt (University of Cambridge), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Domains

Civil Wars, Revolutions and Insurrections

Dates

Date of occurrence 1337-1453

Places

France (Location)
United Kingdom (Location)

The term “the Hundred Years War” was coined in the nineteenth century as a portmanteau term to embrace the sequence of wars between England and France which recurred from 1337 to 1453. These wars were publicly motivated by dynastic claims and counter-claims for sovereignty over parts of France, and fundamentally driven by commercial rivalry between France and England and the need of the military-chivalric system to sustain itself by finding external objects of aggression.

The initial pretext for the war was Edward III's claim to the French throne through his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine. When the French king Charles IV died in 1328 Edward's claim was contested by Philippe de Valois and decided in Philip's favour by a …

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730 words

Citation: Clark, Robert. "Hundred Years’ War". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 November 2005 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=525, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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Hundred Years’ War

Domains

Dates

Places

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