The start of the Hundred Years’ War

The Hundred Years’ War was fought with pauses between England and France in 1337–1453. After Philip IV’s three sons had reigned and died one after another, in 1328 the direct male line of the Capetians came to an end; the Valois branch took the French throne, but the English king Edward III, a grandson of Philip IV through his mother, declared himself the rightful claimant. When the French king announced in 1337 that he was taking over the English lands in Aquitaine, Edward III began the war. The English destroyed the French fleet in 1340 and routed the French army at Crécy in 1346. The English army had discipline, obeyed paid commanders and had bowmen drawn from free peasants, while the French knights each acted on their own. In 1356 at Poitiers a French army twice as large was beaten and King John the Good was captured. During the war the peasants suffered most from taxes and plunder. The uprising that began near Beauvais in May 1358 is called the Jacquerie (“Jacques” was a nickname for a peasant). Many thousands joined; they burned castles and tax records, but the revolt led by Guillaume Karle was put down by the lords. Although it was defeated, the revolt showed how hard the peasants’ life had become.