The Hundred Years War and War of the Roses free essay sample

The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) was perhaps the first national war in Europe after Norman conquest England was a rising power, strong monarchy, no involvement in conflicts, English knights began rob their continental neighbours; simply because they were more powerful the fact that Edward III and Henry V had genealogical claims to the French throne was but an explanation for robbing the war was not a result of dynastic ambitions but a national matter, supported by the institutions (Parliament) it was much more profitable for an English knight to go to France to plunder than to poor Scotland that’s why in the early reign of Edward III English ambitions were redirected from Scotland to France; besides, Edward III spoke French, so he felt more at home there; French resistance against the English was actually weaker than Scottish: France did not have a spirit of the nation, was just a collection of lords; the war against France was also fuelled by the conflicts bet ween English and French merchants who sold wool to Flanders first great action of the war: battle of Sluys (1340) won by the English merchant navy; Edward III claimed the rights to the French throne and was, as the first English king, supported by the society, the Parliament; it rested on the hatred of the French in English-speaking common folk; the basis for the advantage of the English was a better social organisation: the French peasant serfs were strongly exploited and often rebelled; the English had a larger proportion of freemen, from whom the Edwards organised a trained army; the 14th century became the age of the longbow as a preferred, most powerful weapon; using it was practised by the English since early years (actually Edward III banned other sports: handball, football, hockey); English skilled archers could send an arrow through plates of armour English fighting strategy also included changing cavalry into infantry: dismounting from horses; the French were defeated by these tactics at Crecy (1346) (12,000 English against 30-40,000 French) after which Edward created his dominion in northern France and Poitiers (1 356); both battles were led by Edward the Black Prince (son of Edward III), who died in France and his son Richard II was the next king; the advantage of the English strategy was that it was defensive; later France was liberated by Du Guesclin, who changed the French strategy of blind attacks; English castles in France were successfully besieged with the use of cannon; Richard II found rival in his cousin, John Gaunt’s son, Hereford; he was murdered in his prison in 1400; Hereford was crowned as Henry IV in 1399 and opens the period of the Lancasters on the English throne (descendants of John de Gaunt) and the Yorks (descendants of his brother, Duke of York) Henry V, on his accession to the throne 1413, revived Edward III’s pretensions to the French Crown; using the strategy of the Black Prince he fought the French at Agincourt and decisively won – 1415; 5,900 English against 35,000 French (! ); 1420 Henry V was acknowledged heir to the French Crown by the Treaty of Troyes; 1422 he died, leaving his inheritance for his son, Henry VI; during the times of Henry VI came the second French revival, following the tactits of Du Guesclin; it was also the time of Jeanne D’Arc (Joan of Arc), a 17-year-old shepherdess who claimed to hearing the voice of God, persuaded him to take action, she had a flair for persuasion but no actual tactical, strategic or leadership ability together with Charles de Dauphin, Joan started the siege of Orleans (1429); It was successful for them; The French victory at Orleans was a major turning point for the French in the Hundred Years’ War Jeanne DArc was captured by the Burgundians, and turned over to the English, who found her innocent of witchcraft but guilty of schism (going against the Papacy and Church dogma by following the voice of God directly), and executed her later more victories of the French, but it took them more than 20 years until they drove the English away Results of the war: the break-up of English medieval society and a period of anarchy gaining the port of Calais for a hundred years after the war; bringing strong national self-consciousness; new patriotic feeling raised as racial hatred against the French (in the times of Elisabeth I these feelings turned against Spaniards) six years after Poitiers (1362), a statute was passed through Parliament that all judgements of English courts should be given in English and Latin (to replace French); also English became t he language taught at schools to the upper class it prepared way for English-tongue literature: Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton; WARS OF TWO ROSES the Wars of the Roses was a civil war fought over the throne of England between adherents of the House of Lancaster and the House of York both houses were branches of the Plantagenet royal house, tracing their descent(wywodzacych sie) from King Edward III the name Wars of the Roses was not used at the time, but has its origins in the badges(herby) chosen by the two royal houses, the Red Rose of Lancaster and the White Rose of York. We will write a custom essay sample on The Hundred Years War and War of the Roses or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page the reason of the conflict was the want for power, wealth and the Crown Henry VI (Lancaster) was considered a weak, ineffectual King after losing all French territories won by his predecessors; he was also known for episodes of mental illness in 1453 after the attack of Henry’s illness, a Council of Regency was set up with Lord Protector: Richard Plantagenet (head of House of York); but in 1455 Henry recovered and his power was taken by his strong wife Margaret of Anjou; Richard wanted to oppose her and the conflict started the first Battle of St. Albans; on each side there was a group of great nobles, knights, lawyers and clergy but changing of the sides and remaining neutral was very popular: most cities remained neutral and in return the armies were not destructive; the neutral majority of the society suffered little and trade went on as before; the combatants suffered severely; the fighting nobles were brutal in their treatment of one another; the war was a â₠¬Å"bleeding operation performed by the nobility upon their own body. To the nation it was a blessing in disguise. † like in France: the strategy: archers and infantry (lucznicy i piechota) the victorious figure was Edward IV from the House of York, whose restoration as King in 1471 was by some considered the end of the war the Yorkist king died suddenly in 1483, and political and dynastic turmoil erupted again; at the time of Edwards sudden and premature death, his heir, Edward V, was only 12 years old; Edward V was kept in the Tower of London, where he was later joined by his younger brother Richard Parliament gave the throne to Richard III (also York), on behalf of Edward V the two princes in the tower disappeared and were possibly murdered (mystery not finally resolved) Lancastrian hopes now centred on Henry Tudor, whose father had been an illegitimate half-brother of Henry VI; Henry Tudors forces defeated Richards at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 and Henry Tudor became King Henry VII of England Henry strengthened his position by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and the best surviving Yorkist claimant He reunited the two royal houses, merging the rival symbols of the red and white roses into the new emblem of the red and white Tudor Rosea