A war between France and England that lasted for more than a century between the 1340s and 1450s, not as one continuous conflict but rather a series of attempts by English kings to dominate France. The two key issues were the sovereignty of Gascony (the English king was Duke of Gascony and resented paying homage for it to the kings of France), and Edward III’s claim, through his mother, to the French throne, following the death of the last Capetian king. Rivalry over the lucrative Flanders wool trade and provocative French support for the Scots against England also contributed.

In 1328 Philip of Valois was crowned King of France and his subsequent confiscation of Aquitaine (1337) provoked Edward’s invasion of France (1338). The English won a naval battle at Sluys (1340) and major military victories at Crécy (1346), Calais (1347), and Poitiers (1356), where Edward the Black Prince captured and later ransomed Philip’s successor, John II. In 1360 the Treaty of Brétigny gave Edward considerable territories in France in return for abandoning his claims to the French throne. The French gradually improved their position and in the reign of Edward’s successor, his grandson, Richard II, hostilities ceased almost completely.

The English retention of Calais and Bordeaux, however, prevented permanent peace, and English claims to France were revived by Henry V (invoking Salic Law). He invaded Harfleur and won a crushing victory at Agincourt (1415), followed by occupation of Normandy (1417–19) and much of northern France. The treaty of Troyes (1420) forced Charles VI of France to disinherit his son, the dauphin, in favour of the English kings. However, following Henry V’s early death (1422) the regents of his ineffectual son Henry VI gradually lost control of conquered territory to French forces. The English were defeated at Orleans (1429) by Joan of Arc and by 1450 France had conquered Normandy and much of Gascony; Bordeaux, the last English stronghold, was captured in 1453. This effectively ended the war and thereafter the English retained only Calais (until 1558). The English never again made a serious attempt to conquer France, although their kings were styled ‘King of France’ until 1801. In France the virtual destruction of the nobility saw the Valois monarchy emerge in a strong position.