#english_history 

## Prelude
After Edward II (1307-1327)'s [[The Celtic kingdoms of Scotland#^69d06e|unsucessful attempts to invade Scotland]], England gave up its claim to overlordship of Scotland in **1328**, after the French invasion of England in **1326**.
The repeated attempts of English kings to control Scotland had led the Scots to look for allies, they found one in the face of France -> **The Auld Alliance**, a mutual defense pact. ^acaa24

## England vs France
England's troubles with France resulted from the French king's growing authority in France, and his tenacity to control all his nobles, including the king of England, who still held land in Aquitaine. To do so, France tried to impede English trade by seizing [[The growth of towns as centres of wealth in Medieval England#^65572e|Gascony]], a major source of England's wealth, in **1324**, and by threatening Burgundy, England's major trade partner. Thus, Edward III, son of Edward II, (1327-1377), aka "King of the Sea", in an alliance with Burgundy, declared war on France in **1337**, claiming his right to the French Crown, starting **the Hundred Years War (1337-1453)**.

## War
Experienced through its wars in Wales and Scotland and having learnt the value of being lightly armed and quick in movement, the puissant English army quickly gained ground, thanks to the usage of the Welsh longbow, at the battle of Crecy in **1346** and at Poitiers in **1356**, where the French king was taken prisoner.
By the **treaty of Bretigny of 1360**, Edward III gave up his claim to the French throne and maintained control of the occupied areas: Aquitaine, Normandy, Brittany, port Calais. Unfortunately, all of land except for Calais and several other ports was taken back by French forces during the next fifteen years.
True to the Auld Alliance, the king of Scots David had attacked England in **1346**, but he was defeated and taken prisoner. Edward III soon allowed the French to pay for him. For a while there was peace, but the struggle between the French and English kings over French territories was to continue.

### Henry V
Henry V (1413-1422), son of Henry IV, was a stout and remarkably profound man, earning national fame similarly to [[Kingship as a family business in the early Middle ages#^3c08f7|Richard I]]. 
Since everything was quiet at home, he felt able to begin fighting the French again. His bellicose intentions were rather popular, as the king of France was mad and his nobles were falling out with each other.
The war started again in 1415 when Henry renewed Edward III's claim to the throne of France. Burgundy was once again an ally of the English. At the battle of Agincourt in 1415 the English defeated a French army three times its own size.

Between 1417 and 1420 Henry recaptured Normandy and the nearby areas, by the treaty of Troyes in **1420** Henry was recognised as heir to the mad king, marrying Katherine of Valois, the king's daughter. However, he died in **1422**, a few months before the French king, passing on his throne to his 9-months-old baby son, Henry VI.
Just like in [[The Celtic kingdoms of Scotland#^50181f|Scotland]] and [[The Celtic kingdoms of Wales#^7f0576|Wales]], it was easier to conquer France than to keep it. At first Henry V's brother, John, Duke of Bedford, continued to enlarge the area under English control. But soon the French began to fight back, evidence of the developing French [[Nationalism|nationalism]], inspired by Joan of Arc.
She was captured by the Burgundians, given to the English, who gave her to the Church in Roeun which burnt her as a witch in **1431**.
England was now beginning to lose an extremely costly war: in **1435** John of Bedford died, soon the allies betrayed England, and, with the loss of Gascony in **1453**, England had lost everything except the port of Calais.