[Otclassof1973] S'UP? THE SEQUEL

[JMWHVAC at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/29/2008 4:12:42 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
neufsaid at juno.com writes:

Talk among yourselves, I'll give you a topic: The conflict between France and 
England waged from 1337 to 1453 is known as the Hundred Years War even though 
it lasted 116 years.  Discuss.  (Note: Who needs rhetorical questions?)

Greetings  Marvin,
 
 We Just finished the ST. Patrick's Day parade in BELMAR NJ......Luck of the 
IRISH.....!
 
OK Here goes....
 
 
So, I guess to ask why was the war between France and England between 1337 to 
1453 called the Hundred Year War last would be rhetorical in that it's 
obvious that from 1337 to 1453 covers a little more than a hundred years....so the 
question begs the answer.
 
However, if one is to be precise, The Hundred Years War, even though it was 
waged between 1337 and 1453, did not last 116 years, because there were two 
rather lengthy periods of peace in between some of the major battles. So, in fact 
the Hundred Years War actually lasted 81years.
 
Now, in terms of what the Hundred Years War was about....that's a very 
complicated story, so you'll need to let me know exactly what about it you want to 
know....otherwise it would take a very long document to describe.
 
To begin with, you'd have to understand that among the royalty of France, 
England, Spain and Germany there was a continuous flow of intermarriages. And 
this resulted with the crown princes of these various royal houses in the various 
countries sometimes believing they were also the rightful heirs to the crowns 
in one of the other countries.. because they were in fact blood relatives to 
the kings of other countries.
 
So, in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings, when William of Normady (France) 
invaded England and defeated the Anglo-Saxon King Harold II, he then crowned 
himself King of England (as well as being the Duke of Normandy, France).....thus 
intermingling the royal family of England with the royal family of England.  And 
it was this victory which is at the core of what later caused the Hundred 
Years War in the 14th century. France was claiming that the Norman kings of 
England owed allegiance to France and as kings of England were to relinquish their 
right to their lands and castles in the northern part of France (Normandy) back 
to the French.
 
But, of course, the King of England wasn't about to surrender this French 
territory, as at that time the King of England ruled more French territory than 
the King of France did himself. 
 
So the King of France declared war on the King of England, and in fact, in 
1214 actually conquered Normandy, reducing England's hold on French territory to 
just a few provinces in Gascony. The English royal family was also stripped 
of any claim to the French throne. Now, this part is the background, but not  
part of the Hundred Years War. However over the next two centuries, the royal 
family of England never forgot what they had lost and eventually in the 14th 
century decided to reclaim these Norman territories.
 
Then, when Louis X (King of France) died in 1316, his daughter Joan inherited 
the throne. First of all a female inheriting the throne was highly 
questionable at that time, and more importantly is was highly suspected that Joan was 
the biological daughter of the king to begin with. So Edward II of England felt 
that he was the male heir most directly related to the king of France and 
therefore he should be the king of France as well. So, England went to war with 
France... and that's the first battle of the Hundred Years War. That opening war 
was a complete failure for England.
 
Then, Edward II was assassinated in England, and Edward III, who was related 
to the royal family of France by both his mother and father, became the 
legitimate heir to the throne of France. That war started in the 1340's..... How 
much of this do you really want to know???
 
England won some of the battles and France won others. And after each major 
seige, treaties were signed, there were a few years of peace, and then another 
king would inherit the throne on one country or the other and they started up 
all over again
 
 
But, the basic result was that England lost all rights to ,most of its French 
territories and all claims to the royal lineage to France. And the Hundred 
Years War ends with Joan of Arc leading the French army to the final defeat 
against England. 
 
The Worrell Super Quads,
 
Colleen
Shawn
Patrick
Ryan
 
OTHS CLASS OF 2015
 
" taking  on one teacher at a time "
 




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