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Spotlight: The Hundred Years’ War
Bataille de Crécy, Jean Froissart illuminated MS, c. 1450
The Hundred Years’ War was a long series of conflicts between England and France over the French crown, territory and political influence. (It was actually 116 years long, lasting from 1337–1453 A.D.) As a military engagement, it was not continuous — periods of fighting were separated by truces and internal struggles — but fighting occurred often enough (and over similar themes) for history to have grouped the conflicts into a single episode. The Hundred Years’ War is importance because it helped transform the political, military, economic and cultural development of Western Europe.
The conflict began when Edward III of England claimed the French throne after the death of King Charles IV of France. (He had a legitimate claim.) Early English victories demonstrated the effectiveness of new military tactics and the longbow, especially at the Battle of Crécy (1346) and the Battle of Agincourt (1415). At Agincourt, Henry V would go on to defeat a much larger French army, becoming one of the war’s most celebrated figures. However, England could not permanently conquer France. The French gradually recovered under leaders like Charles VII and, most famously, St. Joan of Arc, whose role in lifting the siege of Orléans in 1429 helped revive French morale and royal legitimacy. By 1453, France had expelled the English from almost all of their continental possessions.
One of the war’s central themes was the growth of national identity. English and French rulers increasingly presented themselves as representatives of distinct political communities, helping weaken the older idea of Europe as a collection of territories linked primarily by dynastic relationships. The war also strengthened the French monarchy, contributing to the development of a more centralised French state.
The conflict transformed warfare as well. The declining effectiveness of heavily armoured knights, combined with the increasing importance of infantry, archers, artillery and professional soldiers, helped move European warfare away from the medieval model. At the same time, the enormous costs of war encouraged governments to develop more effective taxation and administration.
The war devastated parts of France through famine, disease, destruction and economic disruption, adding to the demographic catastrophe of the Black Death, but ultimately, France came out on top. It preserved its monarchy and territory while England lost nearly all its possessions in France. The conflict also left a powerful legacy of rivalry. Although modern Anglo-French relations can’t be chalked up to medieval hatred, generations of warfare, propaganda and competing national identities helped create enduring stereotypes and a sense of historical rivalry between the two peoples which was well-primed by the time Old Boney showed up in 1804, further exacerbating the issue.
TLDR; this video sums up the 100 Years War nicely.
Verse: ‘Bermudas’ by Andrew Marvell
Where the remote Bermudas ride
In th’ ocean’s bosom unespy’d,
From a small boat, that row’d along,
The list’ning winds receiv’d this song.
What should we do but sing his praise
That led us through the wat’ry maze
Unto an isle so long unknown,
And yet far kinder than our own?
Where he the huge sea-monsters wracks,
That lift the deep upon their backs,
He lands us on a grassy stage,
Safe from the storm’s and prelates’ rage.
He gave us this eternal spring
Which here enamels everything,
And sends the fowls to us in care,
On daily visits through the air.
He hangs in shades the orange bright,
Like golden lamps in a green night;
And does in the pomegranates close
Jewels more rich than Ormus shows.
He makes the figs our mouths to meet
And throws the melons at our feet,
But apples plants of such a price,
No tree could ever bear them twice.
With cedars, chosen by his hand,
From Lebanon, he stores the land,
And makes the hollow seas that roar
Proclaim the ambergris on shore.
He cast (of which we rather boast)
The Gospel’s pearl upon our coast,
And in these rocks for us did frame
A temple, where to sound his name.
Oh let our voice his praise exalt,
Till it arrive at heaven’s vault;
Which thence (perhaps) rebounding, may
Echo beyond the Mexic Bay.
Thus sung they in the English boat
An holy and a cheerful note,
And all the way, to guide their chime,
With falling oars they kept the time.
In ‘Bermudas’ Marvell imagines the reaction of those pilgrims who first set foot on what would become Bermuda, an archipelago that was for a time part of the Colony of Virginia and remains a British protectorate to this day.
Pensées
It [is] impossible for anyone to be an orator endowed with all praiseworthy qualities, unless he has gained a knowledge of all important subjects and arts. For it is certainly from knowledge that a speech should blossom and acquire fullness.
Public speaking can put a lump in anyone’s throat. But few people have a hard time talking about a subject they know a lot about. Cicero encourages anyone who wants to do a good job speaking in public to begin by learning as much as they can. He also emphasises practice and delivery as essential elements of oratory, but the cornerstone of oratorical skill lies in knowledge. In short, the more you know, the better you’ll be at public speaking.
Q ~ How many of our elected officials and public figures do you think have taken Cicero’s advice? When’s the last time you were awed by a speaker’s knowledge and command of the spoken word? What can you do to improve your public speaking skills?
Diversions
Apparently, you can virtually tour the British Museum. Here’s a jump link to the Parthenon exhibit.
Visited a craft brewery lately? It can be hard to tell what’s what. This beer style guide has you covered.
Read: ‘The Abolitionists’ by Morrigan Geleynse for the Foundations Forum.
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