Question 3: The Hundred Years’ War

Plan:

Period - 1337 – 1453

Participants - two royal houses (English and French) - the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou. The House of Valois claimed the title of King of France, while the Plantagenets from England claimed to be Kings of France and England. The Plantagenet Kings in England had their roots in the French regions of Anjou and Normandy

Reasons:

1. Edward III was the king of England and he wanted to be a king of France as well.

2. French feudal lords were eager to seize free towns of Franders.

War:

- Duke of Normandy remained a vassal of the French King, but avoided swearing fealty.

- French monarchs resented a neighbouring king holding lands within their own realm, and sought to neutralise the threat England now posed to France.

- Both dynasties possessed lands in both France and Britain.

- French remained the official language of England until the second half of the 14th century.

- There was a crisis over the French succession. There was no male heir.

- Open hostilities broke out as French ships began scouting coastal settlements on the

- At first England was successful as it was better equipped.

Reasons of England’s Loss:

Black Death

Peasant Revolt

Parliament

Significance

• The Hundred Years' War was a time of military evolution.

• The war also stimulated nationalistic sentiment.

• The Hundred Years' War accelerated the process of transforming France from a feudal monarchy to a centralised state.

• The Hundred Years War basically confirmed the fall of the French language in England

• The latter stages of the war saw the emergence of the dukes of Burgundy as important players on the political field

• The conflict became one of the major contributing factors to the Wars of the Roses.

Question 4: The War of Roses

Plan:

The Wars of the Roses (1453–1487) were a series of dynastic civil wars fought in England between supporters of the Houses of Lancaster and York.

Reason: Disputed succession

The antagonism started with the overthrow of King Richard II by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, in 1399, who had a very poor claim to the throne while  Roger Mortimer was the heir presumptive.

Henry IV died in 1413. His son, Henry V, inherited a temporarily pacified nation. Henry was a great soldier, and his military success against France in the Hundred Years' War resulted in his enormous popularity.

King Henry VI of England, ascended the throne as an infant only nine months old. He was surrounded by unpopular regents and advisors who were blamed for mismanaging the government and poorly executing the continuing Hundred Years' War with France.

NB: 1. In all the quarrels, Henry VI had taken little part. He was portrayed as a weak, ineffectual king.

2. In addition, he suffered from episodes of mental illness that he may have inherited from his grandfather Charles VI of France.

3. By the 1450s many considered Henry incapable of carrying out the duties and responsibilities of a king.

Main parties:

Lancastrians – Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou, Edward; Duke of Somerset

vs

Yorkists – Richard Lord Protector, Edward (IV); Warwick, Earl of Salisbury

War:

1. Henry VI vs Richard Lord Protector

2. Margaret vs Richard

3. Act of Accord

4. Murder of Richard, Edmund, Salisbury

5. Edward’s (York) coronation

6. Edwards quarrel with Warwick

7. Warwick and George’s plot

8. Edward V and the council of regency under Richard, Duke of Gloucester

9. “Princes in the Tower” (Edward V & Richard

10. Henry Tudor VII

Outcome

weakening of the feudal power of the nobles and a corresponding strengthening of the merchant classes.

growth of a strong, centralized monarchy under the Tudors.