THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND,
1337-1453 A.D.
PRETEXT FOR THE WAR
The task of unifying France was interrupted by a
deplorable war between that country and England. It continued, including
periods of truce, for over a century. The pretext for the war was found in a
disputed succession. In 1328 A.D. the last of the three sons of Philip IV
passed away, and the direct line of the house of Capet, which had reigned over
France for more than three hundred years, came to an end. The English ruler,
Edward III, whose mother was the daughter of Philip IV, considered himself the
next lineal heir. The French nobles were naturally unwilling to receive a foreigner
as king, and gave the throne, instead, to a nephew of Philip IV. This decision
was afterwards justified on the ground that, by the old law of the Salian
Franks, women could neither inherit estates nor transmit them to a son. [22]
[22] Hence the name "Salic law" applied to the
rule excluding women from succession to the French throne.
REASONS FOR THE WAR
Edward III at first accepted the situation. Philip VI,
however, irritated Edward by constant encroachments on the territories which
the English still kept in France. Philip also allied himself with the Scotch
and interfered with English trade interests in the county of Flanders.
This attitude of hostility provoked retaliation. Edward now reasserted his
claim to the crown of France and prepared by force of arms to make it good.
