Though Joan was soon afterwards captured by the English,
who, to their lasting dishonor, burned her as a witch, her example nerved the
French to further resistance. The English gradually lost ground and in 1453
A.D., the year of the fall of Constantinople, abandoned the effort to conquer a
land much larger than their own. They retained of the French territories only
the port of Calais and the Channel Islands. [26]
[26] Calais went back to the French in 1558 A.D. The
Channel Islands are still English possessions.
EFFECTS OF THE WAR
Few wars have had less to justify them, either in their
causes or in their consequences, than this long struggle between England and
France. It was a calamity to both lands. For England it meant the dissipation
abroad of the energies which would have been better employed at home. For
France it resulted in widespread destruction of property, untold suffering,
famines, and terrible loss of life. From this time dates that traditional
hostility between the two countries which was to involve them in future
conflicts. One beneficial effect the war did have. It helped to make the two
nations conscious of their separate existence. The growth of a national feeling,
the awakening of a sentiment of patriotism, was especially marked in France,
which had fought so long for independence.
