Introduction

One of the first things students learn about the Hundred Years War is that it lasted 116 years: from 1337, when Philip VI confiscated the French lands of Edward III, to 1453, when English Gascony fell to the French. The starting and finishing dates present immediate problems. The English and French had been at war on many occasions before 1337, indeed as recently as 1327. They were to be in conflict again many times after 1453. Much of the subsequent history of this country concerns its struggle with France, both in Europe and in the wider world. Historians have even postulated the existence of a ‘second Hundred Years War’ lasting from 1689 to 1815.