Western Civilization I
Notes from 6/25

Today, I departed from the schedule somewhat to go over some important political history.  Most of the important information about city life was conveyed in the previous class, and we will return to city life tomorrow when we take up the Italian Renaissance.  Today, I discussed the Hundred Years' War between England and France, and the events (beginning with the Norman Conquest in 1066) that led up to it.

The story of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) actually begins much earlier, in 1066.  That year, the Anglo-Saxon king, Edward the Confessor, died, without an heir to the English throne.  Edward's mother was from Normandy (in Northern France), so Edward planned on passing the crown to a cousin, William, the Duke of Normandy.  However, the Anglo-Saxon Assembly (made up of the English Barons) did not like the idea of a Norman ruling England, and instead voted to award the crown to one of their own, Harold Godwinsson.  We see in that decision an awakening sense of nationalism, which would reach its full bloom after the Hundred Years' War.  The Anglo-Saxon Assembly's elevation of Harold led William to invade England.  At the Battle of Hastings (1066), William defeated Harold, and within a couple of weeks was made King of England.

The Norman Conquest would have a profound impact on the development of England.  English, which had been a purely Germanic language, was now infused with all sorts of Norman French words, which have their roots in Latin.  To hold on to power in England, William the Conqueror replaced most of the Anglo-Saxon nobility with his own barons, upon whom he relied to collect taxes and provide military support.  English free peasants and slaves were made into serfs, and England developed along the feudal lines that had already been established on the European continent.  Over time, the new English barons grew more and more powerful, often coming to odds with William's successors.  By 1215, they forced the English king, John I, to sign the Magna Carta, which protected noble interests and was the first step toward limiting the power of the monarch.  Although it would take another five hundred years, England was on its way to establishing the first constitutional system of government since the end of the Roman Republic.  More on that Monday.

In terms of the Hundred Years' War, the Norman Conquest was important because the Duke of Normandy (William and his successors) was also a vassal (subordinate) to the French king while being king of England.  This would create a tense relationship between the two countries, which would come to a head in 1328.  That year, the French king, Charles IV died, again without a male heir.  Now, the English king, Edward III, made a claim to the French throne.  The French nobility viewed Edward as an outsider and instead chose to crown one of their own, Philip of Valois, who became King Philip VI of France.  Again, dynastic succession leads to conflict.

By 1337 the dispute over the French crown between Edward and Philip led to an all-out war between the two countries, the Hundred Years' War.  The conflict dragged on for decades, running hot and cold.  It became a struggle over national identity, and in a very real sense would lay the foundations for the modern nation-state.  Under the English king, Henry V (r. 1413-1422), the English made their greatest inroads, and in 1420 the Treaty of Troyes disinherited the heir to the French throne in favor of Henry V. 

But the French defeat was only temporary.  In 1429, a French peasant girl, Joan of Arc, claiming to have had a divine vision, convinced a desperate French king (Charles VII) to let her lead troops into battle.  Under Joan, the French were able to retake the strategically important city of Orleans, in central France.  Joan of Arc was hardly a military genius, but she served as an important symbol of French nationalism, inspiring the troops to fight on to repel the English.  She was captured by the Burgundians (allies of the English), and burned at the stake in 1431, but by then the momentum had shifted in favor of France.  By 1453, when the Hundred Years' War ended, the English retained only the coastal town of Calais.  The war had important political and social consequences: (1) It hastened the development of strong, centralized states; (2) It awakened nationalism in France and England; (3) It forced England to develop its own clothing industries and foreign markets; and (4) It devastated the peasant classes of both countries who were forced to support the war with taxes and services.