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The big idea: In 1337 the kings of England and France began a struggle so long that historians call it the Hundred Years' War — it actually ran, on and off, from 1337 to 1453.
It broke out for three connected reasons: a disputed throne, a strange feudal knot over English land in France, and hard-headed economic ambition over trade and territory.
The two kingdoms had been tangled together for centuries. Ever since the Norman conquest of 1066, the kings of England had also owned large lands inside France.
That awkward overlap — an English king who was also a French landholder — is the root of the whole quarrel.
- Dynastic dispute — Edward III of England claimed he, not Philip VI, was the rightful king of France.
- Feudal problem — the English king held Gascony as a vassal of the French king.
- Economic and territorial ambition — both sides wanted control of Gascony's wine trade and the wealthy wool trade of Flanders.
Spot it: three drivers (D-F-E): Dynastic claim · Feudal problem · Economic ambition. Almost every cause of the war fits one of these three — plus the spark of 1337, when Philip VI seized Gascony.
The deepest cause was a crisis over who should wear the French crown. In 1328 the French king Charles IV died with no son — the first time in over 300 years the direct royal line had run out.
That opened a succession dispute that would poison relations between England and France for generations.
1328 — the throne falls empty
Charles IV of France dies leaving no son. His closest male relative through a woman is his nephew, Edward III of England, whose mother Isabella was Charles's sister.
France rejects Edward's claim
French nobles refused to be ruled by a boy-king of England. They argued the crown could not pass through a woman, and instead chose Charles's cousin, Philip of Valois.
Philip VI is crowned
Philip of Valois became Philip VI, founding the Valois dynasty. Edward, only 15 and controlled by his mother, at first accepted this — but the grievance never went away.
1337 — Edward revives the claim
When war loomed, Edward III formally declared himself the rightful King of France, turning a feudal quarrel into a fight for the crown itself.
1328 empty throne → France picks Philip VI → Edward revives his claim in 1337.
The feudal knot of Gascony: Here is the strange part. The English king owned Gascony (part of the duchy of Aquitaine) — but he held it from the French king as his vassal.
That meant the King of England had to kneel and swear homage to the King of France for Gascony. One king bowing to another was humiliating and unworkable — and it gave France a legal excuse to interfere in English-held land whenever relations soured.
England's view (Edward III)
- Edward had a real blood claim through his mother Isabella
- Kneeling to the French king for Gascony was degrading
- France kept meddling in Gascony and threatening to confiscate it
France's view (Philip VI)
- A crown could not pass through the female line, so Edward had no claim
- As overlord, the French king had every right to discipline a disobedient vassal
- Gascony was legally French soil and should answer to the French crown
Why the feudal problem mattered: So long as the English king held Gascony as a vassal, every dispute risked becoming a war.
France could always threaten confiscation, and England could never feel its lands were secure — a permanent flashpoint built into the map itself.
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The quarrel was not only about crowns and homage — it was also about money and land. Two of the richest trades in Europe ran straight through the disputed borderlands.
Controlling that wealth was a powerful motive for both kings.
- Gascony and its wine — the duchy exported huge quantities of wine to England and was a major source of royal income. England could not afford to lose it.
- The Flanders wool trade — English wool fed the cloth-making towns of Flanders. Flanders leaned towards England for trade but towards France politically, so both kings fought to control it.
- Territory itself — Edward wanted to hold his French lands in full sovereignty, free of French overlordship; Philip wanted to absorb Gascony fully into France.
The long-term root: the Angevin Empire: The problem of English land in France was very old. Back in the 1150s, King Henry II of England had ruled a vast block of French territory known as the Angevin Empire — Normandy, Anjou and Aquitaine.
French kings spent the next two centuries clawing these lands back. By 1337 only Gascony remained, and its unresolved status was the leftover wound from that long struggle.
The short-term trigger: 1337: The spark came in 1337. Angered by Edward sheltering his enemy and stirring up Flanders, Philip VI declared Gascony confiscated — legally seizing it from Edward as a disobedient vassal.
For Edward this was the last straw. He responded by claiming the French crown outright, and open war began.
| Year | Event | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1150s | Angevin Empire at its height | English kings hold vast French lands — the long-term root |
| 1328 | Charles IV dies without a son | Succession crisis; Philip VI crowned over Edward III |
| 1337 | Philip VI confiscates Gascony | The short-term trigger that starts the war |
| 1337 | Edward III claims the French throne | Turns a land dispute into a war for the crown |
The role of individuals: Two ambitious kings turned a legal quarrel into a century of war.
Philip VI chose to confiscate Gascony and gambled on crushing his vassal. Edward III chose to answer by claiming the throne of France itself — neither man was willing to back down.