Medieval Anglo-French Wars (1076-1453): A Brief History

One of the greatest rivalries in history, the contest between England and France lasted for many centuries. The animosity between the two nations led them to become bitter enemies who fought against each other not just in Europe but throughout the entire world.

From these conflicts, a hatred grew that solidified the two country’s national identities. It spurred its government and people to perpetuate a conflict that would culminate in a war between two globe-spanning empires for ultimate control.

However, all of this had its beginnings in the interconnected families ruling England and France. Monarchic designs brought these nations into conflict.

Making sense of all the wars fought between England (and subsequently the United Kingdom) and France can be a tricky subject.

Relations between Anglo-Saxon England and France were generally positive. Once the Normans conquered England, however, the entire dynamic shifted. Norman kings frequently saw themselves as the rightful heirs to various parts of France and even the French throne.

The first conflict was the Breton War. While England did not play a major role in the war, it was the first between an English and a French monarch. At the time, the Normans considered England to be a territory of Normandy, not the other way around.

The war was fought between the semi-independent fief of Normandy under the control of William the Conqueror and Philip I of France. William attempted to seize Brittany but was checked by the forces of Philip I, thus ending the period of Norman expansion in the region.

1087: The Vexin War

The Vexin was a small county in the middle of the Seine that acted as a buffer between French and Norman lands. When the Vexin count retired, this buffer no longer existed, and the French and Normans raided each other for control of this country. During an attack on the French town of Mantes, William the Conqueror suffered an injury from which he died.

The Rebellion of 1088

Upon William the Conqueror’s death, Normandy was given to his eldest son, Robert Curthose, while his middle son, William Rufus, inherited England. The youngest son, Henry, inherited several English estates and a considerable sum of silver. The older brothers came to blows, mainly over the fact that William was sleeping with Robert’s wife.

Nobles who owned lands in both territories grappled with the question of loyalty, and many banded together to overthrow William II. A brief civil war ensued, but William’s position as King of England proved unassailable, and a huge division was created between the Kingdom of England and the Dukedom of Normandy.

In 1096, Robert Curthose left to go on a crusade. Robert mortgaged Normandy to his brother, William II of England, to raise funds for the expedition, and as such, Normandy was left under his brother’s control. The brothers made a pact that if either of them were to die, the other would inherit both Normandy and England.

William wasted little time and attempted to expand Normandy by attacking the counties of Vexin and Maine. He successfully conquered Maine but had to make do with an inconclusive truce over Vexin.

While Robert was in the Holy Land, William II died during a hunt under suspicious circumstances. An arrow from Walter Tyrell pierced the king in the back, and Tyrell fled the kingdom. Within days, the youngest brother, Henry, with the support of the nobles, declared himself king. Robert, away on a crusade, could do very little about the situation.

1109-1113: Anglo-French War 

Henry I was in a difficult position with the king of France. As king of England, Henry was Louis’ equal, but as Duke of Normandy, he was his vassal. This produced an awkward arrangement that would result in a series of conflicts.

The first war known as the Anglo-French War was fought over the castle of Gisors on the border between Normandy and the French crownlands. Henry seized the castle, which was supposed to be under the rule of a neutral lord. This move angered Louis VI, and hostilities opened. After a series of skirmishes that lasted four years, there was no clear victor, and a truce was called.

After many years on the throne of England, Henry I found himself having to defend his possessions in Normandy. At the Battle of Brémule in 1119, English forces successfully repulsed a French invasion. The English took many knights prisoner and made a fortune by ransoming them off.

1123-1135: Anglo-French War

The war between 1123 and 1135 was brought about by an unfortunate incident in which a ship carrying Henry’s heir struck a rock and sank, killing all but one of the crew. With his line in jeopardy, Henry found himself in a delicate position. Louis tried to capitalize on this by fomenting rebellion in Maine. Henry’s daughter, Matilde, married the heir to the County of Anjou in 1128, Geoffroi Plantagenet. Thus, an heir was secured as well as an expansion of lands under the influence of Henry I.

With order restored in Maine, by 1135, the Anglo-Normans could claim victory over the Kingdom of France.

1158-1189: Anglo-French War 

The first Plantagenet king, Henry II, was immensely powerful, holding England, parts of Wales, Ireland, and the entire western half of France. The Angevin Empire, as it was known, gave Henry much more power than that of the French king, Louis VII. As Duke of Normandy, Henry II was still technically a vassal to the French king, and Louis was not happy about the amount of power his vassal had.

The Anglo-French War of 1158 to 1189 was a period of intermittent fighting. During this time, Louis managed to convince Henry II’s wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, to persuade two of their sons, John and Richard (later known as “Lionheart”), to conspire against their father.

In 1180, Louis VII died, and Philippe II became king. Richard and John joined in the war on Philippe’s side. During the campaigning in 1889, Henry II died of dysentery and was succeeded by his eldest son, Richard.

The alliance between Philippe II of France and Richard was one of convenience at the time. Richard felt no compunction in turning on his former ally, so the two kings went to war in 1193 after Richard returned from the Third Crusade. The Anglo-Normans and the French jostled for power, trying to expand their territory on the border between the two kingdoms.

Richard won a significant victory at Gisors in 1198, but the following year, Richard was struck by a crossbow bolt while in battle. The wound, which was considered minor, was not treated properly, and on April 6, 1199, Richard the Lionheart died from a gangrenous infection.

His death brought an end to the conflict. Despite losing their monarch, the Anglo-Normans exited the conflict in a better position than they had entered.

1202-1204: Anglo-French War

After Richard’s death, there was a power struggle as Richard had left no legitimate heirs. Richard’s half-brother John, supported by the Anglo-Normans, fought for control of the Angevin Empire against Arthur of Brittany, the legitimate grandson of Henry II, who was supported by the French crown. In 1202, Philippe II took the opportunity to invade Normandy and expand the French empire into Angevin territory on the continent. By 1204, the poor leadership from King John (who earned the nickname “Lackland”) saw the French regain territory in Normandy, Anjou, and Maine.

1213-1214: Anglo-French War

King John of England wished to regain the lost territories of the Angevin Empire and struck a deal with the Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV, who had major concerns about the rising power of the Kingdom of France. John also acquired the help of the Counties of Flanders and Boulogne.

The war began well, and the English managed to destroy the French fleet, but the tide turned when Otto reneged on his promise and pulled out of the conflict. The French, still stretched thin, maneuvered back and forth, winning victories against their enemies in the process.

In the end, the French won a decisive victory at Bouvines and conquered the territory of Flanders, ending the war and John I’s ambitions.

After the collapse of the Angevin Empire, many of the noblemen under John I’s rule rebelled against their king. Thus began a period of civil war in England in which Philippe II’s son, Louis, attempted to gain the throne by supporting the rebels.

Louis had neither the support of his father nor the support of the pope, who later excommunicated him for the venture. He managed to take Winchester and was in control of about half of England when he was proclaimed “King of England” by the rebellious barons, but Louis was never crowned.

When King John died of dysentery in 1216, many of the barons who had supported Louis switched allegiance and gave their support to Henry III, John’s nine-year-old son. The decisive moment came at the Second Battle of Lincoln on May 20, 1217, when Louis’ forces were defeated.

Later that year, an attempt to reinforce the French in England failed, and the French fleet was beaten off the coast of Sandwich.

Louis was forced to sign the Treaty of Lambeth, in which he gave up all possessions in England and agreed never to make claims on the English throne.

1242-1243: Saintonge War

The Saintonge War was fought between 1242 and 1243 in the region around Saintes in the center-west of France. Rebel sentiment in Poitou against Louis IX of France prompted Henry III to invade in an attempt to regain some of the lost territories of the Angevin Empire.

English and rebel forces were soundly defeated at the Battle of Taillebourg. After the Siege of Saintes, the English and rebel forces could no longer muster any strength to oppose the French and were forced to sign a treaty. Henry III was forced to renounce his claim to French lands.

Clashes between French and English seamen off the southwest coast of France prompted a settlement between the French king and the nobles of Gascony, which was still under the control of the English crown.

When French forces did not vacate occupied Gascon castles upon the agreed due date, Edward I used this as a pretext for war and invaded France.

The English allied themselves with Flanders, while the French managed to strike an alliance with Scotland.

With mounting pressure on the north of his kingdom and a failed campaign in France, Edward managed to secure a status quo ante bellum, which sowed the seeds for further conflict between France and England.

The troubles with Scots, however, would continue for some time.

1324: The War of Saint-Sardos

A short war between England and France from July 1 to September 22, 1324 was fought over the dwindling power of the English king’s power over lands in France. As Duke of Aquitaine, Edward II was still technically a vassal of the French king, and the French wanted the English monarch gone and a return of all English lands on the continent to France.

Wary of the constant whittling away of English territories, the situation between France and the English king was extremely tense. A minor incident involving the town of Saint-Sardos escalated beyond control. The town had been under English control, but the abbey and church were under French control.

When French troops arrived and erected defenses around their territory, retaliation was prompted, and violence broke out, eventually leading to a French invasion. Edward II lost Aquitaine due to poor military performance.

One of the more famous conflicts between France and England, the Hundred Years’ War, was a period of sporadic fighting between the two kingdoms that lasted for 116 years.

The fighting started as a result of the death of the king of France, Charles IV, in 1328 at the age of 33. He left no direct heirs, and his closest relative was Edward III, the king of England. French nobles, however, refused to acknowledge any rights Edward had on the French throne, and crowned Philippe, Count of Valois, as the new king of France. Thus ended the Capetian dynasty, and began the reign of the Valois monarchs.

After the French demanded the return of Gascony, Edward III responded with military force. The English saw major successes in the first phases of the war, winning significant victories at Crécy in 1346 and Poitiers ten years later. English victories and the capture of the French king, Jean II, led to the Treaties of Brétigny and Calais, where vast portions of French land were ceded to England.

Jean, however, died in captivity, and his son, Charles, refused to abide by the treaties. He reignited the conflict and put France on the offensive. French pressure on the English petered out after the death of Charles V in 1380. Civil unrest in both kingdoms led to a pause in the conflict, but the unrest in England was quelled earlier than in France, and Henry V of England decided to take advantage of the situation by launching an invasion.

Henry V’s invasion went poorly and was a near-complete disaster. However, it ended with a completely unforeseen English victory at Agincourt, which decimated the French nobility and turned the tide of the war in English favor.

By the 1420s, the English and their Burgundian allies were in control of vast portions of France, including Paris. The English were on track to finally conclude the war and completely defeat their long-time rival.

It was at this time that a young peasant girl from the town of Domrémy began acting upon visions that she had received, telling her to lead France’s armies to victory. Joan of Arc became a powerful rallying point for the French, who had almost given up all hope of victory.

She inspired the French to victory, raising the siege of Orléans and proceeding to win significant victories over the English and the Burgundians.

Joan of Arc was betrayed, captured, and burned at the stake, but the motivation she inspired within the French led to their complete victory over England. By 1453, French king Charles VII captured the last of the English possessions on the continent, leaving only the port of Calais in English hands.

The Hundred Years’ War created a strong sense of nationalism in both countries, which would continue to define the many future conflicts between them.

The end of the Hundred Years’ War was by no means the end of conflicts between England and France. The two countries would continue to be at each other’s throats for centuries to come. The bitter rivalry extended beyond that of war, entering politics and sports as they would seek to best each other in every realm possible.