The Hundred Years War - my review

[gridlore]

The Hundred Years War: The English in France 1337-1453 by Desmond Seward

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A century and then some period of war that changed the course of European history and inspired many of Shakespeare's history, I had been long curious about the full picture of the Hundred Years War. I had picked up pieces of it reading other histories but was looking for a better focus on this incredibly important period.

Luckily, Steward's book was just what I was looking for. An excellent introduction to the people and places, and more importantly the motivations behind these long wars over territory and the right to the French Crown. Important players are identified and brought to life. The course of the various campaigns are detailed, with some battles meriting illustrations of how the battlefield was laid out.

A constant theme is the cost of the war on both sides. England, while largely supporting the war effort, was hard-pressed to find the money to keep troops in the field. The French had a similar problem as they faced near civil war for most of the period. Special attention is paid to how even the lowest men-at-arms and archers could get rich through capturing nobles for ransom and through looting. There are many halls and manors in England that were paid for in this way.

Steward even covers the changing technology of war from the late 14th century to the early 15th. A war that started with catapults and trebuchets ended with cannon and the first firearms being the weapons of choice.

I also noted with some sadness that the final end of English domination in France coming with the fall of Normandy and Guyenne coincided with the death of another great empire at the far end of Europe. 1453 was a bad year for empires.



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