PRETEXT FOR THE WAR
The task of unifying France was interrupted by a deplorable war between that country and England. It continued, including periods of truce, for over a century. The pretext for the war was found in a disputed succession. In 1328 A.D. the last of the three sons of Philip IV passed away, and the direct line of the house of Capet, which had reigned over France for more than three hundred years, came to an end. The English ruler, Edward III, whose mother was the daughter of Philip IV, considered himself the next lineal heir. The French nobles were naturally unwilling to receive a foreigner as king, and gave the throne, instead, to a nephew of Philip IV. This decision was afterwards justified on the ground that, by the old law of the Salian Franks, women could neither inherit estates nor transmit them to a son. [22]
[Illustration: ROYAL ARMS OF EDWARD III Edward III, having in 1340 A.D. set up a claim to the throne of France, proceeded to add the French lilies (fleurs-de-lis) to his coat of arms. He also took as his motto Dieu et mon Droit ("God and my Right"). The lilies of France remained in the royal arms till 1801 A.D.; the motto is still retained.]
REASONS FOR THE WAR
Edward III at first accepted the situation. Philip VI, however, irritated Edward by constant encroachments on the territories which the English still kept in France. Philip also allied himself with the Scotch and interfered with English trade interests in the county of Flanders. [23] This attitude of hostility provoked retaliation. Edward now reasserted his claim to the crown of France and prepared by force of arms to make it good.
[Illustration: ENGLISH ARCHER
From an old manuscript.]
BATTLES OF CRÉCY, 1346 A.D., AND POITIERS, 1356 A.D.
In 1346 A.D. Edward led his troops across the Channel and at Crécy gained a complete victory over the knighthood of France. Ten years later the English at Poitiers almost annihilated another French force much superior in numbers. These two battles were mainly won by foot soldiers armed with the long bow, in the use of which the English excelled. Ordinary iron mail could not resist the heavy, yard-long arrows, which fell with murderous effect upon the bodies of men and horses alike. Henceforth infantry, when properly armed and led, were to prove themselves on many a bloody field more than a match for feudal cavalry. The long bow, followed later by the musket, struck a deadly blow at feudalism.
THE "BLACK PRINCE"
Edward's son, the Prince of Wales, when only sixteen years of age, won his spurs by distinguished conduct at Crécy. It was the "Black Prince," [24] also, who gained the day at Poitiers, where he took prisoner the French king, John. Toward his royal captive he behaved in chivalrous fashion. At supper, on the evening of the battle, he stood behind John's chair and waited on him, praising the king's brave deeds. But this "flower of knighthood," who regarded warfare as only a tournament on a larger scale, could be ruthless in his treatment of the common people. On one occasion he caused three thousand inhabitants of a captured town—men, women and children—to be butchered before his eyes. The incident shows how far apart in the Middle Ages were chivalry and humanity.