The Hundred Years' War
England and France fight for 116 years, and both come out as nations.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 116 years
- Known to
- ± 1 year
- Era
- Post-Classical, Holocene
Dynastic claims to the French throne produce intermittent war from 1337 to 1453. The longbow gives England victories at Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt that the social order did not predict — commoners destroying mounted nobility. Joan of Arc turns the war in 1429 and is burned in 1431. France eventually wins using gunpowder artillery. Both kingdoms emerge with stronger central taxation, standing armies and a sharpened sense of national identity.