The Hundred Years’ War Contributions Research Assignment

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THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR CONTRIBUTions
Introduction
Nationalism is the identification with an individual’s own nation, the unique identity associated with an individual due to his or her country of origin. The individual has the obligation to protect their nation’s interest, especially during wars. Nationalism is viewed as a way of advancing a nations desire to govern its citizens. The aim of nationalism is to bring people sharing similar characteristics together. These characteristics can be similar history, language, religion, politics and many others. Nationalism defines people’s identity. Centralization of political power on the hand is the concentration of political power in the hands of a few to manage a nation. Nationalism and centralization of political power in both France and England were promoted by the hundred years’ war.
The development and maturity of civilizations has not come without massive losses and bloodshed. The development of the European continent offers a good example. The continent has been the venue of some of the bloodiest battles in the history of mankind. These are wars that would later shape the future of the continent, and steer it towards even greater prosperity. One of the longest of them all however, was the seemingly unending war between France and England. The war later came to be known as the Hundred Years War, even though quite literally, it didn’t last that long but rather entailed a persistent and consistent isolated attacks between these two ,over a number of years.
The “Hundred Years of War” between France and England was a sporadic struggle between the two nations in the 14th-15th century (Trueman). The actual year of beginning and end of the war was 1337 and 1453, respectively. The basis of the war was a series of conflicts; the major dispute was who was to be the legal successor of the French thrown after the death of Charles IV of France, in the year 1328 (Trueman). . During the time of Charles IV, England was ruled by French; this was according to medieval legal agreements where a king could be a vassal to another king if the former acquired titles in the latter's kingdom.
The definition of England’s titles in France was altered by the marriage alliances and war between the two countries. After the death of Charles IV, Edward III of England who was a duke of Guyenne claimed that he was the legal successor to the French throne. His argument was based on the fact that his mother was Charles IV sister and that Charles IV had no sons to inherit the throne (Keen). Edward III was opposed by Count of Valois, France, who was the son of Philip III. Through the French assembly, Count was chosen over Edward III, and Count became Philip VI. The decision was accepted by Edward III, and things became peaceful.
The war started in 1337 when Philip VI out of fear of having another king in his kingdom decided to confiscate the land of Guyenne (Wilde). This was the residence of Edward III. The action angered Edward III, and he decided to once more attempt to claim the throne. Edward III brought an army to Flanders to show his desire to fight for the thrown. After bringing the army, the war ...