Hundred Years War (Military History)

Introduction

Along with the Crusades, the Hundred Years War (1337–1453) is probably the most-researched area of medieval military history today. The extant information on the war is vast and often complex in nature, thus constituting both challenges and opportunities for those seeking to mine it; moreover, much of the data is still underutilized, lying dormant in European archives. The operational and technical detail relating to warfare within the evidence is specific and abundant. Unlike other periods in the Middle Ages, for which information can often be sparse, the historian studying the Hundred Years War is blessed with a level of detail that is unmatched. The result has been an explosion in scholarship on the warfare of the 14th and 15th centuries, and while many stones remain unturned they are gradually dwindling in number. Oxford Bibliographies has already published one article: the Hundred Years’ War. Written by Clifford Rogers for Oxford Bibliographies Online in the subject field of Renaissance and Reformation, it is an excellent introduction to the major facets and context of the conflict. The present article was designed with a narrower focus in mind. While some of the citations from the article by Rogers do reappear here, this article attempts to approach the subject from angles that speak primarily to the violent aspects of the war rather than the political. While good biographies of leaders may, therefore, go unmentioned, more obscure books centering on that leader’s generalship are included. Besides the overviews, textbooks, and encyclopedias, the citations here can be grouped thematically into four general categories: generalship, military actions, aspects of armies, and consequences of war. England and France, as the main combatants of the war, receive their own categories in some cases, while peripheral areas (in a geographic, not historical, sense) such as Burgundy, Gascony, and Spain are grouped together for convenience. The well-known battles such as Crécy are, of course, included, but they are accompanied in other places by lesser-known events like Aljubarrota. In addition, some attention has been paid to issues of military technology and the question of the so-called medieval military revolution, two areas of study that have lately reinvigorated the field.

General Overviews

A large number of available books cover the span of the Hundred Years War in either narrative, thematic, or topical format. Many of these are now outdated in regard to current thinking on medieval warfare; some also tend to overly glamorize one particular side, and others contain hints of patriotism that work to reduce their persuasiveness. More balanced treatments exist today. Curry 2003 is a sound starting point. The author’s considerable research efforts on the dimensions of 14th-century and especially 15th-century English armies clearly inform the work, which is not actually intended as a strict military history. Contamine 2010 is shorter and pays heavy attention to the central Anglo-French aspects of the war, but it offers conclusions that are based on the author’s extensive and learned past publications. Allmand 1998 provides an array of basic sources necessary for understanding both the war and the attitudes toward military affairs in the period. Sumption 1999 is an erudite close study of the war and its context that has been broadly and well received. This volume and the author’s later works divide the war into smaller chronological periods. His effort to offer a balanced treatment of English and French affairs is evident throughout. Each volume is available in paperback and has been printed in large numbers. Each is, therefore, extremely accessible.

Allmand, Christopher. Society at War: The Experience of England and France during the Hundred Years War. 2d ed. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 1998.
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A document-based approach to the war in which brief introductions to subjects are followed by pertinent primary sources. Various aspects of military affairs are included: the conduct of war, attitudes toward and against violence, the benefits and costs of war, and diplomacy and the securing of peace.
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Contamine, Philippe. La guerre de cent ans. 9th ed. Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 2010.
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The best introduction to the subject in the French language, it is a short overview of the war covering its origins, course, and consequences. Learned but written for a general audience, with scarce footnotes and an extremely brief bibliography.
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Curry, Anne. The Hundred Years War. 2d ed. New York: St. Martin’s, 2003.
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An introduction to international relations and the diplomacy of the war, revised to take into account an array of military studies published in the 1990s. Brief but authoritative, it also includes a collection of maps and genealogies helpful to newcomers to the subject.
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Sumption, Jonathan. The Hundred Years War. Vol. 1, Trial by Battle. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999.
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Continued in Volume 2, Trial by Fire (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001), and Volume 3, Divided Houses (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011). A systematic, detailed, and ongoing narrative crawl through the war. Emphasis is on battles, commanders, and the effect of war upon towns and landscapes. The volumes cover the years 1328–1347, 1347–1369, and 1369–1393, respectively; forthcoming volumes will presumably cover the rest of the conflict.
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Reference Works

While many of the best books on the Hundred Years War contain detailed descriptions of events, concepts, and individuals, good reference works help to fill in gaps or to explore items not found within the purview of particular approaches to the subject. Of these, Rogers 2010 sets a new standard for comprehensiveness. Its three volumes cover the widest array of subjects and the greatest number of entries; each entry is accompanied by an up-to-date bibliography of both primary and secondary works. Geographically it covers not only western Europe but also the Mediterranean region and eastern Europe. Bradbury 2004 is event-oriented and contains one-paragraph descriptions of battles; as a one-volume work, it concentrates on major events and commanders. Longer essays on other features of medieval warfare form the second half of the book. Nicolle 2002 subdivides medieval warfare into early, middle, and late portions and similarly covers a wide range of military topics. Nicolle 2002 adopts the same format and identical subheadings for each chapter; this ensures that each military aspect gets similar coverage in each chapter.

Bradbury, Jim. The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare. London: Routledge, 2004.
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Provides short biographies of military leaders, narratives of each phase of medieval military history (including chapters on France, Britain, and Iberia up to 1500), topical sections on arms and armament, armies, and fortifications. Includes extensive maps and charts for reference.
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Nicolle, David. Medieval Warfare Sourcebook. Vol. 1, Warfare in Western Christendom. London: Brockhampton, 2002.
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Comprehensive resource for all aspects of military affairs up to 1500, with a chapter specifically devoted to late medieval warfare. Contains hundreds of useful plates and illustrations.
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Rogers, Clifford J., ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology. 3 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
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A comprehensive survey of topics in medieval war, with extensive coverage of events, individuals, and methods featured in the Hundred Years War.
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Textbooks

A large number of books on the Hundred Years War and/or medieval warfare are suitable for undergraduate-level instruction. Nicholson 2004 constitutes a good starting point because it identifies major themes that extend across the period. It condenses complicated and technical matters into a format that is easy to digest. From there, the student should read Verbruggen 1997 first and then Contamine 1984. The reason for this ordering is historiographical: Verbruggen 1997 is outdated in some ways but will best convey the operational characteristics of medieval armies; thereafter, Contamine 1984 provides a corrective on matters where Verbruggen 1997 misses the mark, such as the role of cavalry in battle and the dominance of siege warfare. With regard to the Hundred Years War, Rogers 1999 is a sound essay that introduces the particular military facets of that conflict; Allmand 1988, although an earlier work, is best read after Rogers so that initial themes and concepts can be applied to the war at large. Allmand 1988 is a condensed text that still provides a sound narrative and topical approach to understanding the war; it is relatively cheap and portable. Finally, those seeking further exploration of English warfare in the period should move on to Prestwich 1996; although several surveys of medieval English warfare are available, Prestwich 1996 is particularly knowledgeable about the later centuries and addresses all the principal facets of military operations in the period.

Allmand, Christopher. The Hundred Years War: England and France at War, c. 1300–c. 1450. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139167789Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Standard introduction to the subject. Covers all of the major aspects of the conflict in a topical fashion and includes sections on literature and social change in the period. More survey than monograph, it appears in the Cambridge Medieval Textbooks series.
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Contamine, Philippe. War in the Middle Ages. Translated by Michael Jones. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 1984.
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Still the best comprehensive interpretation of the whole of medieval warfare available. Surveys the major topics and offers several original takes on military norms. Contains two chapters on war in the 14th and 15th centuries war and an extensive bibliography that is particularly sound on foreign titles.
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Nicholson, Helen. Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300–1500. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
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A short but useful primer on the major elements of medieval war. Separated into chapters on military personnel, buildings, equipment, land and naval warfare, and theories of war in the period. Topics from the Hundred Years War are discussed throughout.
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Prestwich, Michael. Armies and Warfare in the Middle Ages: The English Experience. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996.
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Covers the range of warfare in its different dimensions and its impact on English history in the period. Emphasis tends to be on areas of the author’s research expertise and interest, which is England under the Edwardian kings and after.
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Rogers, Clifford J. “The Age of the Hundred Years War.” In Medieval Warfare: A History. Edited by Maurice Keen, 136–160. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
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A short primer on the subject from a military history perspective that outlines basic concepts of war from the period, including siege, battle, ravaging, and the role of the infantry. The volume contains essays on other major periods and topics of the Middle Ages.
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Verbruggen, J. F. The Art of Warfare in Western Europe: From the Eighth Century to 1340. 2d ed. Translated by Summer Willard and S. C. M. Southern. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 1997.
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Groundbreaking reassessment of warfare in which the author asserts the ingenuity and originality of medieval armies. Contains little about the Hundred Years War as well as outdated notions on cavalry but remains valuable for its depiction of the complexity of military affairs in the period.
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Anthologies

Collections of essays on the Hundred Years War are not abundant, but those that have appeared are valuable, each in its own right. Fowler 1971 was the first and is indicative of scholarly knowledge on the subject in the years prior to the renewed in interest in the war that arose in force in the 1990s. It includes essays on the primary military elements, mostly placed into the political context of England and France’s various disputations. It is broad in approach and useful to nonmilitary scholars of the subject; likewise Allmand 1976, which includes essays on both direct applications of violence as well as the context of military affairs in general. Curry and Hughes 1994 is oriented more specifically toward explicitly military subjects. Topics covered include the size and nature of armies, the weapons and devices by which they waged their wars, and the contexts that directly impact the prosecution of war itself. Its essays are still relatively current in their conclusions. Beginning in the 21st century, historians began to broaden their conception of the war in terms of geography. Several sessions at international congresses in the United States at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and in the United Kingdom at Leeds included studies of areas previously considered peripheral to the dominant narrative of Anglo-American and French scholarship, such as Spain and Portugal; many of these studies were later published in Brill’s History of Warfare series in the edited volumes of Villalon and Kagay 2005 and Villalon and Kagay 2008 (a third volume has been assembled and is forthcoming). The primary focus of these works is to expand the context of the war by explaining the importance of military events in neighboring regions. Other essays include studies of formerly neglected or highly contentious topics that are germane to the primary war events involving England, France, and Burgundy.

Allmand, Christopher, ed. War, Literature, and Politics in the Late Middle Ages. Liverpool, UK: Liverpool University Press, 1976.
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Includes several essays treating subjects directly related to the Hundred Years War. Three focus on the direct military role of artillery, men-at-arms, and spies, two more on the laws of war, and the rest on an assortment of topics such as war literature, local identities, and religion and politics.
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Curry, Anne, and Michael Hughes, eds. Arms, Armies and Fortifications in the Hundred Years War. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 1994.
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Essays covering a wide geographical and thematic focus, with the bulk treating subjects that include armies, weaponry, battles, and technologies. Other essays discuss religious and social responses to the war. Includes a series of black-and-white plates.
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Fowler, Kenneth, ed. The Hundred Years War. London: Macmillan, 1971.
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A collection of essays covering the essential military and political facets of the war; its causes, course, and result; the aims and military organization of the various adversaries; and also topical studies on subjects such as naval affairs.
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Villalon, L. J. Andrew, and Donald J. Kagay, eds. The Hundred Years War: A Wider Focus. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2005.
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Seeks to expand the scope of scholarly discussion by examining not only the areas of the war proper (England and France), but also Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Brabant. Also includes essays on the urban experience during the war and the role of women.
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Villalon, L. J. Andrew, and Donald J. Kagay, eds. The Hundred Years War (Part II): Different Vistas. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2008.
DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004168213.i-480Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Continues the theme of broadening the scope of study on the war. Principal topics include military technology and organization, medieval Iberia, and also financial, literary, and psychological aspects of the war. Includes extensive genealogies for all the lands affected by the conflict.
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Bibliographies

No stand-alone bibliographic guide to the military history of the Hundred Years War is available. The bibliographies in the major books listed in this article can, of course, serve as ready references; however, two excellent bibliographies on medieval warfare are available. The best is DeVries 2008: it is by far the most extensive collection of citations that are handily subdivided into all of the principal facets of the war as well as other conflicts, arms and armor, military technology, and so on. It covers the “long” Middle Ages in containing citations to military history works dealing with Late Antiquity and the early modern period. The bibliography has seen two updates thus far: the updates retain the same subheadings as the first volume, making it easy for readers to check for new publications on any given subject. Much smaller and less comprehensive is Crosby 2000. Its principal advantage is its portability: the first volume of DeVries 2008 is massive (1,109 pages) and, although the updates are smaller, all three are pricey. Crosby 2000, on the other hand, is a shorter book and much cheaper in cost.

Crosby, Everett U., ed. Medieval Warfare: A Bibliographical Guide. New York: Routledge, 2000.
DOI: 10.4324/9780203905272Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A shorter bibliography that centers on the major technological, organizational, and thematic aspect of medieval warfare. Includes non-western European areas of Byzantium and Islamic territories as well as a list of resources for the artistic illustration of medieval war.
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DeVries, Kelly, ed. A Cumulative Bibliography of Medieval Military History and Technology. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2008.
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The most thorough bibliography available for the field of medieval war, it includes forty-three subsections on the Hundred Years War, is regularly updated, and is available in electronic format. Originally published in 2002.
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Journals

No journals are devoted explicitly to the Hundred Years War. Rather, studies of the war are found scattered across a number of journals in the area of medieval studies, but the Boydell Press has three annuals that regularly feature such pieces. Fourteenth Century England and Fifteenth Century England, as their names indicate, cover the relevant period and one of the principal actors in the war, although essays regarding French affairs as they relate to the English experience sometimes appear as well. The Journal of Medieval Military History, a relatively recent endeavor, regularly publishes articles on the war; its ninth volume, published in 2011, was dedicated wholly to essays on the Hundred Years War and was guest edited by Anne Curry and Adrian Bell.

Fifteenth Century England.
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Comparable in approach to Boydell’s similarly titled series on 13th and Fourteenth Century England. Thirty-seven volumes as of 2012.
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Fourteenth Century England.
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Centering on England, it features essays covering cultural, economic, military, political, religious, and social history. It is published in alternate years with Boydell’s corresponding volumes of Thirteenth Century England. Seven volumes as of 2012.
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Journal of Medieval Military History.
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An annual that publishes articles on the scope of the medieval period, broadly construed in terms of chronology and geography. It is run and edited by De Re Militari, the Society for Medieval Military History. Ten volumes as of 2012.
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English Armies

A vast number of studies have been published on the English role in the Hundred Years War, and it is hard to know where to begin reading. The citations listed here provide a solid and thorough guide to some of the principal issues but they are not exhaustive by any means. A good place to begin is Sherborne 1964, which directly addresses the manner in which soldiers were recruited for the English armies. Most studies of English military organization in the period still rely somewhat on this author’s ideas. The two parallel articles of Ayton 1994 and Curry 1994 extend the discussion of recruitment in including other matters of logistics such as payment, supply, and army type. They are usefully devoted to both centuries of the war, which allows for some comparative work. Complementing Ayton 1994 is Prestwich 1983, which uses manuscript evidence to outline the features of an English army in a particular snapshot of time. Two other pieces examine less-traditional aspects of these armies. Prestwich 1992 deals with one of the prerequisites of recruitment—enthusiasm for war—and is helpful in understanding how kings could assemble large armies without resorting to conscription. Saul 2002, on the other hand, examines the consequences of frequent and wide-ranging military operations on the home front. While extant chronicles center on the operations of the war and their results, literary evidence reveals the conception and reception of an ongoing war in the popular social sphere. Walker 1990 is a case study of John of Gaunt’s retinue that illuminates a particular method of recruiting, paying, and retaining experienced soldiers.

Ayton, Andrew. “English Armies in the Fourteenth Century.” In Arms, Armies and Fortifications in the Hundred Years War. Edited by Anne Curry and Michael Hughes, 21–38. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 1994.
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Outlines the major features of “wholly paid” English armies in the period, with attention paid to methods of recruitment and wages. Also considers structural transformations in the army in terms of troop types, especially the emergence of mounted archers and “mixed” retinues of archers and men-at-arms.
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Curry, Anne. “English Armies in the Fifteenth Century.” In Arms, Armies and Fortifications in the Hundred Years War. Edited by Anne Curry and Michael Hughes, 39–68. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 1994.
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Outlines and quantifies English military provision by examining matters of war financing, strategy and tactics, fortifications, weapons, and supply. Defines and examines three distinct forms of military organization: expeditionary armies (sent from England), garrisons, and field armies (raised on the Continent).
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Prestwich, Michael. “English Armies in the Early Stages of the Hundred Years War.” Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research 56 (1983): 102–113.
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Discusses the recruitment and organization of English armies by examining the manuscript PRO C 47/2/33, which the author contends represents a cancelled expedition from 1341. The manuscript’s notes of a forty-day cost for both army and fleet and details of both royal and noble retinues illustrate the general scheme for overseas expeditions.
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Prestwich, Michael. “Why Did Englishmen Fight in the Hundred Years War?” Medieval History 2 (1992): 58–65.
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Argues that prewar precedents for prompting military service (feudal summonses, compulsory service, and paid wages) were inadequate. Edward III was able to raise sufficient troops through contracts, legal exemptions for soldiers, and propagandistic efforts involving chivalric appeals and the promise of booty and ransom monies.
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Saul, Nigel. “A Farewell to Arms? Criticism of Warfare in Late Fourteenth-Century England.” Fourteenth Century England 2 (2002): 132–137.
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Examines literary criticisms of the war that focused not on the cost and burdens of conflict but rather on the avarice and pride of the soldiers and the inhumanity and questionable justness of the conflict. Identifies the causes of criticism as a lack of recent English victories, the increasing taxation burden, and antiwar sentiments among church reformers.
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Sherborne, J. “Indentured Retinues and English Expeditions to France, 1369–80.” English Historical Review 79 (1964): 718–746.
DOI: 10.1093/ehr/LXXIX.CCCXIII.718Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Studies the method of indenture as a means of military recruitment, in which the English crown would contract with its nobles to collect certain numbers and types of soldiers. Particularly addresses the size and components of the units of recruitment, or retinues, for these indentures. Partially revises Prince 1931 (cited under English Commanders).
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Walker, Simon. The Lancastrian Affinity, 1361–1399. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.
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In-depth study of the retinue of John of Gaunt, the duke of Lancaster. Examines the structure and service record of his indentured retainers and discusses matters of their loyalty and pay, and his legal maneuvers on their behalf. Includes a valuable list of the names of the retainers and some previously unpublished indentures of service.
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French Armies

One could argue with some persuasiveness that the French military efforts during the Hundred Years War have received less attention than those of the English. A variety of reasons for this are possible, but one must suspect that their embarrassing failures in the war’s battles (whether real or perceived) have driven historians toward concentrating on the generalship and tactics of the victors. Contributing to the problem is the sometimes slow process of translating French studies into the English language (when it happens at all); this has ensured a lower readership of said studies by the wider Western scholarly community. The first volume of Histoire militaire de la France is not only handy and in paperback, but it is perhaps the best survey of French medieval military history. Three essays in the collections are germane to the Hundred Years War and look at the conflict from a French perspective. Contamine 1992a and Contamine 1992b survey the 14th century and the 15th century, respectively. The author is interested most especially in the size, content, and characteristics of the French armies, and he also pauses to describe the features of particular battles and sieges. These essays are most useful, however, for questions regarding French military organization. Another essay in the volume, Mollat du Jourdin 1992, is an analytical study oriented specifically toward naval affairs; while it does not exhaustively study each naval facet of the war it provides a good introduction and a starting point for criticism. Two French-oriented studies also appear in Ayton and Preston’s Battle of Crécy anthology (see Ayton and Preston 2007 cited under Battles of Crécy and Poitiers). Like Contamine 1992a and Contamine 1992b, Schnerb 2005 is interested in the composition of French forces and investigates both continuities and changes following the defeat at Crécy in 1346. Autrand 2005 describes the utter disaster of that battle; it is important because, although the disaster at Crécy is routinely described as decisive and embarrassing by English scholars, Autrand 2005 corroborates this popular notion from the French perspective. Henneman 1978 examines the French knightly class in terms of social and financial perspectives.

Autrand, Françoise. “The Battle of Crécy: A Hard Blow for the Monarchy of France.” In The Battle of Crécy, 1346. Edited by Andrew Ayton and Philip Preston, 273–286. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2005.
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Argues that Crécy caused a greater shock to the French crown than any other battle of the war. A political crisis arose from the contrast between John le Bon, the blind king of Bohemia who died fighting, and Philip VI, who fled the field. Humiliation and instability accompanied the destruction of the French army.
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Contamine, Philippe. “La guerre de cent ans: Le XIVe siècle: La France au rythme de la guerre.” In Histoire militaire de la France. Vol. 1, Des origines à 1715. Edited by André Corvisier, 125–152. Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1992a.
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A narrative of the first period of the war to 1380 from a French perspective. Chronologically-arranged with periodic breaks for topics such as troop-types and analysis of the early English victories. Particular emphasis is given to recruitment issues on both sides and quantifications of respective army strengths.
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Contamine, Philippe. “La guerre de cent ans: Le XVe siècle: Du ‘roi de Bourges’ au ‘très victorieux roi de France.’” In Histoire militaire de la France. Vol. 1, Des origines à 1715. Edited by André Corvisier, 171–208. Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1992b.
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Surveys the second century of the war beginning in 1380 and ending with the battle of Castillon. Emphasis on French armies and numbers of combatants. Particular subjects include Agincourt, the military reforms of Charles V, and especially Joan of Arc and the siege of Orléans, which receives extended treatment.
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Henneman, John B. “The Military Class and the French Monarchy in the Late Middle Ages.” American Historical Review 83 (1978): 946–965.
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Examines the financial place of the “military class,” nobles whose profession was war, during the collapse and repair of the royal fiscal system that followed John II’s capture in 1356. Argues that French kings did not bypass their nobles but rather relied upon their cooperation for military financing.
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Mollat du Jourdin, M. “Les enjeux maritimes de la guerre de cent ans.” In Histoire militaire de la France. Vol. 1, Des origines à 1715. Edited by André Corvisier, 153–170. Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1992.
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Synopses and analyses of the four principal naval events (i.e., ships in action and/or marine transport) of the war to 1415: the sea battle of Sluys and the sieges of Calais, La Rochelle, and Harfleur. Emphasis is on the numbers of ships and soldiers and their role in each conflict rather than on narrative.
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Schnerb, Bertrand. “Vassals, Allies and Mercenaries: The French Army before and after 1346.” In The Battle of Crécy, 1346. Edited by Andrew Ayton and Philip Preston, 265–272. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2005.
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Examines the composition and organization of French armies before and after their defeat. Argues for complexity in the ranks, which included both contract soldiers and mercenaries. After the battle, Genoese crossbowmen continued to be used but French knights began to dismount and fought predominantly on foot.
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English Commanders

Many famous English generals fought in the Hundred Years War, most notably King Edward III, Edward “the Black Prince,” and King Henry V. Their respective fame is derived from their decisive victories at Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt, respectively. Much fine research is currently being conducted on aspects of Henry V’s campaigns, but the best study of his warfare in the context of his entire reign is Allmand 1997. The book is showing some age and will need updating soon, but it is a full narrative of his military exploits. The story of Edward III has been rewritten at a rapid pace over the course of the last fifty years, and the crowning achievement of the scholarly efforts must be Ormrod 2011. This biography has been years in the making; indeed, the author inherited it when a previous author under contract passed away before completing the project. Rogers 2000 is the best military-specific study, and it informs a good deal of Ormrod’s conclusions. Both of the above books rely upon older studies of the different features of Edward’s wars: Ayton 1994 is an in-depth study of the king’s horses and soldiers; Hewitt 2004 (originally published in 1966) covers topics of military organization; and Prince 1931 was one of the first, and still important, studies that aimed to calculate the size of the king’s armies. The Black Prince is also a popular subject of study; however, although biographies of him exist, nothing yet is comparable in either scale or comprehensiveness to Rogers 2000 or Ormrod 2011. Green 2000 constitutes an introduction to the prince’s retinue, and Hoskins 2009 studies his overall strategic planning and execution. Pollard 1983 is indicative of the available studies on nonroyal commanders, particularly in the sense that much information exists to develop biographies of generals such as John Talbot.

Allmand, Christopher. Henry V. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997.
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Still an authoritative survey of the king’s life, it includes five chapters devoted to his military career. Two of these specifically address the siege of Harfleur and the battle of Agincourt.
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Ayton, Andrew. Knights and Warhorses: Military Service and the English Aristocracy under Edward III. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 1994.
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Studies the military community of England under Edward III through an analysis of its horse inventories: written records of horse appraisals that constituted a portion of a soldier’s payment. Argues the valuation of horses indicates the status of riders and captains and helps explain the recruitment of men and the success of campaigns.
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Green, David. “The Military Personnel of Edward the Black Prince.” Medieval Prosopography 21 (2000): 133–152.
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A prosopography of the experienced soldiers in Edward’s personal retinue who contributed to his military success. Explores the family ties and the location and recruitment of men into the military household. Notes the administrative roles of the retinue members in times of peace.
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Hewitt, Herbert J. The Organization of War under Edward III, 1338–62. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword, 2004.
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The first comprehensive study of the various logistical dimensions of both the king’s expeditionary armies and the English home front in the early stages of the war. Covers the initial gathering and shipping of men and materials (including horses) as well as the ad hoc seizures of food during the course of campaigning. Originally published in 1966.
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Hoskins, Peter. “The Itineraries of the Black Prince’s Chevauchées of 1355 and 1356: Some Observations.” Journal of Medieval Military History 7 (2009): 12–37.
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A revision of Edward’s campaigns leading up to Poitiers in 1356 that argues for the purposeful savvy of his march. Emphasizes the movements of his forces but not the tactical methods of the chevauchées themselves.
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Ormrod, M. Edward III. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2011.
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The most extensive biography of the king to date. Includes a thorough exploration of his military career across his entire reign and devotes three chapters to Crécy and Poitiers. Concludes that Edward spurred the medieval “military revolution” with his shift to professional soldiers and defensive warfare techniques.
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Pollard, A. J. John Talbot and the War in France, 1427–1453. London: Pen & Sword, 1983.
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A study of the role of Talbot, the earl of Shrewsbury, who was the final English marshal during the last stages of the war. Examines his professional career, his military exploits and those of his household retinue, and his role in the final battle of the war at Castillon in 1453.
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Prince, A. E. “The Strength of English Armies during the Reign of Edward III.” English Historical Review 46 (1931): 353–371.
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An attempt to quantify the numerical size of English armies in the early years of the war. Employs mainly wardrobe records, books of accounts, issue rolls, and other record sources, and argues that these are superior in detail over chronicle sources and are, therefore, to be preferred.
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Rogers, Clifford J. War Cruel and Sharp: English Strategy under Edward III, 1327–1360. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2000.
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A military history of the reign of Edward III that explores his campaigns, sieges, battles, and use of the chevauchée. Argues that although Edward was an offensive-minded commander, in the final analysis he sought a balance among siege, battle, and ravaging. Considers not only the Hundred Years War, but also Edward’s earlier campaigns in Scotland.
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French Commanders

To some extent, French generals have not garnered attention equal to that of their English counterparts. This is no doubt due partly to the fact that they were often unsuccessful militarily. Of course, Joan of Arc is the most famous exception, and DeVries 1999 is the major book on her military career. Although numerous books have been written on Joan, DeVries 1999 is the first to center exclusively on her methods of warfare, including leadership, tactics, and use of weaponry. The author’s argument that Joan substantively altered French warfare for the better remains the standard narrative. DeVries 1996 constitutes a prelude to DeVries 1999 in which the author demonstrates that Joan was knowledgeable not only in the more traditional means of warfare, but also in the newer arms technologies. Post-Joan, King Charles VII, “the well-served,” was the final victor of the Hundred Years War, but no book-length, explicitly military study of his reign exists. More traditional historical biographies abound, especially in the French language, and so his reign is reasonably well known. Vale 1974 is not the longest biography of the king by far, but it condenses his major wartime activities into concise chapters and thus provides a useful survey. King John II of France is best known for his capture and the resulting negotiations over his ransom after the battle of Poitiers in 1356. Yet his military importance remained even while he was imprisoned; as Henneman 1976 demonstrates, the cost of his ransom changed French methods of war financing and brought about more complex relationships between the French crown and the nobility. Jones 2004 provides a good example of the vital role played by lesser commanders such as Bertrand de Guesclin, whose numerous victories belie, to some extent, the dominant narrative of French haplessness in the early stages of the war.

DeVries, Kelly. “The Use of Gunpowder Weaponry by and against Joan of Arc during the Hundred Years War.” War and Society 14 (1996): 1–16.
DOI: 10.1179/072924796791200889Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Posits a relationship between Joan of Arc and the development of gunpowder weapons during the war. Charts the presence of such weapons in her army from 1428 to 1430 and her reliance upon them as offensive weapons while attacking Tourelles and St. Denis; she also used them to defend herself against the Burgundians at Compiègne.
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DeVries, Kelly. Joan of Arc: A Military Leader. Stroud, UK: Sutton, 1999.
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The major book-length, explicitly military study of Joan’s wars. Examines the condition of the French military efforts pre-Joan, her rise and success at Orléans, her later expeditions, and her ultimate capture and fall. Credits French victories after Joan’s death to their adherence to her suggested tactics.
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Henneman, John B. Royal Taxation in Fourteenth-Century France: The Captivity and Ransom of John II, 1356–1370. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1976.
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A study of changing French practices of taxation as a result of the capture of John II at Poitiers and his subsequent ransom. Argues that the massive cost of his ransom marked a turning point in French policy, due to the inability of the French crown to self-finance his release. Examines in greater detail changing tax policies in Languedoc and northern France.
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Jones, Michael, ed. Letters, Orders and Musters of Bertrand de Guesclin, 1357–1380. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2004.
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A study of a capable French constable who inflicted several defeats on English and Navarrese forces in the early stages of the Hundred Years War. A thorough introduction is followed by a collection of the extant sources for his life; bibliographic descriptions are in English, with French texts following.
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Vale, M. G. A. Charles VII. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974.
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An accessible narrative of Charles VII’s early days, difficulties as a disinherited dauphin, and ultimate success over the English in the Hundred Years War. Includes a chapter on his relationship with Joan of Arc. Concentrates more on Charles’s role as wartime administrator than his deeds on the field.
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Other Regions

The Hundred Years War was fought not only in “France,” but also in counties and duchies claimed by that kingdom as well as in neighboring regions. A proper understanding of the war must take into account the unique geographical and cultural aspects of these lands, especially when considering that English and French war aims often centered on these particular areas. Normandy has been a prime area for such research: Its close connections to English society resulted in good documentation of military operations there. Ayton 1994 examines the duchy in the early stages of the war and, in particular, Edward III’s gathering of military forces there. Curry 1998, on the other hand, examines the duchy in a similar fashion but in the 15th century. The importance of both essays is to stress that English armies were not only expeditionary forces shipped across the English Channel, but also included locally recruited men from the Continent. Newhall 1924 is a very different work indeed: It examines Henry V’s campaign strategy in Normandy, taking into account not only recruitment, but also his methods of fortification and siege. Newhall 1924 is old and can be hard to obtain, but it is thorough and still persuasive. The duchy of Brittany was another scene of intense military conflict. Jones 1988 and Rogers 2005 work together to explain the nature of English involvement in the region in identifying and setting into context the men placed in charge. Burgundy was, of course, an instrumental actor in the war, but its military role has not attracted attention equal to the other regions. Vaughan 1975 provides a neat synopsis of the major issues. It is brief and not as thorough as the author’s well-known biographies of the four major Burgundian dukes (which do not all fall within the war’s chronology), but it outlines the principal features of Burgundy’s involvement. Boffa 2004 provides insight on the Low Countries during the war. Although its content is at times tangential to the main narrative of the conflict, it demonstrates the important ancillary role of the leaders and armies in Brabant. Finally, Pépin 2011 is a recent and important addition to the war’s geography; it illustrates the role of Aquitaine and Gascony in the middle stages of the war and amply demonstrates that the amount of archival documents regarding the war have yet to be fully utilized.

Ayton, Andrew. “The English Army and the Normandy Campaign of 1346.” In England and Normandy in the Middle Ages. Edited by David Bates and Anne Curry, 253–268. London: Continuum International, 1994.
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Uses a variety of record sources to outline and discuss the size, composition, and structure of Edward III’s army at Crécy. Notes that the records reveal hundreds of names of captains and men-at-arms, which permit calculations of retinue sizes. Criticizes past efforts that have relied too heavily on the so-called Calais roll.
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Boffa, Sergio. Warfare in Medieval Brabant, 1356–1406. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2004.
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Provides both a narrative of warfare in the Low Countries during the early period of the Hundred Years War and an analysis of the size, capabilities, organization, and command structures of armies there. Includes a discussion of the diplomatic and military connections between Brabant and Burgundy.
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Curry, Anne. “The Organization of Field Armies in Lancastrian Normandy.” In Armies, Chivalry and Warfare in Medieval Britain and France. Edited by Matthew Strickland, 207–231. Stamford, CT: Paul Watkins, 1998.
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Examines recruiting officers and their methods for raising and paying soldiers in Normandy in the early 15th century. Identifies and explores the summoning of garrisons, retinues, soldiers through feudal obligations, and temporary recruits as well as expeditionary armies sent from England. Also considers whether or not a “campaigning season” existed for field armies.
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Jones, M. “Les capitaines anglo-bretons et les marches entre la Bretagne et le Poitou de 1342 à 1373.” In La “France anglaise” au Moyen Age: Colloque des Historiens médiévistes français et britanniques. 357–375. Paris: Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques, 1988.
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Surveys the captains and governors of Brittany as placed by the English after their occupation in 1341. Provides brief summaries of the appearance of each captain and under what circumstances. Three useful tables provide the names of each lieutenant, captain, and seneschal and note their exact periods in office.
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Newhall, Richard A. The English Conquest of Normandy, 1416–1424. New Haven, CT: Russell & Russell, 1924.
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A classic treatment that argues for Normandy’s importance to the latter stages of the war. Explores Henry V’s new strategy of establishing fortified lines of defense in order to cut off supply lines to besieged garrisons as well as the monetary and administrative changes that enabled him to succeed.
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Pépin, Guilhem. “The French Offensives of 1404-1407 against Anglo-Gascon Aquitaine.” Journal of Medieval Military History 9 (2011): 1–40.
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Narrates these first conflicts of the war in the 15th century, led by Duke Louis of Orléans. Chronicles and describes each attack, while noting the lack of military support from King Henry IV. Argues that the Gascon wars were just as important, if not more so, than the attack on Calais.
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Rogers, Clifford J. “Sir Thomas Dagworth in Brittany, 1346-7: Restellou and La Roche Derrien.” Journal of Medieval Military History 3 (2005): 127–154.
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A consideration of Edward III’s lieutenant in Brittany, Thomas Dagworth, and his victories at Restellou and La Roche-Derrien. Argues that Dagworth’s competent generalship preserved the English presence in the duchy.
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Vaughan, Richard. Valois Burgundy. Hamden, CT: Archon, 1975.
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A survey of Burgundy’s history during the period of the Hundred Years War that builds off the author’s four biographies of its dukes. Outlines the structure of its government and relations with its neighbors. Includes a chapter on Burgundian military power that extends into the 1460s; condenses the author’s knowledge of the duke’s exploits into an accessible summation.
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Battles of Crécy and Poitiers

Crécy and Poitiers were not the first battles of the Hundred Years War but they are the best known of the early stages of the conflict. Occurring ten years apart, they featured two disastrous French defeats at the hands of an outnumbered opponent, who, in both cases, was led on the field by Edward, the Black Prince, the eldest son of King Edward III of England. Of the two battles, Crécy is supported by superior documentation, although the precise location of the battle is still a matter of contention; the exact course of events at Poitiers is harder to gauge. Ayton and Preston 2007 constitutes a very in-depth study of Crécy that is fully informed by newer research and will likely be the authority on the subject for years to come. The bulk of the essays are written by the editors; all of the principal features of the battle are covered and a plethora of maps and illustrations are provided to assist the reader. Interestingly enough, however, a certain nostalgia remains for Burne 1990. As a straightforward analysis of Crécy it reads well and, while outdated in some respects, it offers a clear depiction of the events of 1346. Hewitt 2004 remains the best starting point for Poitiers in 1356 because it offers a contextual view of the years and events leading up to and following the battle. Beriac-Lainé and Given-Wilson 2001 offers a complementary study about the aftermath of that battle, specifically the prisoners taken, that assists modern understandings of the purposes and consequences of medieval war. The authors have published other studies in a similar vein and one in French, but Beriac-Lainé and Given-Wilson 2001 is representative and probably the most accessible.

Ayton, Andrew, and Philip Preston, eds. The Battle of Crécy, 1346. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2007.
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A collection of essays exploring the military dimensions of the battle, including the English and French armies, the battle proper, and its primary sources. The editors argue for the brilliance of the English “combined arms” tactics and its influence on other European armies as well as the decisive role played by the English longbow.
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Beriac-Lainé, Françoise, and Christopher Given-Wilson. “Edward III’s Prisoners of War: The Battle of Poitiers and Its Context.” English Historical Review 116 (2001): 802–833.
DOI: 10.1093/ehr/CXVI.468.802Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A comparative study that argues that the high number of prisoners taken at Poitiers was atypical for the period. Suggests that they were kept not for purposes of ransom but rather for political and diplomatic leverage, and that this was more common than historians have previously thought.
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Burne, Alfred H. The Crecy War. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1990.
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An older but still useful history of the battle. Valuable not only for its description of events on the field, but also for its discussion of the preparations for Edward’s campaign and the military events that followed his victory, which are often neglected in other studies. Includes a discussion of the sources for the battle, which are now somewhat outdated. Originally published in 1955.
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Hewitt, Herbert J. The Black Prince’s Expedition of 1355–1357. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword, 2004.
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A thorough and systematic discussion of the military and political aspects of the most famous of Edward’s campaigns, from preparations and mustering to initial raids; a chapter on the Battle of Poitiers is followed by chapters on peace negotiations and the ransoming of prisoners. Originally published in 1958.
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Battle of Agincourt

Thanks to William Shakespeare the battle of Agincourt is well known to those who are not medievalists and even to those with no interest in military matters. It is a controversial battle in many ways: its cause (did Henry V intend to fight or not?), its course, and Henry’s execution of his French prisoners before the end of the battle have all been topics of considerable debate. The publication of Keegan 2004 brought Agincourt to the forefront again through the author’s highly popular and influential method of examining war from the perspective of the common soldiers themselves; his pairing of the battle with two others fought in close proximity that were waged in later centuries (Waterloo and the Somme) introduced Agincourt to new groups of readers as well. The most comprehensive and accessible text today is Curry 2006, which surveys the entire political context of the battle and provides considerable information on Henry V himself. It can be profitably accompanied by Curry 2000, which provides all of the pertinent medieval documentation of the battle in recorded sources, chronicles, and literary texts. While the general outlines of the course of the battle are fairly well known, Philpotts 1984 demonstrates that more obscure sources can shed new light on French behavior at Agincourt, which is sometimes seen as overly imprudent and/or foolish. Honig 2012 follows in arguing that modern notions of medieval strategy have improperly colored interpretations of the battle. Reassessing strategy as a process of seeking justice on the part of each commander helps in gaining a better understanding of the offers and refusals of battle preceding Henry V’s victory. Rogers 2008 acknowledges the abundance of work on Agincourt but covers a striking gap, namely that no study had systematically analyzed the individual events of the battle from an informed, technical military perspective. The author’s point that Agincourt is the perfect battle through which to study how armies and soldiers fought is well taken: with source material so rich, and the public interest in the battle so high, Rogers 2008 offers a window into the practice of medieval war.

Curry, Anne, ed. The Battle of Agincourt: Sources and Interpretations. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2000.
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Primarily a collection of the English and French chronicles and recorded sources for the battle as well as post-battle commentaries. The author includes several historiographical components as well: descriptions and commentaries for each source and a chapter focused on historians’ interpretations of the battle from the 18th through the 20th centuries.
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Curry, Anne. Agincourt: A New History. Stroud, UK: Tempus, 2006.
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A balanced summation of the author’s extensive researches. The battle’s origins, course, and outcome are portrayed contextually as a mixture of skill, conditions, and luck. Defends Henry V’s execution of his French prisoners as appropriate for the time and necessary due to his situation.
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Honig, J. W. “Reappraising Late Medieval Strategy: The Example of the 1415 Agincourt Campaign.” War in History 19 (2012): 123–151.
DOI: 10.1177/0968344511432975Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Challenges modern notions of medieval strategy in arguing that commanders did not always operate on the basis of tradition and set, unchanging principles. Using Henry V’s experience at Agincourt as a case study, Honig argues that war was a form of legal due process, tempered by both commanders’ fear of God.
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Keegan, John. The Face of Battle: A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme. London: Pimlico, 2004.
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A treatment of the battle that focuses on the perspective of the soldiers. Keegan’s description of the battle is excellent but it has been less influential than his conception of all war as an individual, soldierly enterprise. Originally published in 1976.
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Philpotts, C. “The French Plan of Battle during the Agincourt Campaign.” English Historical Review 99 (1984): 59–66.
DOI: 10.1093/ehr/XCIX.CCCXC.59Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Examines an unknown French plan of the battle as found in BL Cotton MS Caligula Dv fos. 43v–44. Dates the manuscript to 13–20 October 1415 and the article contains a French transcription of the document.
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Rogers, C. “The Battle of Agincourt.” In The Hundred Years War (Part II): Different Vistas. Edited by L. J. Andrew Villalon and Donald J. Kagay, 37–132. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2008.
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Analyzes the nuances of the battle in exhaustive historiographical fashion. Updates the facets of troop types, position, tactics, and weaponry (including a detailed examination of weapon and armor types, composition, and effectiveness). Argues that Agincourt is the ideal battle through which to best understand the medieval way of war.
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Other Battles

Crécy, Poitiers, Agincourt, and, to some extent, Orléans are the battles that are the most remembered of the Hundred Years War. Yet, many battles besides these four were fought and many of them served as key events in the course of the conflict; others were waged in peripheral regions that, nonetheless, played a contributory role in the English or French war efforts. The battle of Verneuil in 1424, for example, featured a victory of the English duke of Bedford over a Franco-Scottish army in southeast Normandy in which both of the latter’s generals were killed (the count of Aumâle and the earl of Douglas). Jones 2002 offers not only a major reassessment of that battle, but also seeks to revise the whole notion of modern military interpretation by studying battlefield realities rather than just tactics. Monteiro 2009 also revises a battle, that of Aljubarrota in 1385, but the author does so via a reconsideration of the physical layout of the field of combat. In fact, the role of Iberia in the Hundred Years War has lately become a popular and active area of historical research. Villalon 2005 is indicative of these efforts in the author’s reassessment of the battle of Nájera in 1367. Although the march of Edward, the Black Prince, into Spain has long been known and studied by English historians, the importance of the Spanish perspective is now routinely being included in the overall conversation.

Jones, Michael K. “The Battle of Verneuil (17 August 1424): Towards a History of Courage.” War in History 9.4 (2002): 375–411.
DOI: 10.1191/0968344502wh259oaSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Counters Alfred Burne’s (1956) theory of “Inherent Military Probability” (see Burne 1990, cited under Battles of Crécy and Poitiers) by arguing that such tactical determinism leads to false interpretations of battles. Urges the relegation of tactics within the broader context of medieval battle norms, including chivalric ideals, battlefield communications, and the mental disposition and adaptability of the soldiers.
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Monteiro, João G. “The Battle of Aljubarrota: A Reassessment.” Journal of Medieval Military History 7 (2009): 75–103.
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A thorough revision of this battle between the kings of Portugal and Castile in 1385; the former’s victory opened the way for a joint Anglo-Portuguese invasion of Castile in 1387. Includes a study of documentary sources as well as battlefield archaeology techniques.
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Villalon, L. J. Andrew. “Spanish Involvement in the Hundred Years War and the Battle of Nájera.” In The Hundred Years War: A Wider Focus. Edited by L. J. Andrew Villalon and Donald J. Kagay, 3–74. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2005.
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Describes the course of the expedition to Spain by Edward, the Black Prince, to restore Pedro I, “the Cruel,” to the Castilian throne and the resulting action at Nájera in 1367. Comparable in size to the famous battles of the Hundred Years War, Nájera drew an England that had grown dispirited with the war back into the conflict.
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Troop Types

The lives and exploits of common soldiers, as opposed to those of the generals, have increasingly become a focus of military studies. Rogers 2007 is probably the most extensive work on the life of a medieval soldier to date; although the author’s analysis extends throughout the medieval period, his depiction of both the obvious and the nonobvious realities of men in war is instructive for any historian. Mercenary studies have also experienced a sort of renaissance in recent years. Such hired soldiers do not customarily receive extended attention with regard to the Hundred Years War, but Fowler 2001 demonstrates that mercenaries were, in fact, everywhere in the late Middle Ages and influenced war efforts in most parts of western Europe. Caferro 2005 expands upon this notion in pointing to the mobility and adaptability of the medieval mercenary: when his employment prospects in one region dimmed, he simply moved to another. Bell 2004 is a useful book that treats armies as joint efforts between commanders and soldiers, and it underscores the importance of understanding armies and war within broader political contexts. Vale 1981 covers the familiar topic of chivalry with an eye toward the shifting social role of knights with regard to both their status and their role in combat. Both Ambühl 2011 and Wright 1991 examine the lot of prisoners taken during the war. The former focuses on elites and the customs regarding ransom payments, while the latter expands the scope to include noncombatants, who, because they could not attract large ransom payments, were often taken for deliberately hostile purposes.

Ambühl, Rémy. “The English Reversal of Fortunes in the 1370s and the Experience of Prisoners of War.” In The Soldier Experience in the Fourteenth Century. Edited by Adrian R. Bell, Anne Curry, Andy King, David Simpkin, and Adam Chapman, 191–208. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2011.
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Uses three case studies of English and Gascon warriors to examine the experience of the imprisonment, ransom, and return-to-action process for nonelite prisoners.
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Bell, Adrian R. War and the Soldier in the Fourteenth Century. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2004.
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A prosopographical study examining the campaigns of Richard FitzAlan, earl of Arundel, in the late 1380s. Identifies and examines the soldiers who served in his armies. Set in the context of the Appellants struggle in England, it helps to situate the common soldier in his military community during the age of the war.
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Caferro, William P. “‘The Fox and the Lion’: The White Company and the Hundred Years War in Italy.” In The Hundred Years War: A Wider Focus. Edited by L. J. Andrew Villalon and Donald J. Kagay, 179–210. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2005.
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Notes one of the principal results of the English defeats in France was to drive its mercenaries toward exploits in other regions, particularly Italy. Several soldiers in the White Company are found in army records from France, and they adopted in Italy tactics employed in France, particularly those of the ravaging sort.
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Fowler, Kenneth. Medieval Mercenaries. Vol. 1, The Great Companies. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2001.
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The best contextual look at mercenaries across late medieval Europe, it features much discussion of hired soldiers in England, France, and Spain in the early to middle stages of the Hundred Years War.
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Rogers, Clifford J. Soldier’s Lives through History: The Middle Ages. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2007.
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The most complete treatment of the dimensions of a soldierly career in the Middle Ages. Covers recruitment, training, logistics, battle, raids, sieges, ransom, medicine, and soldiers in peacetime. Material relating to the Hundred Years War is sprinkled throughout.
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Vale, M. G. A. Chivalry and Warfare: Warfare and Aristocratic Culture in England, France, and Burgundy at the End of the Middle Ages. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1981.
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Studies the interplay between chivalric ideals and the practice of warfare during the Hundred Years War. Presents the different chivalric orders in England and France and explores displays such as tournaments and heraldry. Notes the relationship between knighthood and the changing nature of armies in the course of military professionalization.
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Wright, Nicholas A. R. “Ransoms of Non-combatants during the Hundred Years War.” Journal of Medieval History 17 (1991): 323–332.
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Explores ransoms paid to soldiers by the families and friends of those noncombatants, and especially peasants, taken during campaign operations across the war. Addresses an aspect of hostage-taking that had been neglected in favor of more famous elite prisoners.
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The English Longbow

An intense debate has been waged concerning the English longbow. Long seen as a transformational weapon, it has acquired a distinct patriotic aspect as well: Englishmen are proud of the weapon that cut down densely armored ranks of French knights. It can be difficult to separate lore from history given that there are many popular versions of the English victories in the Hundred Years War that are highly read yet quite slanted. Kelly DeVries and Clifford Rogers are well-known antagonists in this debate. DeVries 1997 was the first of several studies in which the author argues that the longbow was not quite the killing machine as is popularly imagined. He disputes the armor-penetrating—and therefore lethal—power of the arrows and conceives of the longbow as a weapon used in a more tactical sense to control the field. Rogers 1998 constitutes an immediate retort in the same journal in which the author takes the opposite stance and criticizes the conclusions of DeVries 1997. The two scholars have continued this debate in print and in public-speaking forums. Strickland and Hardy 2005 takes a different angle in suggesting that although the longbow existed throughout the Middle Ages, it was used differently in the 14th century. The view of these authors supports that of DeVries 1997 in that it emphasizes tactics, but, in later chapters, they gravitate toward Rogers 1998 in discussing ballistics testing and theorizing that longbow arrows could have penetrated not only the armor of the 14th century, but also the clothing and padding worn underneath. This debate remains contentious.

DeVries, Kelly. “Catapults Are Not Atomic Bombs: Towards a Redefinition of ‘Effectiveness’ in Premodern Military Technology.” War in History 4.4 (1997): 475–491.
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Questions what authors see as “technological determinism” in previous studies on gunpowder and the English longbow. For the latter, DeVries argues that the longbow did not have the killing power attributed to it by scholars and was used primarily as a tool to funnel troops into areas where they could be dispatched by infantry.
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Rogers, Clifford J. “The Efficacy of the English Longbow: A Reply to Kelly DeVries.” War in History 5.2 (1998): 233–242.
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A retort to DeVries 1997 about the lack of the longbow’s killing power. The author affirms that longbows were lethal and offers examples of medieval battles to demonstrate this. Also comments on the wounding and psychological power of arrow volleys, which he sees as indirect benefits of longbow fire.
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Strickland, Matthew, and Robert Hardy. The Great Warbow: From Hastings to the Mary Rose. Stroud, UK: Sutton, 2005.
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Lengthy discussion of the longbow’s history in medieval and early modern England. Argues against the sudden appearance of the “longbow,” contending instead that all bows in the period were longbows; instead, it was the tactical application of the weapon that changed during the period of the Hundred Years War.
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Gunpowder Weaponry

The earliest reference to cannon in the West is c. 1326, but there is much debate over when and how they became militarily useful. Certainly the Hundred Years War featured the use of gunpowder weaponry, but it played only a slight role in the battles of that war until well into the 15th century. Major questions exist as to the extent of its use even then; as Smith 1994 points out, historians have sometimes been eager to falsely extrapolate the presence of cannon from just a few surviving artifacts. DeVries 1997 surveys the landscape prior to the 15th century and finds that a number of different types of gunpowder arms existed, although they were not broadly utilized across the region. Still, the development of the technology in terms of metal composition and purpose—bombards serve a quite different purpose than, say, swivel guns—demonstrates a steadily growing awareness of gunpowder’s potential. By the 15th century, when guns were more common, a rough equity seems to have existed in the build and quality of cannon, as shown in Grummit 2000; whether one speaks of Burgundy, England, or France, it is clear that the technology of gunpowder cannon was advancing.

DeVries, Kelly. “The Technology of Gunpowder Weaponry in Western Europe During the Hundred Years War.” In XXII. Kongress der Internationalen Komission für Militärgeschichte: Von Crécy bis Mohács Kriegswesen im späten Mittelalter, 1346–1526, Wien 9.–13. September 1996. 285–298. Vienna: Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, 1997.
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Explores the type, composition, and use of cannons during the period. These include the obscure small arms pre-dating 1380, heavy bombards, and the bronze cannons that replaced them. The advantages and disadvantages of each weapon type are discussed as well as the contexts in which they were best suited.
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Grummit, David. “The Defence of Calais and the Development of Gunpowder Weaponry in England in the Late Fifteenth Century.” War in History 7 (2000): 253–272.
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Argues that English artillery, contrary to previous thinking, did not differ qualitatively from French and Burgundian models in the 15th century. Uses weapon inventories and victualler records from the Calais garrisons to demonstrate that the city was at the forefront of military technological development in the period.
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Smith, Robert D. “Artillery and the Hundred Years War: Myth and Interpretation.” In Arms, Armies and Fortifications in the Hundred Years War. Edited by Anne Curry and Michael Hughes, 151–160. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 1994.
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Argues that modern research on the use of gunpowder artillery during the Hundred Years War is based on problematic evidence. Cautions against drawing conclusions from the few surviving artillery pieces and manuscript illuminations and calls for greater synthesis of documentary evidence and finds of shipwrecks.
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Naval Warfare

The first military action of the Hundred Years War was not a field battle but rather a naval one. At the battle of Sluys on 24 June 1340, Edward III’s first expeditionary army met and defeated a line of chained-together ships from France and Genoa. The event highlights the sea as an important theater of the war. English expeditionary armies, along with their arms and supplies, had to be shipped across the English Channel, and that meant continuous efforts by the English crown to acquire the necessary boats and seamen from the locals in order to supplement an English navy that was still in a relatively early stage of development. Control of the important trading ports on the French coast from Brittany to Gascony was also one of the points of contention at the war’s outbreak. Runyan 1993 is a comprehensive look at how the English fleets were assembled and supplied. Friel 1994 looks more closely at types of ships and also seaborne armament; the author makes the important but oft-neglected point that ships were not just floating bits of wood for transport but contributed to military operations in a distinct manner. DeVries 1995 is a sound introduction to the battle of Sluys and provides an overview of the major sources for the event.

DeVries, Kelly. “God, Leadership, Flemings, and Archery: Contemporary Perceptions of Victory and Defeat at the Battle of Sluys, 1340.” American Neptune 55 (1995): 223–242.
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Examines the historiographical tradition regarding Sluys, the first battle of the Hundred Years War. Includes overviews of modern interpretations as well as contemporary views in England, France, and the Low Countries, and also that of Jean Froissart. Concludes that battles must be studied from the perspective not only of winner and loser, but also of third parties.
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Friel, Ian. “Winds of Change? Ships and the Hundred Years War.” In Arms, Armies, and Fortifications in the Hundred Years War. Edited by Anne Curry and Michael Hughes, 183–194. Woodbridge, UK: University of Rochester Press, 1994.
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Examines the roles and types of ships and navies in the campaigns of the war from two angles: how the ships affected the war and vice versa. Describes the methods of clinker and skeleton construction, shipborne weaponry, and coastal raiding. Concludes that while ships impacted military transport, the war was won or lost “on the soil of France.”
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Runyan, Timothy J. “Naval Logistics in the Late Middle Ages: The Example of the Hundred Years War.” In Feeding Mars: Logistics in Western Warfare from the Middle Ages to the Present. Edited by John A. Lynn, 79–102. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1993.
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Presents the English shipment of armies across the Channel as a case study in naval logistics. Examines the process of assembling fleets, the arrest and impressments of sailors, types of ships, the purveyance of supplies, and the interplay between merchants and the English crown in the conscription of private vessels for war.
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Siege Warfare

Although the popular military image of the Hundred Years War usually focuses on the famous field battles, siege warfare was an important facet of the war on all sides. The three most famous sieges were Calais in 1346–1347, Harfleur in 1415, and Orléans in 1428–1429, but there were also several others. Bradbury 1992 remains the starting point for any exploration of medieval siege warfare. It is readily available and wide-ranging, and it includes several chapters with information pertinent to the Hundred Years War and late medieval sieges in both East and West. An important facet of siege warfare in the 14th and 15th centuries was the impact of gunpowder weaponry, if any, against stone castle and town walls. Purton 2010 is a thorough and recent survey of the principal sieges of the war. The book does not exclusively cover this war but rather the whole of the late Middle Ages, including several areas of conflict in the East; the relevant passages, however, are reasonably detailed and well informed by recent scholarship. Purton 2010 also examines the developmental aspects of cannon technology, but in this the work is somewhat less useful. On the technological side, DeVries 1995 is an essential study for two reasons. First, it corrects the periodic hyperbole that portrays cannon as an unstoppable weapon when fired in siege; second, it surveys defensive innovations that were created to limit the effectiveness of said weapons. Wolfe 1995, which is printed together with DeVries 1995 in a collection of essays published by Boydell, extends these notions by examining, in particular, French fortifications that were designed to thwart gunpowder and it also details how they were financed.

Bradbury, Jim. The Medieval Siege. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 1992.
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This accessible and still-current survey demonstrates the centrality and importance of siege warfare during the Middle Ages. Contains chapters devoted to siege warfare during the Hundred Years War as well as comparative methods employed in the East, weapon technologies, and the conventions and laws of war as they pertained to sieges.
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DeVries, Kelly. “The Impact of Gunpowder Weaponry on Siege Warfare in the Hundred Years War.” In Medieval City under Siege. Edited by Ivy A. Corfis and Michael Wolfe, 227–244. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 1995.
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Counters the notion that early gunpowder weapons were ineffective in siege warfare. Shows that fortifications adapted in responding to the threat by installing gunports and building boulevards, artillery towers, and bastions, which were all developments preceding the trace italienne.
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Purton, Peter. A History of the Late Medieval Siege, 1200–1500. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2010.
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A continent-wide study, this is a chronological survey of the sieges and technology featured in the period. Features dedicated sections on sieges in the Hundred Years War and the technology employed therein.
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Wolfe, Michael. “Siege Warfare and the Bonnes Villes of France during the Hundred Years War.” In Medieval City under Siege. Edited by Ivy A. Corfis and Michael Wolfe, 49–68. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 1995.
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Examines the neglected topic of medium-sized French cities (bonnes villes) that built defensive walls to protect against English attacks and, later, more advanced gunpowder artillery such as the bombard. Includes a discussion of the methods involved in raising capital for construction, including taxation, excises, and the selling of life annuities (rentes viagères).
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Finance and Logistics

The cost of the war to England and France has been a contentious area of study. The costs of gathering, equipping, and provisioning armies on campaign were significant, and while funds initially came from royal treasuries, the citizens of each kingdom invariably began to shoulder an increasing burden through taxes and other, sometimes innovative, requisitions and financial instruments. McFarlane 1962 argues that England initially profited from the war while France did not, and the author bases his analysis on profits from conquest and the chevauchées. McFarlane 1962 is challenged by Postan 1964, which argues that the former did not take into consideration the decline in domestic production from war casualties and a stripped-down workforce; the result was that England actually lost money in the process. Bridbury 1976 counters both and argues, instead, that medieval society was built to bear wartime costs. These macro-analyses are complemented by area-specific economic studies that examine the actual funding mechanisms in each kingdom. Jones 1975 considers the question of purveyance, the deliberate taking of supplies and foodstuffs by the English crown, which gave rise to an essentially legal argument about its right to do so. Sherborne 1994 and Henneman 1971 examine the specific taxation methods of England and France, respectively, with both finding an increasing sophistication in method as the kings were forced to deal with higher costs due to defeats, setbacks, and lulls in the fighting. Henneman 1971 is the only study listed for French war financing here; unlike the English studies, it is a book-length work and so provides much more extensive coverage.

Bridbury, R. “The Hundred Years War: Costs and Profits.” In Trade, Government and Economy in Pre-industrial England: Essays Presented to E. J. Fisher. Edited by D. C. Coleman and Arthur H. John, 80–95. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1976.
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Argues that the war was not an interruption of private life but a constant in medieval society. Moreover, Bridbury argues that the Hundred Years War was not particularly expensive or burdensome on the people; rather, it alleviated some war hardships as the result of a broader method of financing.
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Henneman, John B. Royal Taxation in Fourteenth Century France: The Development of War Financing, 1322–1356. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971.
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A survey of the French crown’s changing methods of taxation prior to and during the Hundred Years War. Examines the contemporary and shifting attitudes and theories of taxation. Notes the transformation of the “war subsidy” from a tool of military expediency into the basis for regular taxation. Includes consideration of individual provinces.
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Jones, W. R. “Purveyance for War and the Community of the Realm in Late Medieval England.” Albion 7 (1975): 300–316.
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Explains the English crown’s claim to the right of purveyance, namely the ability to seize food and transport for its personal use, and examines how it became a means of financing war in the late 13th and 14th centuries. By 1362 the English community had grudgingly accepted it as a legitimate wartime funding mechanism.
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McFarlane, K. B. “War and Society, 1300–1600: England and the Hundred Years War.” Past and Present 22 (1962): 3–17.
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A consideration of the impact of the war upon English society that focuses on money, including taxation of laity and clergy, customs on wool, and yields from land seizures, bribes, and exploitation of the provinces. Argues for England’s economic profit at the cost of French prosperity.
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Postan, Michael. “The Costs of the Hundred Years War.” Past and Present 27 (1964): 34–53.
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Argues that England lost money on the war in the final analysis. Considers the cost of manpower for troops and support services and the decreased production due to high recruitment. Contends that war profits were not adequate to offset outlays from the treasury.
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Sherborne, James. “The Cost of English Warfare with France in the Later Fourteenth Century.” In War, Politics and Culture in Fourteenth-Century England. Edited by Anthony Tuck, 55–70. London: Continuum, 1994.
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Studies the cost of war to England from 1369 to 1381, when England was “losing” the war, in four regions: northern France, Aquitaine, Calais, and the war at sea. Outlines the various taxing methods employed by the English crown and charts the amounts needed and raised; notes that substantial borrowing accompanied these revenue tools.
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Social Impacts

In the last ten years military historians have increasingly attempted to approach war from cultural and social perspectives, but this has long been a tradition with regard to the Hundred Years War. Notions of chivalry and the knightly orders have been customary subjects of interest in this regard. On a broader basis, a war of such a long duration also clearly impacted nonelites in local communities on a regular basis. Villages, towns, and cities provided much of the initial manpower and supplies; the citizens bore the brunt of levies and taxes as campaigns dragged on; and localities suffered casualties and (in France and Spain) the effect of ravaging operations such as the chevauchée. Wright 1998 is an essential reading on this facet of war. The author analyzes in the most complete fashion the interplay between warrior and “civilian” and depicts a more complex relationship than that of peasants simply being overrun by knights. Localities learned to adapt to, and even resist, the violent brigandage of knights. Wright 1983, an earlier work by the same author, looks specifically at the raiders and also problematizes the question by noting that not all raiders had similar statures and purposes. Barnie 1974 is an earlier effort that remains valuable for its interdisciplinary approach. It examines not only the chronicles for evidence of local reactions to violence, but also the literary sources, which, although often overly romantic or quick to denounce rampant villainy, provide an interesting glimpse into popular reactions. Raynaud 1990 demonstrates the pervasiveness of violence in general in France during the period of the war and shows how it was represented not only in the written historical record, but also through artistic expression.

Barnie, John. War in Medieval Society: Social Values and the Hundred Years War, 1337–99. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1974.
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Explores elements of reactions to the war by different components of medieval society, including knights, peasants, and intellectuals. Includes reactions not only to the costs and burdens of war, such as taxation and recruitment, but also popular conceptions of England’s enemies and nascent forms of patriotism across the classes.
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Raynaud, Christiane. La violence au Moyen Âge, XIIIe–XVe siècle: D’après les livres d’histoire en français. Paris: Le Léopard d’or, 1990.
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A consideration of different military and nonmilitary forms of violence in the period in France, including revolts, battles, sieges, and executions. Contains hundreds of drawn copies of violent manuscript illuminations and stained-glass images and discusses each with regard to their historical and symbolic interpretations.
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Wright, Nicholas. “‘Pillagers’ and ‘Brigands’ in the Hundred Years War.” Journal of Medieval History 9.1 (1983): 15–24.
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Examines not the victims of raiding but rather its protagonists, the different sorts of non-noble men-at-arms. Argues for a separation between brigands and knights at war, with the former often oppressing each other and the peasants and the latter benefiting from their activities.
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Wright, Nicholas. Knights and Peasants in the Hundred Years War in the French Countryside. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 1998.
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Addresses the social relationship between warriors and commoners during the war. Depicts French peasants as the frequent victims of raiding and oppression in the midst of armies marching on campaign as well as English chevauchées. Demonstrates peasants were not always unwilling victims; rather, they often resisted and employed vigilante methods to retain their property.
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The Military Revolution

For some time historians have bandied about the notion of a “military revolution” in the early modern period, namely a shift from comparatively small, ad hoc medieval conglomerations of recruited warriors to huge, paid professional armies of infantry that used gunpowder weapons and relied upon intricate and sophisticated logistical systems for material support. The question of “revolution” is complex and rests upon competing definitions of the word just as much as it does on the historical changes taking place in various centuries. As it stands now, medieval scholars agree that military professionalization and the shift to infantry warfare was, indeed, a process that began as early as the 13th or 14th centuries and especially during the Hundred Years War. Ayton and Price 1995 is the best introduction to the basic historiographical issues of the debate. Rogers 1993 argues for a model of “punctuated equilibrium revolution,” in which a series of revolutions occurred in sequence, rather than one that posits a single, giant “military revolution.” Allmand 1995, Bennett 1994, and Clements 2005 all examine the changing weapons, tactics, and styles of fighting in the period. Allmand 1995 and Bennett 1994 concentrate on the operation of armies as units of men using new weapons and tactics, while Clements 2005 examines how individuals learned how to wield their weapons. Curry 2010 problematizes the question of revolution in noting that, in 15th-century Normandy, some elements of military professionalism existed but others did not. Likewise, Bachrach 1998, although it concentrates on Burgundian affairs after the war’s end, challenges historians who have perhaps been too quick to describe certain fighting units as new cohorts of professional soldiers. Simpkin 2008 provides ammunition for the other side in demonstrating the existence of early professionalism in the period before the succession of Edward III.

Allmand, Christopher T. “New Weapons, New Tactics, 1300–1500.” In The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare: The Triumph of the West. Edited by Geoffrey Parker, 92–105. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
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A general overview of weapons and military tactics found in the period of the Hundred Years War. These include hand-held weapons, sieges and artillery, naval warfare, and also the infantry tactics of the Hussite and Swiss armies. Leaves the discussion of gunpowder to other authors in the volume.
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Ayton, Andrew, and J. L. Price. “Introduction: The Military Revolution from a Medieval Perspective.” In The Medieval Military Revolution: State, Society and Military Change in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Edited by Andrew Ayton and J. L. Price, 1–22. New York: I. B. Tauris, 1995.
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Outlines the basic premise of the early modern “military revolution” in describing the three fundamental changes that are usually cited as having occurred in the 16th century—the prominent role of infantry, the use of gunpowder weapons, and the increasing size of armies—and argues that, instead, these developments occurred in the late Middle Ages.
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Bachrach, David S. “A Military Revolution Reconsidered: The Case of the Burgundian State under the Valois Dukes.” Essays in Medieval Studies 15 (1998): 9–17.
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Challenges the notion that Charles the Bold’s 1471 ordinance that created, equipped, and trained nine “lances” of 1,200 men constituted a revolution that served as a precursor to standing, professional armies. The author finds that the lances constituted rather an expansion of the military household and, thus, they represent continuity in organization and not change.
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Bennett, M. “The Development of Battle Tactics in the Hundred Years War.” In Arms, Armies and Fortifications in the Hundred Years War. Edited by Anne Curry and Michael Hughes, 1–20. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell,, 1994.
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Surveys the tactics of English armies during the war at the various notable battles and argues for the combined role of weaponry, position, and troop morale. Argues against the misconception that French armies always attacked in the same manner; rather, they attempted different methods of countering English tactics.
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Clements, J. “Wielding the Weapons of War: Arms, Armor, and Training Manuals during the Later Middle Ages.” In The Hundred Years War: A Wider Focus. Edited by Andrew L. J. Villalon and Donald J. Kagay, 447–475. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2005.
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Explores the practice of hand-to-hand combat during the war, emphasizing training and the use of different combat handbooks. Soldiers were taught the interplay between strength, skill, and practice. Increasing reliance on close-quarters weapons meshed with the increased use of infantry formations and tactics during the war.
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Curry, Anne. “Guns and Goddams: Was There a Military Revolution in Lancastrian Normandy, 1415–50?” Journal of Medieval Military History 8 (2010): 171–188.
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Examines elements of early-15th-century warfare with regard to the “military revolution.” Argues that a state’s strength is more important to the concept than the effects of its military. Notes a growing professionalism among infantry and archers but little manufacture of guns and an overall shortage of gunpowder in Normandy.
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Rogers, Clifford J. “The Military Revolutions of the Hundred Years War.” Journal of Military History 57 (1993): 241–278.
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Highly influential essay that locates two “military revolutions” in the period of the Hundred Years War: infantry and gunpowder artillery. Agrees that some early modern “revolutions” did occur as well but argues that Western military dominance was the result of several successive revolutions, not any one change or development.
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Simpkin, David. The English Aristocracy at War from the Welsh Wars of Edward I to the Battle of Bannockburn. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2008.
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In a work of “military service prosopography,” the author studies the individual careers of English soldiers during the reigns of Edward I and Edward II and discusses questions of recruitment and training from campaign to campaign. Although not centered on the Hundred Years War, it provides the foundations of English military organization upon which Edward III would later rely.