什麼是百年戰爭

Hundred Years' War

英國和法國間因領土主權和法國王位繼承等問題所發生的長期武力衝突。始於1337年英格蘭國王愛德華三世為其對法國王位的要求而入侵法蘭德斯。愛德華在克雷西戰役（1346）贏得勝利；隨後其子黑太子愛德華在普瓦捷戰役（1356）虜獲約翰二世，法國在「佈雷蒂尼條約」和「加萊條約」（1360）兩條約下被迫放棄領土主權。當約翰二世死於監禁中，其子查理五世拒絕履行條約，衝突再起，並使英國採取守勢。1380年查理五世去世後，兩國都忙於國內的權力鬥爭，而獲得暫時的和平。1415年英格蘭國王亨利五世決定在法國境內發動戰爭以堅持英國對法國王位的主張（參閱Agincourt, Battle of）。1422年英國和其勃艮地盟友控制了亞奎丹和整個法國北部的羅亞爾河流域，包括巴黎。1429年是一個轉捩點，聖女貞德解除了英國的奧爾良圍城。法國國王查理七世征服了諾曼第，後來又於1453年奪回亞奎丹，使英國的勢力僅存加萊一地。這場戰爭使法國國力嚴重消耗並造成巨大痛苦；它實際上將封建貴族摧毀並帶來新的社會秩序。由於英國在歐洲大陸的勢力終結，導致其擴張及發展成海上強權國家。

1337～1453年

Hundred Years' War

Intermittent armed conflict between England and France over territorial rights and the issue of succession to the French throne. It began when Edward III invaded Flanders in 1337 in order to assert his claim to the French crown. Edward won a major victory at the Battle of Crécy (1346); after his son Edward the Black Prince managed to capture John II at the Battle of Poitiers (1356), the French were obliged to surrender extensive lands under the treaties of Brétigny and Calais (1360). When John II died in captivity, his son Charles V refused to respect the treaties and reopened the conflict, putting the English on the defensive. After Charles V's death in 1380 both countries were preoccupied with internal power struggles, and the war lapsed into uncertain peace. In 1415, however, Henry V decided to take advantage of civil war in France to press English claims to the French throne (see Battle of Agincourt). By 1422, the English and their Burgundian allies controlled Aquitaine and all France north of the Loire, including Paris. A turning point came in 1429, when Joan of Arc raised the English siege of Orléans. The French king Charles VII conquered Normandy and then retook Aquitaine in 1453, leaving the English in possession only of Calais. The war laid waste to much of France and caused enormous suffering; it virtually destroyed the feudal nobility and thereby brought about a new social order. By ending England's status as a power on the continent, it led the English to expand their reach and power at sea.