THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 133
link between England and mainland
Europe, in which England’s rulers
held French lands and spoke French.
The Normans introduced a new
ruling class, built castles and
cathedrals, and transformed the
English language with many new
French-based words, all of which
are legacies that still endure.THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR
(1337–1453)The Hundred Years’ War was a
series of conflicts fought between
England and France that began
when Edward III asserted his
right to the French throne, a claim
that the French Valois dynasty
disputed. By the end of the war,
English possessions in France
had been reduced to the coastal
town of Calais and its immediate
environs. This result transformed
England from a power that aspired
to be part of a larger European
empire to an island nation separate
from Europe. France, inspired
especially by the leadership of
Joan of Arc, gained a stronger
sense of national identity.THE BATTLE OF GRUNWALD
(1410)At the Battle of Grunwald, a
combined Polish and Lithuanian
force crushed the army of the
Teutonic Knights. This military
order, set up to assist crusaders
and pilgrims, controlled large
territories in Eastern Europe,
including Prussia and Estonia,
and campaigned against Slavs
and pagans in the Baltic. This
decisive battle put an end to the
Knights’ military power, arrested
German eastward expansion,and left the Polish–Lithuanian
alliance as the strongest power
in Eastern Europe.THE MONGOL INVASIONS
OF JAPAN ARE REPULSED
(1274, 1281)In the late 13th century, the
Mongols were at the height of their
power under their leader Kublai
Khan. From their base in central
Asia, they had moved east to take
control of China. In 1271, they sent
troops by sea to conquer Japan.
The attack was unsuccessful, in
part because the Mongol ships
were caught in a typhoon, referred
to by the Japanese as a kamikaze
(divine wind). The Mongol defeat
was decisive in checking their
advance and shaping the idea
of a strong, independent Japan,
free from outside intervention or
influence. This concept of Japanese
nationhood lasted for centuries.SCOTLAND UPHOLDS
INDEPENDENCE AT
BANNOCKBURN
(1314)The Battle of Bannockburn,
Scotland, was a major clash in an
ongoing war between England and
Scotland. Despite being vastly
outnumbered, the Scots, under
King Robert Bruce, inflicted a
heavy defeat on the English and
their ruler Edward II. This left
Bruce in full control of Scotland,
from where he continued to lead
raids on northern England. The war
went on for decades, and Scotland
remained independent until 1707.
The battle was such a sweeping
victory that it is still remembered
as a key event in Scottish history,symbolizing the independence
from the rest of Britain to which
many Scots still aspire.THE CONQUESTS OF
TAMERLANE
(1370–1405)Timur, also known as Tamerlane,
was the last of the great nomadic
Mongol conquerors. In an attempt
to revive the great empire of Kublai
Khan, he roamed widely across
Europe and Asia, from northern
India to Anatolia and Russia. By
the end of the 14th century, he
had conquered Persia, Iraq, Syria,
Afghanistan, and eastern Russia,
destroying Delhi in 1398, and
pushing on toward China in 1405
but dying en route. His empire did
not endure, and Mongol horse-based
fighting techniques were no match
for the firearms that increasingly
drove warfare in the 15th century.THE HUSSITE REVOLT
(1415–34)The Hussites, followers of the
religious reformer Jan Hus, were
precursors of the Protestants who
lived in Bohemia (modern Czech
Republic, then part of the Austrian
Habsburg empire) and fought their
Catholic rulers for the freedom to
worship in their own way. Hus
was executed for heresy in 1415,
sparking a series of wars that
eventually led to the defeat of the
Hussites. The area remained under
Catholic Hapsburg rule, but most
of the people of Bohemia stayed
true to their Protestant beliefs.
Their revolt against their Catholic
rulers in 1618 triggered the Thirty
Years’ War, when the Bohemian
Protestants were again defeated.US_132-133_CH3_Further_Events.indd 133 15/02/2016 16:42