HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR (1337–1453) This
misleadingly named episode in history featured violent
struggle that drew families, empires, and economic
interests into a series of wars between 1337 and 1453.
The war owes its origins to a history of confl ict between
the French and English that dates to at least the NOR-
MAN CONQUEST in 1066. In the intervening centuries,
English and French interests mixed frequently on the
continent, and by the early 14th century Edward III of
England enjoyed control of extensive holdings in
France. When King Charles IV of France died without
leaving a male heir to the French throne, the closest
potential successor to the throne was Edward III of
England, son of Charles IV’s sister. French nobility
invoked ancient laws in order to avoid this, and even-
tually crowned Philip of Valois, a cousin of previous
Capetian kings, Philip VI.
Both Edward and Philip were acutely aware of the
monetary importance of controlling commercial trade
in the neighboring cloth-making region of Flanders,
which depended on imported English wool and had a
history of rebellion against their French rulers. A simi-
lar feudal confl ict occurred over Edward’s control of
Aquitaine, where wine exports had become a valuable
part of the English economy. Philip insisted that
Edward pay him extensive and formal homage for
these valuable fi efdoms, but Edward, a king in his own
right in England, refused to agree to an act that would
make him subservient to the French king. Instead,
Edward used the dispute as an opportunity to ally
himself with an artisan rebellion in Flanders against
the French and ultimately to declare war.
The ensuing war pitted two very differently armed
and trained forces against one another in a struggle
driven by economic interests, chivalric ideals, and
dynastic ambitions. Edward, whose knights were sea-
soned by long experience fi ghting in Scotland and
Wales, took a practical approach. He raised money
through Parliament, drew on international loans, and
organized an army that combined armed knights with
large companies of footsoldiers armed with pikes and
longbows. By contrast, Philip took his rhetoric about
CHIVALRY seriously. He expected to defeat the English
with an army of heavily armored knights, each backed
up by further ranks of lightly armored vassals.
The English enjoyed early successes at sea and at
Crécy (1346), then later at Poitiers (1356), which
ended with the capture of the Philip’s successor, King
John II. As the spread of the BLACK DEATH compounded
the social and economic toll of the war, both sides
sought a settlement in 1360. The English renounced
their claims to the French throne but were granted
control over a much larger territory in and around
Aquitaine.
Literary scholars will recognize many of the actors
of the fi nal period of the Hundred Years’ War from
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’s work, as well as from contem-
porary BALLADs such as “The AGINCOURT CAROL.” The
war(s) also allowed for the further development of a
uniquely English identity and set the stage for British
imperialism.
See also WARS OF THE ROSES.
FURTHER READING
Seward, Desmond. The Hundred Years War: The English in
France, 1337–1453. London: Atheneum, 1978.
Daniel RingroseHYPERBOLE From the Latin term meaning
“excess,” this is fi gurative language that depends on
deliberate use of exaggeration or extravagant language;
intentional overstatement. Used in both literary and
nonliterary texts, both poetry and prose, hyperbole is a
staple of rhetoric. In poetry, hyperbole is found in
numerous genres, from ROMANCES to love poems to
SONNETS. For instance, CHAUCER relies upon hyperbole
to emphasize his position in “TO ROSAMUNDE,” and in
Sonnet 94 from ASTROPHIL AND STELLA, hyperbole and
APOSTROPHE combine for a dramatic effect.
See also SONNET.
FURTHER READING
Stanivukovic, Goran V. “ ‘Mounting Above The Truthe’: On
Hyperbole in English Renaissance Literature.” Forum for
Modern Language Studies 41, no. 1 (2007): 9–33.HYPERBOLE 221