1337-1453 AD
The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) was actually a series of conflicts spanning 116 years between England and France over the French throne. Edward III of England claimed the French crown through his mother, Isabella of France, and the war that followed would reshape both nations.
The war featured some of the most famous battles in medieval history: CrΓ©cy (1346) and Poitiers (1356), where English longbowmen decimated French knightly armies; Agincourt (1415), where Henry V achieved another stunning victory; and the siege of OrlΓ©ans (1429), where Joan of Arc led the French to their first major victory in decades.
The Black Death (1347-1351) interrupted the war, killing perhaps a third of Europe's population and fundamentally transforming medieval society. The war ultimately ended with the French victory at Castillon in 1453, expelling the English from most of France and forging a sense of French national identity. Key Sources: Froissart, Chronicles; Jean Froissart; Geoffroi de Charny, Book of Chivalry; Froissart's Chronicles