HI everyone! I've recently chosen to research the Hundred Years' War for a history project. Naturally, I came here to ask around. So, I was wondering if anyone could help me find any good sites or just some info that you've heard about the war. I am also curious to find out what weapons were used in this war (14th-15th century). I mainly choose this subject because a. I'm A Huge fan of medieval wars. b. I was extremely fascinated by the battle of Agincourt, and c. I am currently saving up for an albion agincourt and wanted to learn more about the history behind it. :D

Any info from anyone who knows at least one fact about the war.

Thanks!
-Michael F.

P.S. Any pictures or maps about the war would be very appreciated also!

Your best short introduction to the history of the Hundred Years' War is a pair of books by Alfred H. Burne, "The Crecy War" and "The Agincourt War" . They are available in paperback. The first book describes primarily the 14th Century campaigns, and the second discusses the 15th Century events. They are written from the perspective of a footsoldier who has walked the ground of the various battlefields, and include his own hand drawn maps of the major sites.

This war is a favorite of mine also because it spans the transition from primarily mail clad combatants to full plate armor and gunpowder weapons. And of course it includes both the Battle of Agincourt and the personal drama of Joan of Arc.

Perhaps redundant, but also check out Desmond Seward's "The Hundred Years' War: The English in France 1337-1453." It will TOTALLY destroy any Shakespearean misconceptions one might have about the major players involved.

Check out this site.

http://www.hyw.com/books/history/1_Help_C.htm

I haven't read it all so I make no claims as to its quality or accuracy but it seems like a good introduction and outline. It also has a good bibliography of other works.

Sumptions' The Hundred Years war (there are now two of them out the first introduces the history leading up to the war until the fall of Calais the second from then until Poitiers) These two volumes cover roughly ten years each at six hundred pages a volume. The information is exhaustive, though it does not spend much time on individual battles but more on the various campaigns as a whole, nor does it go into great detail about the arms and armor.

Sumption's two volumes are by far the best history of the Hundred Years War. An older, but still valuable French history, translated into English is E. Perroy's "Hundred Years Old. And, you might want to do yourself a favor and check out Jean Froissart's "Chronicle" for a contemporary view from the French perspective.

Regards

I'd recommend "Crecy:1346" by David Nicolle. It is rather brief , as compared to some of the other works listed above, and quite accurate from what I can tell (comparing the conclusions and interpretations to other books on medieval warfare and tactics). Unfortunately it deals with the crecy campaign only, and one could complain that the politics behind the campaign were not explained as thoroughly as they should have. I think this is a minor point given the size of the book, and I think that what was said was adequate. There is not much explicitly written about the evolution of armour during the time, but the illustrations were done with care and they more than compensate. The book, being form the "Osprey" series, is very well illustrated, and at $10-15 it is worth every penny. My opinion any how.

Alexi

Anne Curry had a nice concise little book out as well, I think it was called simply The Hundred Years War but I don't recall off hand. She also has a longer, more in depth book out as well which I haven't read.

Or he *could* just read the Grail Quest series. ;)

A fellow Hundred Years' War historian. I have been facinated with this period for some time, though I focus more on the first third (Cadsand in 1337, to Lussac in 1369). For general information, the books already suggested are very good. For arms and armour, I have to suggest my favourite single book on the subject: Arms and Armour of the Medieval Knight by David Edge and John Miles Paddock. This book is out of print and hard to find, so you might have to make good friends with a librarian, and learn the inner-workings of the interlibrary loan system.

If this is a school project, you probably won't want to take the time to read more specific things like Richard Barber's biography of Edward the Black Prince (surprisingly entitled The Black Prince), but if you take an interest in this topic, that (and several other books) might be worth reading.

If in your research, you come across the text from an article entitled "John Chandos, constable du Aquitaine and senechal du Poitou" written by Benjamin Fillon in 1855 for Revue des provinces de l'ouest, let me know. I don't have access to a university library, which is making it hard to track down.

If your research leads you to have other questions, feel free to PM or e-mail me.

-Grey

Thanks everyone! www.hyw.com/books/history/1_Help_C.htm is a pretty good site. I'm definitely going to take a trip to the library soon! I'm about half way though the "crecy campaign" at the moment any more info would be appreciated, especially if i don't find what I want in the books (I highly doubt it!) . Finally, a school project i want to do!


Thanks again,
-Michael F.

Here's a few websites that could help:

http://xenophongroup.com/montjoie/hyw_fp.htm
(It's got a timeline, map of France, some major battles and weapons.
It's also got a bibliography section you might want to browse through)

This one is a primary source document, published in the 1500s.
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/FroChro.html

This one is maps of the 100 years war:
http://www.idbsu.edu/courses/hy309/topics/100yw/100yw.maps.html

Timeline:
http://www.maisonstclaire.org/timeline/timeline.html


Good luck!

Regine Pernoud has a great book on Ste. Jehanne d'Arc. She's the only part of the 100 years' war that really interests me much. Otherwise, it is too euro-centric and late in the period for my tastes.

I almost forgot! Any films you've seen about the war like anything about Edward III, The black prince, Henry V, ect. that you can recommend would be also very nice!


Thanks!
Michael F.

The only film that readily comes to mind is Ther Warriors starring Errol Flynn as the Black Prince. But it was made in the early fifties and I'm not sure if it's out on either VHS or DVD.

Regards

"Henry V", either the original Olivier version or the more recent Branagh production, are the most obvious ones. There are quite a number of films about Joan of Arc, the most recent of which was "The Messenger".