How Did The Hundred Years War Start?

 In 1337, Edward III of England began what would become known as the Hundred Years War by laying claim to the crown of France. Edward’s mother, Isabella, was the daughter of the French king Philip IV. Philip had three sons who succeeded him but had all died after relatively brief reigns. The throne now passed to Philip VI. On hearing that Edward was now bearing the arms of both England and France, Philip VI was disparaging of Edward, referring to him as a “poor knight of ours” and of England as well, calling it a little island in comparison to the “great kingdom of France”. Despite this bravado, Philip was obviously unsettled and the fact that Edward was styling himself king of France would have put further doubts in his minds as to who had the better claim to the French crown.

And it wouldn’t be long before doubts in Philip’s minds increased. Defeats for the French at the Battle of Sluys, a naval engagement, in 1340 before later, more famous defeats at Crecy and Poitiers must have made France fully aware that they were up against a formidable opponent. Edward was no mere “poor knight”. To the contrary, he was one of the greatest warrior kings in European history and Philip’s dismissive words had been rammed right down his throat. Ultimately, Edward’s bid to become king of France failed but he had shown what he was capable of by confronting a European superpower and besting them numerous times. Edward had also shown he was capable of winning victories on both land and sea and can perhaps be considered as an early inspiration for later English naval supremacy.