Born in poverty, how to reverse the Hundred Years' War between England and France with her own strength In the period of the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France, France once had a "Mu Guiying" female war hero, the story about her is very legendary and magnificent, she is Joan of Arc, today we will talk about the story of the Hundred Years' War between England and France and Joan of Arc.
Vikings dominated the sea in the Middle Ages, long invaded the coast of France, the rulers at that time in order to quell the sea turmoil, recruited these Vikings, let them settle in the French sea "Normandy", and this group of Vikings also changed their name to Normandy, established the Duchy of Normandy. In 1066, the Normandians successfully invaded England, so the Normandy ruled both the English peninsula and Normandy. Since then, the British king has enjoyed the right to rule the Channel Islands.
Domain of the Duchy of Normandy
(The Vikings section can refer to another article at the end of the article that I am in the headlines.)
The history of the French in Europe is much earlier than that of britain, as early as the fall of the Western Romans, the Germans migrated to Gaul to establish the Kingdom of France, and most of the members of the British royal family were held by the French nobility in the past. With the rise of the new aristocracy in England, the land occupied became larger and larger, and France had an opinion.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, there were many frictions between England and France over territorial issues, and in 1328, in the issue of Flanders (now in Belgium), England and France tore their faces because of trade interests, and King Edward III of England ordered a ban on the export of wool. At this time, Britain had lost a lot of territory due to the French counterattack, and was driven back to the English Peninsula, at a disadvantage.
In the same year, the sonless French King Charles IV died, the French nobleman Philip VI was his cousin with the first right to inherit, and king Edward III of England was his nephew and also promoted the right to inherit, so that the two sides over the throne dispute and years of friction broke out the Anglo-French war that lasted for more than 100 years.
As mentioned above, England was at a disadvantage at this time, with only a small English peninsula, but Britain was going to attack France. The whole of France did not believe that Britain could win. And from the English peninsula, you have to cross the English Channel to enter France. The French laughed at them: "It is estimated that there is no morale as soon as they get off the ship." ”
Britain is going to cross the English Channel
But in fact, the British, because of years of being bullied by the French, accumulated a lot of resentment, and after crossing the English Channel, their morale was still extremely high. This also laid the foundation for the future Hundred Years' War between Britain and France, the British first won the sea supremacy in the naval battle, the French army was gradually defeated, and then in the famous Battle of Clessy, with less victory, victory over 3 times its own France.
At this time, the French were mainly cavalry, while the British longbowmen made a great contribution. In fact, people who know a little about military know that no matter how strong the archers are, as long as the cavalry has enough courage to charge, it is impossible to win under the numerical superiority, but what the French army lacks most at this time is courage.
Battle of Cressy
The British could have swept through France at this time, but a plague at home stopped them, which is what still remembers the European countries today - the "Black Death".
Britain had no choice but to cease hostilities, forcing France to cede a large area of territory.
After the armistice, The British made a comeback again, and by this time France was ready to fight again until 1380, that is, 50 years later. The British again defeated France at the Battle of Agincourt with fewer victories, and England occupied more than half of France. France again signed unequal treaties and became a vassal state of Great Britain. At this time, France was not only occupied by the British because of external and internal troubles, but also civil unrest in Burgundy and Amanjac.
In 1423, when England was so harsh on the occupied French areas that they had to pay a large amount of war taxes, the nature of the Anglo-French War had become a French liberation war. The people of France were not willing to be ruled by the cruel British and threw themselves into the war.
And our protagonist, Joan of Arc, has appeared.
Although Joan of Arc was born in the countryside, but unlike many people who say that she was born into poverty, Joan of Arc's father owned almost 50 acres (300 acres) of land, was a small nobleman similar to the village chief, and was usually responsible for the defense and administrative work of the village. So Joan of Arc had a certain military basis.
In general, the French army did not have a bad foundation, and many times it was comfortable for too long and lacked faith.
In 1428, Joan of Arc asked the Crown Prince of France three times, and because Joan of Arc was a Catholic, she mythologized this passage in religious legends. Joan of Arc herself was instructed by an angel under the tree to lead her troops to recover the old land and told her how. I think this should be a statement that Joan of Arc came up with as a low-status and at the same time a woman, in order to save the country.
Finally, in 1429, the French Crown Prince conferred the title of "Commander-in-Chief of War" on Joan of Arc, wearing heavy armor, holding a sword, carrying a "Jesus Mary" battle flag, leading more than 3,000 soldiers to the besieged Orleans.
Rescue Orleans
Orléans had been besieged by the British for half a year and was somewhat lax in itself. Joan of Arc started from the weakest point of the British army, took the lead and took the battle flag and threw himself into the attack on the British army.
The French army saw that a young girl could still be so brave, aroused the fighting spirit, helped inside and outside, and defeated the British troops in one fell swoop.
After defeating the British, Joan of Arc rode into Orléans on a white horse and carried the battle flag. The soldiers and civilians of Orléans saluted her with torches, and encouraged by Joan of Arc's courage and faith, asked to join her army.
With an enlarged army, Joan of Arc pursued the victory, defeated the British army several times, and liberated all of Orléans. Since then, France has gained the upper hand in the Anglo-French War, and the legend of Joan of Arc has been told everywhere.
However, in 1430, during a clash with the English army, he was captured by the Duchy of Burgundy, one theory is that the nobles and generals of the time could not stand this increase in Joan of Arc's influence, so they closed the gates while Joan of Arc was retreating. I think there is some credibility in this statement, in the name of Joan of Arc at that time, equivalent to the spiritual leader of the army, she wanted to retreat and could not be captured.
Burgundy then sold Joan of Arc to the British army for 40,000 francs, and the British army hated Joan of Arc to the bone, but Joan of Arc preferred to die rather than surrender, she said: "For the sake of France, I regard death as a return". At this time, King Charles VII of France attacked Rouen like crazy, trying to save Joan of Arc, and through negotiations wanted to pay a ransom to buy Joan of Arc back (the custom of the time to treat prisoners).
However, the British army had a deep hatred for Joan of Arc and insisted on trying Joan of Arc, sentencing Joan to be burned at the stake, and burning her alive. This completely angered the French people, who heroically threw themselves into the War of Liberation, recovering all the occupied territories in 1453, the same year the British surrendered at Bordeaux, and the Hundred Years' War between England and France ended.
Joan of Arc was put on trial
The legends about Joan of Arc are too mythical and exaggerated by some people, and some people think that she is just a country girl, fictional. As our modern people, objectively evaluate Joan of Arc:
First of all, she must be a war hero, and there are many witnesses and records of the liberation of Orleans, but she may not be a so-called "military god", not that Joan of Arc did not have a military strategy, because she is not a general who has been leading for a long time, there is no need to mythologize her.
Second, Joan of Arc's spirit must have been greater than her own force, and france at that time longed for liberation, lacking the conviction and courage to win, and Joan of Arc's heroism as a young woman was a great encouragement to the French people.
Third, Joan of Arc had a great credit for the Anglo-French War, not to mention the impact of Joan of Arc on the war situation after she entered the war, in that era, if the army could give up the ransom and kill the prisoners, then in the eyes of the enemy she must be unforgivable.
Further reading: The Story of the Vikings Son of Odin – The Viking Viking Legend
Origin of Knighthood The Origin of European Chivalry and the Crusades