Hundred+Year+War

The **Hundred Years' War** was a conflict between [|England] and [|France], lasting 116 years from [|1337] to [|1453]. It was fought primarily over claims by the [|English kings] to the [|French throne] and was punctuated by several brief periods of peace and two lasting ones before it finally ended in the expulsion of the English from France. Thus, the war was in fact a series of conflicts and is commonly divided into three or four phases: the [|Edwardian War (1337-1360)], the [|Caroline War (1369-1389)], the [|Lancastrian War (1415-1429)], and the slow decline of English fortunes after the appearance of [|Joan of Arc]. The term "Hundred Years' War" was given afterward. The war owes its historical significance to a number of factors. Though primarily a dynastic conflict, the war gave impetus to ideas of French and English nationality. Militarily, it saw the introduction of new weapons and tactics, which eroded the older system of [|feudal] armies dominated by [|heavy cavalry]. The first [|standing armies] in [|Western Europe] since the time of the [|Western Roman Empire] were introduced for the war, thus changing the role of the peasantry. For all this and simply its duration, it is often viewed as one of the most significant conflicts in the history of [|medieval warfare].