Western Civilization: Ancient and Medieval TimesDiscuss the Hundred Years' War: What Were Its Causes? Why did the war last so long? What advantages did each side have? What were the results of the war for England and France? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essay From 1337 to 1453, the Hundred Years' War was a major conflict fought between the English and the French. The war began because of territorial disputes between the English and French when the French defeated the English at the Battle of Castillon along France to claim English territories (Keen 2014). The major conflict between England and France actually began years before the war. When William of Normandy conquered England, he “created a state located on both sides of the English Channel” (Hundred Y. 2015). The 14th century English kings held the Duchy of Guienne located in France and they were tired of paying tribute to France because of this. “The status of the Duchy of Guyenne (or Aquitaine): although belonging to the kings of England, it remained a fiefdom of the crown of France, and the kings of England wanted an independent possession” (Cent 2015). They no longer wanted France to control them. Edward III of England, in particular, was unhappy with Philip VI of France when he failed to keep his promise to restore the piece of Guyenne taken by Charles IV. Other causes of the war included the action of the English to control the territory of Flanders, Philip's support of Scotland against the English (Hundred Y. 2015) and the English were the closest living heirs of the last Capetian king (Charles IV), they therefore claimed the crown of France belonged to them (Cent 2015). This war lasted over a hundred years as it was a series of skirmishes and battles that were scattered throughout this period. It was not just a great war that lasted a hundred years. There were moments of peace between battles, but the overall conflict between England and France was not resolved until a hundred years later. For example, there was a time during the war when Edward the “Black Prince” of England held King John II of France as a prisoner. The French came to negotiate the release of their king in exchange for three million crowns and some land. The “Black Prince” agreed and freed the king. The “Black Prince” died and his ten-year-old son, Richard II, was crowned King of England. This resulted in a ten-year period of peace between England and France during the war (mid-2015). Some of the English advantages over the French were based on combat strategies and weapons technologies. The English “avoided pitched battles, engaged in quick and profitable raids, stole what they could and destroyed everything else, and captured enemy nights for ransom (Pojer 2015). » Their weapons included the longbow and the crossbow. The longbow was an advantage because of its flexibility, rate of fire, and stopping power, and the crossbow because it did not require much skill to use effectively, which it had great power and required little manpower for archers (Weapons 1987). ).Similarly, the French also had their advantages. The French had a population of around sixteen million and used this to their advantage when they were able to field an army of over 50,000 men, while the maximum the British had ever fielded was around 32 000 men. The French were also much wealthier than the English and could afford 2012).