A century of blood & wrath
Despite its name, the Hundred Years’ War actually lasted for 116 years
The genesis of the longest-running conflict in European history finds its origins, like so many wars before and after it, in the eternal struggle for territory and an insatiable thirst for power. Ever since William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, claimed the English crown as his own, the monarchs of England had a legitimate claim to lands and titles of note in the Kingdom of France. Over time these lands were reduced by a long line of French kings, but England continued to hold a stake in the future of its neighbour.
For King Edward III of England, that investment in France ran deeper – to the Plantagenet monarch it was a birthright. The death of the heirless Charles IV of France provided Edward with the opening he needed, but an old Salic Law prohibited the order of succession
