The Hundred Years War

The Hundred Years' War had distant and immediate causes. In 1259, France and England signed the Treaty of Paris. This main point of the treaty was the English king agreed to become vassal of the French crown for the duchy of Aquitaine. The English claimed Aquitaine as an ancient inheritance. The French kinds resolved to absorb the duchy into the kingdom of France. Philip confiscated the duchy. This was the immediate cause of the war. Edward …

…believed that he could rightfully make this claim. Hence, the dynastic argument upset the feudal order in France. To increase their power, French vassals of Philip VI used the excuse that they had to transfer their loyalty to Edward III. Because of the war being a French civil war, it lasted long. Economic factors involving the wool trade and the control of Flemish towns also served as reasons for the war between France and England.