什么是百年战争

Hundred Years' War

英国和法国间因领土主权和法国王位继承等问题所发生的长期武力冲突。始於1337年英格兰国王爱德华三世为其对法国王位的要求而入侵法兰德斯。爱德华在克雷西战役（1346）赢得胜利；随後其子黑太子爱德华在普瓦捷战役（1356）虏获约翰二世，法国在「布雷蒂尼条约」和「加莱条约」（1360）两条约下被迫放弃领土主权。当约翰二世死於监禁中，其子查理五世拒绝履行条约，冲突再起，并使英国采取守势。1380年查理五世去世後，两国都忙於国内的权力斗争，而获得暂时的和平。1415年英格兰国王亨利五世决定在法国境内发动战争以坚持英国对法国王位的主张（参阅Agincourt, Battle of）。1422年英国和其勃艮地盟友控制了亚奎丹和整个法国北部的罗亚尔河流域，包括巴黎。1429年是一个转捩点，圣女贞德解除了英国的奥尔良围城。法国国王查理七世征服了诺曼第，後来又於1453年夺回亚奎丹，使英国的势力仅存加莱一地。这场战争使法国国力严重消耗并造成巨大痛苦；它实际上将封建贵族摧毁并带来新的社会秩序。由於英国在欧洲大陆的势力终结，导致其扩张及发展成海上强权国家。

1337～1453年

Hundred Years' War

Intermittent armed conflict between England and France over territorial rights and the issue of succession to the French throne. It began when Edward III invaded Flanders in 1337 in order to assert his claim to the French crown. Edward won a major victory at the Battle of Crécy (1346); after his son Edward the Black Prince managed to capture John II at the Battle of Poitiers (1356), the French were obliged to surrender extensive lands under the treaties of Brétigny and Calais (1360). When John II died in captivity, his son Charles V refused to respect the treaties and reopened the conflict, putting the English on the defensive. After Charles V's death in 1380 both countries were preoccupied with internal power struggles, and the war lapsed into uncertain peace. In 1415, however, Henry V decided to take advantage of civil war in France to press English claims to the French throne (see Battle of Agincourt). By 1422, the English and their Burgundian allies controlled Aquitaine and all France north of the Loire, including Paris. A turning point came in 1429, when Joan of Arc raised the English siege of Orléans. The French king Charles VII conquered Normandy and then retook Aquitaine in 1453, leaving the English in possession only of Calais. The war laid waste to much of France and caused enormous suffering; it virtually destroyed the feudal nobility and thereby brought about a new social order. By ending England's status as a power on the continent, it led the English to expand their reach and power at sea.