World-changing1337 – 1453 · 116 years
Hundred Years' War
France · England · Aquitaine · Normandy
England and France fought intermittently for 116 years over the English throne, reshaping European national identity.
Estimated casualties
2.0M – 5.0Mestimated dead
HEADLINE3.0M — the single figure used on the map
France-England 1337-1453. Military deaths ~150k; civilians 1.5-4M from warfare, plague, famine.
SOURCEWikipedia: Hundred Years War; Clodfelter
What happened
English kings claimed France's crown after the 1328 death of Charles IV, sparking the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). Early English victories exploited longbow technology at Crécy (1346) and Agincourt (1415). Joan of Arc's 1429-1431 campaigns inspired French resistance. The war devastated France's countryside; Norman holdings in France shifted repeatedly. Gunpowder artillery increasingly outmatched castles. By 1453, English forces withdrew from France except Calais (lost 1558). Thousands died in battles and from war-induced famines.
Why it mattered
The war forged French and English national identities distinct from feudal overlordship. Artillery's rise made medieval fortifications obsolete, spurring the transition to early modern warfare. Joan of Arc became an enduring symbol of French nationalism. The war accelerated state centralization in both kingdoms. England's continental ambitions, thwarted after 1453, redirected English naval power toward colonial expansion.
Belligerents2
- France
- England
ON THE MAPKingdom of FranceKingdom of England
Conflict graph
SUB-CONFLICTS · 51
- Battle of Cadsand1337
- Battle of Sluys1340
- Battle of Tournai1340
- Battle of Brest1342
- Battle of Morlaix1342
- Battle of Quimperle1342
- Battle of Auberoche1345
- Battle of Aiguillon1346
- Battle of Caen1346
- Battle of Pol de Leon1346
- Battle of Roche-Derrien1347
- Battle of Winchelsea1350
+ 39 more in the atlas.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Hundred Years' War
- Clodfelter, Warfare and Armed Conflicts (4th ed., 2017)
- Wikipedia — text reused under CC BY-SA 4.0
Open in the atlas →Seeks the timeline to 1337 and opens this record.
Cite as: Hundred Years' War (1337 – 1453). War Atlas. https://waratlas.org/c/hundred-years-war · Sources & methodology