List of Important Battles and Wars in the World History

HUNDRED YEARS' WAR. This name is given to the protracted conflict between France and England from 1337 to 1453, which continued through the reigns of the French kings Philip VI, John II, Charles V, Charles VI, Charles VII, and of the English kings Edward III, Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI. The principal causes of the war, which broke out in Guienne in 1337,were the disputes arising in connexion with the French possessions of the English kings, in respect to which they were vassals of the kings of France; the pretensions of Edward III to the French throne after the accession of Philip VI; Philip's intervention in the affairs of Flanders and Scotland; and, finally, the machinations of Robert of Artois.

During Philip VI's reign fortune favoured the English. The French fleet was destroyed at Sluys on the 24th of June 1340. After the siege of Tournai a truce was arranged on the 25th of September 1340; but the next year the armies of England and France were again at war in Brittany on account of the rival pretensions of Charles of Blois and John of Montfort to the succession of that duchy. In 1346, while the French were trying to invade Guienne, Edward III landed in Normandy, ravaged that province, part of the Ile de France and Picardy, defeated the French army at Crecy on the 26th of August 1346, and besieged Calais, which surrendered on the 3rd of August 1347. Hostilities were suspended for some years after this, in consequence of the truce of Calais concluded on the 28th of September 1347.

The principal feats of arms which mark the first years of John the Good's reign were the taking of St Jean d'Angely by the French in 1351, the defeat of the English near St Omer in 1352, and the English victory near Guines in the same year. In 1355 Edward III invaded Artois while the Black Prince was pillaging Languedoc. In 1356 the battle of Poitiers (September 19), in which John was taken prisoner, was the signal for conflicts in Paris between Stephen Marcel and the dauphin, and for the outbreak of the Jacquerie. The treaty of Bretigny, concluded on the 8th of May 1360, procured France several years' repose.

Under Charles V hostilities at first obtained only between French, Anglo-Navarrais (Du Guesclin's victory at Cocherel, May 16, 1364) and Bretons. In 1369, on the pretext that Edward III had failed to observe the terms of the treaty of Bretigny, the King of France declared war against him. Du Guesclin, having been appointed Constable, defeated the English at Pontvallain in 1370, at Chize in 1373, and drove them from their possessions between the Loire and the Gironde, while the duke of Anjou retook part of Guienne. Edward III thereupon concluded the truce of Bruges (June 27, 1375), which was prolonged until the 24th of June 1377. Upon the death of Edward III (June 21, 1377) Charles V recommenced war in Artois and Guienne and against Charles the Bad, but failed in his attempt to reunite Brittany and France. Du Guesclin, who had refused to march against his compatriots, died on the 13th of July 1380, and Charles V on the 16th of the following September.

In the beginning of Charles VI's reign the struggle between the two countries seemed to slacken. An attempt at reconciliation even took place on the marriage of Richard II with Isabella of France, daughter of Charles VI (September 26, 1396). But Richard, having been dethroned by Henry of Lancaster (Henry IV), hostilities were resumed, Henry profiting little by the internal discords of France. In 1415 his son, Henry V, landed in Normandy on the expiry of the truce of the 25th of September 1413, which had been extended in 1414 and 1415. He won the victory of Agincourt (October 25, 1415), and then seized Caen and part of Normandy, while France was exhausting herself in the feuds of Armagnacs and Burgundians. By the treaty of Troyes (May 21, 1415) he obtained the hand of Catherine, Charles VI's daughter, with the titles of regent and heir to the kingdom of France. Having taken Meaux on the 2nd of May 1429, and made his entry into Paris on the 30th of May, then died on the 31st of August in the Bois de Vincennes, leaving the throne to his son, Henry VI, with the Duke of Bedford as regent in France.

Charles VI died shortly afterwards, on the 21st of October. His son, who styled himself Charles VII, suffered a series of defeats in the beginning of his reign: Cravant on the Yonne (1423), Verneuil (1424), St James de Beuvron (1426) and Rouvray (1429). Orleans, the last bulwark of royalty, had been besieged since the 12th of October 1428, and was on the point of surrender when Joan of Arc appeared. She saved Orleans (May 8, 1429), defeated the English at Patay on the 16th of June, had Charles VII crowned at Reims on the 17th of July, was taken at Compiegne on the 24th of May 1430, and was burned at Rouen on the 30th of May 1431 (see Joan of Arc).

From this time on the English lost ground steadily, and the treaty of Arras (March 20, 1435), by which good relations were established between Charles VII and Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, dealt them a final blow. Normandy rose against them, while the constable De Richemont1 drove them from Paris (1436) and retook Nemours, Montereau (1437) and Meaux (1439). The quickly repressed revolt of the Praguerie made no break in Charles VII's successes. In 1442 he relieved successively Saint Sever, Dax, Marmande, La Reole, and in 1444 Henry VI had to conclude the truce of Tours. In 1448 the English were driven from Mans; and in 1449, while Richemont was capturing Cotentin and Fougeres, Dunois conquered Lower Normandy and Charles VII entered Rouen.

The defeat of Sir Thomas Kyriel, one of Bedford's veteran captains, at Formigny in 1450, and the taking of Cherbourg, completed the conquest of the province. During this time Dunois in Guienne was taking Bordeaux and Bayonne. Guienne revolted against France, whereupon Talbot returned there with an army of 5000 men, but was vanquished and killed at Castillon on the 17th of July 1453. Bordeaux capitulated on the 9th of October, and the Hundred Years' War was terminated by the expulsion of the English, who were by this time so fully occupied with the Wars of the Roses as to be unable to take the offensive against France anew.

Books for further study: Allmand, Christopher. The Hundred Years War: England and France at War.
Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Barker, Juliet. Conquest: The English Kingdom of France, 1417-1450.
Harvard University Press, 2012.

Seward, Desmond. The Hundred Years War: The English in France 1337-1453.
Penguin, 1999.

Hundred Years' War on the Web: Hundred Years' War - Invicta Media
Hundred Years' War Timeline - Steven Proctor

Hundred Years' War 1337-1453

1337-1360 English victories
1360-1407 French drive English back
1407-1429 More English victories
1429-1453 French drive English out (except Calais)

How the long wars between France & England started.

MAP 1: Who ruled where in 1328:


English King Edward III held lands mainly in Aquiraine, the rich wine-growing province around Bordeaux in SW France.
Fighting started in the Hundred Years' War because the Kings of England - descendants of William the Conqueror who still spoke French -wanted to rule France as well. France was temptingly weak and divided.

It began with the English King already ruling a large part of France (see Map 1); it ended with him ruling hardly any, but with what is now Nord - Pas de Calais split off under foreign rule for several centuries.

The English claim
It began in 1328, when the French king died with no children. The English king Edward III actually had a good "claim" to inherit the French throne. Edward's claim was through his French mother, Eleanor, who was the dead French king's aunt . It was usual for medieval royal families to intermarry like this, always seeking to make alliances.

The French split
French nobles faced a choice: who would give them more power and independence in their own lands - a French King in Paris who they had helped into power, or a distant Englaih King ruling often from London?

The first faction rushed to crown a French cousin whose claim. was not as good as Edward's. With their new king, they attacked Edward's lands in SW France (Aquitaine) and in 1337, Edward III declared war.

The other faction allied with Edward. Counts of Flanders tended to take England's side against France in any conflict, because of links with England in the vital wool trade. Powerful lords in other outlying regions such as Brittanny and Normandy feared the ambitions of those who wanted a stronger centralised French kingdom. They allied with the English. to help keep their independence

The English "nutcracker"
Tactically Edward had a strong position, with the French caught in a "nutcracker" between Edward's lands held as Duke of Aquitaine in the south and his Flemish and other allies in the north.

English win one of the first ever sea battles: the Battle of Sluys 1340

English slaughter French knights at the Battle of Crecy 1346
French disasters:
(1) losing control of the Channel
In 1340, the French king prepared the first blow: he assembled a great fleet, carrying an army to crush England's allies in Flanders before invading England itself. But the English attacked and destroyed the French fleet at sea off Sluys (east of Dunkerque, in modern Holland). Both sides anchored their ships and fought something like a land battle across the wooden decks.

Edward III now controlled the Channel and was free to invade and wage war over the enemy's lands - which proved catstrophic for the people of the North. The English army was a mixed force of infantry, archers, pikemen and light cavalry - battle-hardened after successfully fighting the Welsh and Scots, and made up of well-trained and organised English mercenaries, enthusiastic supporters of his cause and eager for plunder. They proved to be the most effective army Europe had seen since the Romans.

(2) losing their finest knights at Crecy
In 1346, the English invaders were weakened by sickness and retreating to the channel ports. They took a stand on a hill at Crecy.

As the heavily armoured French knights struggled up the muddy hillside in a traditional feudal cavalry charge. they were massacred by the English infantry and archers - a lesson they did not learn.

(3) losing Calais, which gave England a base in N.France
Edward III then besieged Calais. After a year, the inhabitants were starving - but under medieval tradition, they would expect to be killed if the attackers succeeded, because they had fought back. Six leading citizens offered their own lives if Edward III would spare the rest of the townsfolk.

His queen took pity on them, and asked if the brave burghers could also be spared if the town surrendered. The citizens of Calais were permitted to leave their town without further bloodshed; their homes were given to new English settlers, who made Calais into a fortified English stronghold - a base for military expeditions into France and the near-Continent for the next two centuries.

The capture of Calais (L to R):
1. Edward III besieges the town in 1347
2. Calais Town Hall with its spectacular belfry, and the famous statue of the Six Burghers by Rodin.
3. In 1349, the French tried to retake Calais - despite sickness, the English defenders beat them off.

Misery and the Black Death

Soldiers looting a captured town
The first half of the Hundred Years War proved as catastrophic for the North as well as the rest of France.

Destructive fighting disrupted the economy: there were appalling plagues (at least a third of the population of both England and France died in 1348 in the Black Death), and violent and bloody revolts in which peasants looted nobles' houses and castles.

French defeat and creation of the Franc
Peace was declared in 1360. The English won a massive victory at Poitiers (1356), tcapturing the French King Jean le Bon. He was released for a ransom paid in gold coins called "franc-or" - "free gold".* He agreed to end the fighting, and to leave the English in control of large areas in western France - as well as Calais.

* Francs became the official national money of France at the French Revolution 1789, until the euro (2002).

Reverses for the English
The peace allowed the French King to establish more control. In 1369 the Count of Flanders died, and the French king, Charles V, had - for the time being - driven the English from their early conquests in the north of France. He broke the Anglo-Flemish alliance, by forcing the Count's only child, Marguerite of Flanders, to marry his brother Philippe, Duke of Burgundy. The marriage joined the Low Countries in the north with Burgundy in the east. After a few skirmishes, Flanders acquiesced.

The dying English king Edward III had hoped to strengthen the Anglo-Flemish alliance by marrying the sought-after heiress to his fifth son - instead his ally was now controlled by France. As the English grew weaker, Philippe brought the whole area of Falnders firmly under his control. It remained Burgundian for four reigns of French kings.

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MAP 2: By 1382, Richard II has lost most of the French lands won by his grandfather Edward III

English Peasants Revolt 1381
Young Richard II faced an English Peasants' Revolt in 1381. - fuelled by bitter resentment of the unfair Poll Tax raised to pay for the costly French wars.

The French took advantage of English weakness. Having driven the English out of all but Calais and a few other strongholds in France (see Map 2), the French struck across the Channel, helped by Spanish warships based in Rouen.

Savage French raids
In savage raids in the 1380s, the French briefly captured the Isle of Wight, and burned south coast towns like Sandwich, Winchelsea and Gravesend. In Kent, Canterbury and Dover hurriedly build town walls. Bodiam Castle was built to protect Sussex. The English knew the French had gathered a big fleet; and expected an invasion in 1386.
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...then Burgundy splits with the French crown
French success did not last! In 1380 the French king Charles V was succeeded by his son, Charles VI, who sadly became insane. He had no children, and a feud developed over who shuld take over.

In 1407 the French royal family divided into two camps - the Armagnacs (Maison d'Orleans) and the Burgundians. Their feud plunged France into civil war. The powerful Duke of Burgundy failed to win the French crown, but decided to set up his own empire instead.


MAP 3: 1430 - the height of English power in France. The Duke of Burgundy, allied with the English has captured Joan of Arc.
1415 Azincourt - the height of English power
The English took advantage of French divisions to invade Normandy again. In 1415 Henry V, king of England, was returning towaeds Calais when the French army, superior in number, caught up with hom at Azincourt. This resultied in another annihilation like Crecy, English archers wiped out the flower of the French nobility.

After this victory, Henry V conquered the north and west of France (see Map 3) - very nearly succeeding in achieving his grandfather Edward III's ambitions.

Burgundy expands in the North...
Allied again with England, the Duke of Burgundy conquered the county of Boulogne, then Hainaut and the bishopric of the Cambrésis.

...and Henry V prepares his coronation in Paris
While the weak French king cowered south of Paris in the small remaining part of his kingdom.In1420 he signed the Treaty of Troyes with Henry V., agreeing to English rule over N France, and that Henry would inherit the crown of France on his death - to run the two countries as a dual kingdom.

Jeanne d'Arc - a peasant girl inspired by "voices of angels" rouses the demoralised french trrops and saves Orléans from an English siege
Joan of Arc - the French fight back
In 1429, Joan of Arc began her quest to unite the French behind the future Charles VII and drive the English out of France. She relieved siege of Orleans, and led the Dauphin to be crowned at Rheims in 1429.

But Joan was captured by Burgundian troops and handed over to the English. They burnt her as a witch (for wearing men's clothes), at English-held Rouen in 1431. English Henry VI was crowned king of France in Paris.

However Joan had inspired a French revival.With a well-organised disciplined army, the French king Charles VII now had the war-weary English on the run.

In 1435 Charles VII bribed Philippe le Bon, Duke of Burgundy, to break the alliance with the English in exchange for Ponthieu. Only fours years later, though, he re-established the important wool trade relations with England and the Flemish economy took off again.

Driving the English out of France

1450 - French king captures Cherbourg, England's last stronghold in Normandy - ending the link from 1066
One by one, Charles VII besieged and captured the remaining English strongholds.

With the capture of Bordeaux (1453), the English had lost all their French all their French lands except Calais.(see Map 4)

That was really the end of the One Hundred Years war so far as England was concerned , though a formal treaty to end the war between England and France was only signed in 1475.

Charles VII's son, Louis XI (1461-1483) now fought to assert his power over the mighty nobles - especially the Duke of Burgundy....

The Aftermath: France v. Burgundy

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MAP 4: By 1470, the English have lost everything except Calais; Henry XI turns all his forces on the Duke of Burgundy...
In 1461 Louis XI confronted Charles the Foolhardy, the last duke of Burgundy, who ruled a huge and very rich state stretching from the North Sea to the Alps (see Map 4)

The frontier lands between them, Artois and Picardy, were ravaged once again by bitter fighting.

1464: young French King Louis XI (centre, left) fails to agree peace terms with Charles, Duke of Burgundy (centre, right). They fight for the next 13 years.

How Nord-Pas de Calais came under foreign rule
In 1477 Charles the Foolhardy was killed in a siege of Nancy, near what is now Switzerland. Louis XI quickly took advantage, conquered much of the North, and permanently siezed Burgundy itself.

Before the dead Duke's inheritance had completely fallen to Louis XI, Marie, his heir and the new Duchess of Burgundy, married a Hapsburg, the future Emperor, Maximilian of Austria.

It took Maximilian 20 years to re-establish control over the lands of his predecessor. Louis XI continued fighting on this distant frontier, reluctant to leave the North in foreign hands. But by 1493, Maximilian as Duke of Burgundy once again ruled Arras and the Artois region as well Flanders.

Fpr the next 150 years, France fought to keep hold of the region around Montreuil and Boulogne. Four isolated French strongholds also remained in Burgundian territory , including Therouanne and Hesdin.

France fought to control Montreuil and the Artois region

Henry VIII and François I met in a grandiose summit outside the English stronghold at Calais - but failed to agree an alliance.
Maximilian's grandson, Charles V, became Emperor in 1519. To limit his territorial ambitions and to get help in regaining Artois, François I sought an alliance with England. In 1520 they met at the Field of the Cloth of Gold , but failed to agree. Henry VIII went off to Gravelines to join forces with Charles V instead.

1529 - the Treaty of Madrid-Cambrai restored the Artois region to the Charles V as Duke of Burgundy. For a century, Montreuil became the frontier fortress of France.

1537 - Charles V besieged and captured Montreuil with English help. they pillaged and largely destroyed the town.

1544 - Henry VIII besieged and captured Boulogne, but handed it back to France in 1550 for a considerable sum. Montreuil held out against another Anglo-Spanish siege.

1553 - The French continued their bloody incursions into Imperial territory from their Artois strongholds. An infuriated Charles V ordered their total annihilation: Thérouanne and Hesdin were razed to the ground and the soil rendered sterile with salt.

1558 - The French finally won Calais back from the English. In the 16th century, and until reconquest by the French, blood origins remain of vital importance : under Spanish rule, you were only allowed to work for the local administration if you were born in Flanders, Artois or Hesdin.

1567 - Meanwhile, the French king built a strong Citadelle at Montreuil. It was again attacked by the Spanish in 1594 - they realised the gateway was a weak point, so the town walls were strengthened with only two gateways in and out. In 1604, Henri IV visited Montreuil and declared it "Fidelissima Picardorum Natio."

1659 - Louis XIV's Treaty of the Pyrénées rejoined the Artois region to France, leaving Montreuil safely well behind the frontier.

Up to 1300


I have included dates on either side of the main conflict, in an attempt to give a broader view of the period as a whole and to place certain events in greater context, given the history.

Year Day/Date Event
1293
1293 Philippe de Valois, future King Philippe VI of France is born.
1312
1312 13 November A son, the future Edward III of England, is born to Edward II of England and Queen Isabella, at Windsor castle.
1313
1313 July Philippe, Comte de Valois, marries Jeanne de Bourgogne.
1314
1314 24 January Philippa of Hainault, wife of Edward III of England, is born.
1316
1316 26 June After two and a half years, and in response to pressure from Philippe V of France, a conclave of Cardinals assembles at Lyon in France to select a pope.
1316 7 August Jaques d'Euse, Cardinal-Bishop of Porto is enthroned as pope John XXII. This ends the two and a half year struggle amongst the Cardinals to find a pope.
1316 5 September John XXII leaves Lyon for Avignon, where he makes his residence.
1317
1317 February An assemblage of nobles gathers in Paris to ratify the coronation of Philippe V, stating that "A woman cannot succeed to the throne and kingdom of France"
1317 13 March Given the rival emperors (Louis of Bavaria and Frederick of Austria) in the Holy Roman Empire, pope John XXII states that all imperial jurisdiction resides with the papacy.
1317 July Pope John XXII, pursuing the policy that the papacy holds all imperial jurisdiction in the absence of a clear emperor, appoints king Robert of Sicily as imperial vicar for Italy.
1318
1318 23 January After a lengthy investigation pope John XXII declares many of the doctrines of the 'Spiritual' Franciscans to be in error. Those who refused to accept this judgment were treated as heretics, and many were burned, though some escaped to Sicily.
1319
1319 John XXII, in an attempt to increase the finances of the papacy, declares that all the minor benefices falling vacant for the next three years were reserved for the pope to dispose of, thus ensuring himself the annates, a fee that customarily went along with receiving a benefice. He also diverted the estates of deceased bishops into the papal treasury, and demanded special subsidies from some archbishops.
1319 26 April A son, the future Jean II, is born to King Philippe VI of France and Jeanne de Bourgogne.
1320
1320
1321
1321
1322
1322 Louis de Nevers, age 18, becomes Count of Flanders
1322 Pope John XXII declares that the theory that Christ and his apostles had no possessions, either individually or in common, is null and void, despite the defense put forward by Michael of Cesena, general of the Franciscan order.
1322 28 September Louis of Bavaria writes the pope, saying that he has overcome his rival for the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. The pope writes a friendly letter in response.
1323
1323 Edward II makes a truce with the Scots, to last 13 years.
1323 Pope John XXII declares that the assertion that Christ and his apostles had no possessions, either individually or in common, and that they could not legitimately dispose of what they had for personal use to be heretical, provoking a great outcry amongst the Franciscans.
1323 2 March Acting as legitimate emperor, Louis of Bavaria appoints Berthold von Neiffen as imperial vicar of Italy. Pope John XXII responds to this by saying that approval of a German king for the imperial dignity was a prerogative of the pope, and that Louis must not use any of the imperial rights until that was settled, that he must recall all commands already issued, give no further aid or support to the enemies of the church, and must appear before the pope within three months, the penalty for failure in any of these things being excommunication. Louis initial response is to send an embassy to the pope asking for an additional two months.
1323 16 November Louis of Bavaria declares that he does not recognize either the pope's actions, or his claim to examine the election of a German, accuses him of countenancing heretics, and proposed calling a council to judge him.
1324
1324 In response to the uproar regarding his declaration concerning the possessions of Christ and the apostles, pope John XXII issues a bull re-affirming his previous statements, and declaring those who opposed this decision heretics and enemies of the Church.
1324 23 March Louis of Bavaria having made no steps towards reconciliation, and having failed to appear at Avignon, pope John XXII proceeds to excommunicate him.
1324 22 May Louis of Baviara publishes an appeal against the judgment of the pope, in which he accuses John XXII of heresy, protecting heretics, and an enmity to the empire and appeals the decision to a general council.
1324 11 July In response to Louis of Bavaria's persecution of those German cardinals who recognized the validity of the bull of excommunication pope John XXII declares that Louis' rights to imperial recognition were withdrawn.
1325
1325 Queen Isabella leaves England for France, theoretically to negotiate with he brother King Charles IV of France on behalf of her husband, Edward II of England.
1325 31 May Queen Isabella concludes a treaty with her brother Charles the Fair, king of France, on behalf of her husband, Edward II of England in regards to the duchy of Guienne.
1325 2 September Edward, Prince of Wales, is made duke of Aquitaine.
1325 10 September Edward, Prince of Wales, is made count of Ponthieu.
1325 12 September Edward, Prince of Wales, in the charge of Walter Stapeldon, bishop of Exeter, leave from Dover for France to do homage in place of King Edward II for the Duchy of Aquitaine.
1325 24 September Edward, Prince of Wales, does homage to King Charles IV of France at Vincennes for the Duchy of Aquitaine.
1325 Queen Isabella removes the Prince of Wales from Walter Stapeldon's charge, denying him access to both herself and the Prince.
1325 Mid November Walter Stapeldon, disguised as a common traveler, flees Paris in secret and returns to England.
1326
1326 The headquarters of the Bardi bank in London is sacked by a mob.
1326 A daughter, Marie, is born to Philippe VI, King of France and Jeanne de Bourgogne.
1326 Oliver Ingham is appointed Seneschal of Gascony. He is recalled within the year, after the fall of the Despencers, in the interests of peace with France.
1326 January - February Isabella, Queen of England, begins to recruit mercenaries from amongst the nobility of France.
1326 28 February Duke Leopold of Austria dies, thereby ending a treaty between him and Charles I, king of France, supported and ratified by pope John XXII, to depose Louis of Bavaria and place Leopold on the throne.
1326 May Queen Isabella, with Roger Mortimer at her side, appears at the coronation of the new queen of France with a large and showy retinue, displaying her new strength. This is duly reported to Edward II, and she is banished from the French court, bringing her military preparations in France to an end.
1326 August Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer take up residence at Valenciennes, in Hainault. There they arrange for Edward, Prince of Wales to be betrothed to Philippa, the daughter of Guillaume I, Count of Hainault.
1326 Edward II orders the removal of all French monks in English monasteries, and imposes restrictions on the movements of French travelers in England.
1326 16 August In response to King Edward II's actions King Charles IV orders the arrest of all Englishmen in France, and the confiscation of half their property. Edward responds in kind when he hears the news.
1326 23 September Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer, with 700 volunteers from Hainault under the Count of Hainault's brother Jean sail from Dortrecht for England.
1326 24 September Queen Isabella, Mortimer and the Hainault volunteers arrive Orwell, in Suffolk. The country rapidly rises in their favor, and Edward II is forced to flee westward, to Glamorganshire.
1326 26 October Edward, Prince of Wales is declared Keeper of the Realm by Queen Isabella & Roger Mortimer, Earl of March.
1326 16 November Edward II is captured at Neath by Henry, Earl of Leicester, and confined to captivity at Kenilworth.
1327
1327 13 January Parliament, summoned to Westminster, declares that Edward II is no longer King of England. A few days later Edward II abdicates in favor of his 14 year old son in the great hall at Kenilworth.
1327 1 February Coronation of Edward III.
1327 February Louis of Bavaria holds a congress at Trent with the principal adversaries of the pope.
1327 30 March The Most Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths is chartered in England
1327 31 March Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer conclude a treaty with Charles IV of France for peace in the Aquitaine, in which all of the recent conquests of Oliver Ingham, Seneschal of Aquitaine, are returned to French control, and a reparations payment of 50, 000 marks is to be made.
1327 3 April Pope John XXII declares Louis of Bavaria's rights to the German crown, all fiefs held from the church and former sovereigns, as well as the duchy of Bavaria, forfeited. Furthermore he accused him of heresy for defending doctrines the church had repudiated, and of harboring the heretics Marsilius and John of Gentian, and summons Louis to appear before him within six months.
1327 30 May Louis of Bavaria receives the crown of Lombardy from two deposed bishops, and creates several new bishops.
1328
1328 A census of taxable households compiled by officials of the French treasury counts 2,469,987 households in 24,000 parishes throughout the kingdom of France. This does not take into account the population of the great fiefs and appanages, where the Crown does not tax.
1328 Louis of Bavaria sets out for Rome.
1328 Pope John XXII renews he sentence against Louis of Bavaria, and had gone so far as to call a crusade against him, calling for the Germans princes to hold a new election. He also excommunicates Michael of Cesena, William of Occam, and Bonagratia di Bergamo.
1328 17 January Louis of Bavaria receives the imperial crown at Rome from senator Sciarra Colonna.
1328 A son, Louis, is born to Philippe VI of France and Jeanne de Bourgogne. but he dies the same day.
1328 24 January Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault are married at York Minster.
1328 1 February Charles IV of France, on his deathbed, declares that unless his wife, then pregnant, bears a son that the Crown of France will pass to his cousin Philippe, Comte de Valois.
1328 Charles IV of France dies. His body is laid in state in Notre Dame cathedral.
1328 February The regency of France and Navarre is entrusted to Philippe de Valois, Count of Valois, Maine and Anjou.
1328 5 February The body of Charles IV is taken to Saint-Denis, with a huge procession.
1328 1 April Queen Jeanne, widow of Charles IV, delivers a daughter.
1328 18 April Senator Sciarra Colonna, in the name of Louis of Bavaria, declares pope John XXII an heretic, usurper and oppressor of the church, and deprived of all his papal dignities.
1328 12 May Pietro Rainalducci of Corbario, a spiritual Franciscan, is proclaimed pope by Louis of Bavaria. Ten days later he is consecrated as Nicholas V.
1328 20 May The bishops of Coventry and Worcester arrive in Rheims to present Edward III's case for the title of King before the French nobility. They never perform their mission, claiming to have been subjected to ugly threats by Philippe VI's supporters, and leaving after signing a protest recording what happened.
1328 25 May Having responded to the pope's summons, and having refused to yield to the pope in the matter of the doctrine of Christ's possessions, Michael of Cesena, accompanied by William of Occam and Bonagratia di Bergamo, flees Avignon, rather than be imprisoned, and seeks protection from Louis of Bavaria.
13428 29 May Confirmed by a council of nobles that passes over the claims of Edward III of England, and in keeping with the will of the late King Charles, Philippe de Valois is crowned as Philippe VI of France.
1328 July Philippe VI leads his army into Flanders in support of his vassal, the Comte de Flanders, Louis de Nevers.
1328 Summer On the advice of Robert d'Artois, his brother-in-law and advisor, Philippe VI takes possession of the County of Artois while Robert's claim to the county is reviewed.
1328 23 August Battle of Cassel. Philippe de Valois, king of France, crushes the rebellious Flemish burghers, who had risen against the Count of Flanders.
1328 September Philippe VI sends heralds, and the Abbot of Fécamp, to demand the homage of Edward III for the Aquitaine. Queen Isabella gives him a chilly reception, according to one report saying that Edward III 'was the son of a king, and would not do homage to the son of a count'. Edward declines, and Philippe sends the Abbot of Fécamp and another commissioner to Aquitaine to sequester the ducal revenues until Edward III does homage, and threatens to make war.
1328 Winter - Spring Roger Mortimer puts down the beginnings of a rebellion by the Earl of Lancaster, who had gathered an army consisting of Edward III's uncles, the Earls of Kent and Norfolk, as well as a good portion of the baronage of the realm. Kent and Norfolk are lured away by Queen Isabella, and the rebellion collapses.
1329
1329 January A second embassy from Philippe VI of France arrives in England, again demanding homage for the Aquitaine. On hearing the advice from lords of Parliament that his claim to the French throne was unsustainable, and that is was thus his duty to do homage for his French territories, Edward III responds to Philippe's ambassadors that he will do the king of France required, and writes to Philippe regretting that the press of business had prevented him from doing so earlier.
1329 6 June Edward III does simple homage to Philippe VI for his possessions in the Aquitaine in Amiens cathedral. While this is sufficient for the moment, Philippe VI soon sets a firm date by which Edward III was to either perform liege homage or loose Aquitaine.
1329 Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland dies. The crown of Scotland passes to his son, David II, who is six, and a regency led by Thomas, Earl of Moray.
1329 September William Montague, a disaffected protégé of Mortimer's, warns the Pope that Edward III is not his own master while on a mission to Avignon for the English government
1329 November The aged Countess d'Artois dies, leaving her estates to her daughter, the duchess of Burgundy. This ends Robert d'Artois' case for the Comte, as the duke of Burgundy is not only one of Philippe's brothers-in-law, but one of the great magnates of the realm.
1329 December Robert d'Artois is dismissed from the royal favor, and criminal proceedings are begun against him when it is discovered that the documents he had rendered to support his claim to the county of Artois were forged at his order. Robert flees to the Low Countries, and all his possessions are confiscated.
1329 Christmas A great council of magnates is held at Eltham where Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer raise some support for the defense of the Aquitaine and Gascony.
1330
1330 Louis of Bavaria, having made himself unpopular with his tax levies and finding his supporters in Italy dwindling away, returns to Germany
1330 March Parliament meets at Winchester to discuss the defense of the Aquitaine. No tax is voted, but some of the individual peers are convinced to make personal contributions.
1330 The Earl of Kent is arrested at Parliament. Having been convinced that his brother Edward II was still alive he had given his support to a plot to release him from his captivity. He is tried and hurriedly condemned to death.
1330 April Edward III's brother is sent to Gascony as royal lieutenant, with an escort of troops and forty ships.
1330 May Louis of Bavaria, through the intermediaries Baldwin, archbishop of Trier, John, king of Bohemia, and Otto, duke of Austria, enters into negotiations with pope John XXII. The pope responds demanding Louis' complete abdication of all claims to the imperial title.
1330 Summer Roger Mortimer tightens his grip on King Edward III, restricting access to him, and appointing his own men as attendants.
1330 ? June Edward Plantagenet, Prince of Wales, (later called the Black Prince), is born at Woodstock palace.
1330 William Ayrmin, Bishop of Norwich, arrives in the French court to negotiate a postponement of Edward III's homage for the Aquitaine.
1330 8 June A son, Louis, is born to Philippe VI of France and Jeanne de Bourgogne, but dies before the end of the month.
1330 28 July The latest deadline set by Philippe VI for Edward III's homage expires. Edward is declared to be in default, and Philippe gives him until 15 December to appear, or be judged in absentia.
1330 25 August Antipope Nicholas V publicly acknowledges his guilt at Avignon, and is granted absolution by pope, becoming once again Pietro Rainalducci of Corbario. He is not allowed to leave the city, however, and spends the rest of his life (three years) in prayer and penance.
1330 September Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer move to Nottingham with a large bodyguard.
1330 6 September William Ayrmin returns to England and reports on the failure of his mission. A great council is summoned, set for mid-October to discuss further reinforcements for Gascony, and Edward III's Seneschal is warned to expect either officials to come and sequester the duchy (in which case he was to humor them until more vigorous measures could be taken), or an armed invasion (in which case the Seneschal and the Bordeaux government was to resist with all available strength).
1330 15 October The Great Council meets as summoned to discuss the defense of Gascony.
1330 Mid-October Roger Mortimer has the principal members of Edward III's household interrogated before the Council, telling them that Edward (who was present for the proceedings) was untrustworthy, and accusing them of aiding him in a plot to overthrow the government.
1330 19 October The Great Council, summoned to discuss the defense of Gascony, disbands, having come to no conclusion.
1330 19 October Edward III with William Montague and several of his barons take Nottingham Castle by night, entering the inner bailey through an underground culvert. They seize Queen Isabella as she is preparing for bed, and Roger Mortimer, who was in the next room. Mortimer is placed under guard and sent to London pending a decision of his fate.
1330 20 October Roger Mortimer's supporters are rounded up and arrested.
1330 End of November Parliament meets in London, and condemns Roger Mortimer without a hearing. Queen Isabella is compelled to give back the riches gained in the last four years, and to retire to her estates at Hertford and Castle Rising.
1330 29 November Roger Mortimer has the dubious distinction of being the first person ever executed at Tyburn.
1330 End of the year Charles, Count d'Alençon and brother to King Philippe VI, marches south with an army.