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Men operating an espringal in a Flemish manuscript madę between 1338 and 1344. This siege engine, shown with a wheeled frame carriage, was powered by twisted skeins of horsehair, and shot massive arrows - though not actually as large as this picture suggests. (Bodleian Library, Ms. Bod. 264, f.201r, Oxford)

infantry. Naval and land forces from the Iberian peninsula helped the French during a Breton campaign of 1342, while fifteen years later Charles of Navarre sent 224 men-at-arms and 1,120 infantrymen by sea to Normandy.

Leadership

Between the Truce of Bretigny in 1360 and the close of the 14th century, a steady series of French counter-offensives was led by commanders who were mostly drawn from the traditional aristocratic elite, though they also included men of obscure lineage. Of over 1,600 men paid by the French government to command military units, less than 350 appear morę than a few times. Of these about 180 were prominent enough to be regarded as a ‘Royal offtcer corps’ and these were the true military aristocracy of later 14th century France. Most came from Normandy, Brittany, western France and the Paris region.

The nobility of the north and west had, in fact, been hostile to the ruling Valois family until a reconciliation between these clans and the Valois enabled French forces to expel the English from all but a handful of Coastal towns by the end of the century. But following the death of Charles V in 1380 the gradual alienation of such men divided France into what hecame known as the Armagnac and Burgundian factions, and permitted the English again to occupy over half the country after the battle of Agincourt.

French kings during the Hundred Years War

Philip VI de Valois (1328-1350) John II The Good (1350-1364) Charles V The Wise (1364-1380) Charles VI The Mad (1380-1422) Charles VII The Well-Served (1422-1461)

At a time when, according to most historians, a sense of French national identity was being forged though prolonged conflict with England, regional identities remained powerful. This was particularly true in Brittany, where use of a Cellic language remained strong even amongst the feudal elite. Within the even morę powerful Duchy of Burgundy the noblesse or military aristocracy came to regard itself as having a higher status than that of any other land. Here newly enobled men, even those who had earned their rank through successful military careers, were cxpected to remain ‘humble’ in the presence of those boasting four generations of noble ancestors. In such a society loyalty, noble obligation and the pursuit of personal honour remained paramount - which in tum led to an emphasis on individual close combat.

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