Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 2:04:57-2:05:38

The Hundred Years' War can be read as a French civil war

The conflict pitted rival French-rooted dynastic claims over who should rule France, making civil war a useful description alongside its international dimensions.

Angevin EmpireDynastic PoliticsFranceHundred Years WarMedieval Warfare
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Question

Can the Hundred Years' War accurately be described as a French civil war?

Short answer

Yes; rival French-rooted houses were fighting over the right to rule France.

Notes

The Hundred Years' War can be described as a French civil war. At its center was a dispute over who possessed the right to rule France. The English crown's claim grew from Norman and Angevin dynastic roots rather than from a wholly separate national world. Calling the war a civil conflict highlights the competing ruling houses and overlapping identities that a simple England-versus-France label can conceal.