Politics and Warfare in the later Middle Ages

I. The Kings of Late Medieval England  [Royal Genealogy]
 
    The Last Plantagenets
    Edward II (1307-1327)
    Edward III (1327-1377)
    Richard II (1377-1399)
 
    The Lancastrians
    Henry IV (1399-1413)
    Henry V (1413-1422)
    Henry VI (1422-1461)
 
    The Yorkists
    Edward IV (1461-1483)
    Edward V (1483)
    Richard III (1483-1485)

II. Late Medieval Politics
    A. What makes a successful medieval king?
        1. military success
        2. judicious use of patronage
    B. Edward II
        1. unwise distribution of patronage
                - Piers Gaveston
        2. rise of extremely powerful barons with private armies
                - e.g., Thomas, Earl of Lancaster
        3. military failures
                - could never manage to engage the Scots in battle
        4. the Ordinances of 1311
                a. Gaveston is banished from England
                b. gave Parliament power to:
                    1. approve/reject powerful government positions
                    2. approve/reject king's decision to go to war
                    3. appoint a council to advise the king
        5. more military failures
                - 1314 - loss to the Scots at Bannockburn
        6. more unwise patronage
                - Hugh Despenser
        7. the alliance of Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer
                a. became lovers in 1323
                b. formed an army and invaded England in 1326
                c. captured Edward and Despenser
        8. the Deposition
                a. Edward formally deposed by parliament in January 1327
                b. his son and heir made king Edward III
 
III. The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) [Map]
    A. conflict between England and France
    B. as the Angevin Empire declined under John, England 
        was left with only the duchy of Gascony in France
    C. as duke of Gascony, the English king was officially a
        vassal of the king of France
    D. Edward III refused to return to the French king a
        rebellious French vassal who he was protecting AND 
          refused to pay homage to the French King in 1337
    E. the French king, Philip VI, seized Gascony
    F. Edward III declared war
    G. other underlying reasons for these actions:
        1. Edward III had a claim to the French throne when 
            Charles IV died in 1328 without an heir; thus, he 
            wanted to be king of France
        2. the English king wanted to bring Scotland under his 
            control and the French king wanted to bring Flanders 
            in the Low Countries under his control
        3. Scotland then sought France as an ally and Flanders 
            sought England
        4. basically, a "cold war" developed between England and
            France, with each kingdom searching for allies and 
            tensions building throughout the period
    H. the war had various periods of war and peace
    I. the major battles and turning points:
        - 1346: Battle of Crécy
        - 1356: Battle of Poitiers
        - 1415: Agincourt
        - 1428-9: the French liberated the city of Orléans (with 
                    the help of Joan of Arc)
    J. the English won at Crécy, Poitiers and Agincourt mainly 
        because of the large number of peasant footsoldiers who 
        used pikes and the Welsh longbow (as opposed to the 
          heavily armed knights of the aristocratic French army)
    K. rather than fighting in pitched battles, the English usually 
          raided the French countryside
    L. in 1428, the tide turned in favor of the French and from 
        1429 to 1453, the French retook their land from the English, 
        except for the northern port of Calais
    M. the French were aided by the use of the cannon and the fact 
          that the new English king (Henry VI) was an ineffective ruler
        - Images: bombard, bombard on a sled, cannon, culverin
IV. Background to the Wars of the Roses: How the Lancastrians came to power
    A. the Reign of Richard II
            - same mistakes as Edward II
    B. the Revolution of 1399
            - Henry Bolingbroke becomes Henry IV