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Essay: The March ofthe Black Death 8

The HundredYear'sWar 16

TheRise ofthe Ottomans 46

3 The Furyofthe Steppes 70

Essay: Green andTranquil Places 99

Essay: Martial Pastimes 133

U TheAfrican Empires 142

Chronology 166

Bibliography 168

Picture Credits 170

Acknowledgments 171

THE MARCH OF THE BLACK DEATH

In the fourteenth century, divine

retribu-tion for the wickedness of humankind

seemedtobetheonlypossibleexplanation

whichthewholeworldreeled.Inthefirst

quarter of the century, Asiawas afflicted

bysuccessive floods,earthquakes,famines,

anddroughts;inEurope,wheresince1250

theclimatehadbecomecolderandwetter,

crops failed regularly and overcrowded

communitiessufferedfamineanddisease

Worse wasto follow Outofthe Far East

came a sickness of unprecedented

viru-lencethat, between 1346 and 1352,

to sweepacross the world, it was to

Thesickness struckinoneofthreeforms,

all caused by the bacterium Pasteurella

pestis Pneumonic plague attacked the

lungs and septicemic plague the

blood-stream.Bubonicplague,the thirdand

com-monest form, derived its name from the

egg-size swellings— buboes —that

ap-peared onthe neckand inthearmpitsor

groinduringthe early stages of the disease,

tobe followed byhigh feveranddelirium

Thoseof stronger constitution might

sur-vivelongenoughtoexperience the

excru-ciating burstingof the buboes Usually,

deathofferedtheonly relieffrompain

Sagesblamedthespreadinginfectionon

movementsofthe planets,theputrefaction

of the airby corpses, orthe touchingof

infectedbodiesorclothes.Itwas even

sug-gested that amereglancefroma sick

per-son could be fatal. The real culprits, the

blackratsthat infestedmosthouseholdsof

thetimeandwhosefleaswere

contaminat-ed with plaguebacteria,wouldnotbe

died and the rodent population declined,

the fleas turned to humans as suitablewarm-bloodedsubstitutes.

ap-pears to have been set in motion in theGobiDesertinMongolia.Inthelate 1320s,

an epidemic erupted thereamongrodents

and claimed its first human victimsfromwithin the ranks of the nomadic Mongol

horsemen,whospread thediseaseout their extensive empire The trade

through-routes oftheSilk Road, alongwhich silks

andfursweretransportedwestward from

China,exposedthewholeof centralAsia tothe disease,andby1345, Astrakhanonthe

VolgaRiverandCaffaontheBlack Seahadsuccumbed as infectedfleasjumped fromunpacked cargoesoffurs.

The Black Sea marked the end of the

overlandtrade routesfromChinaandthebeginningofthemaritime onestoEurope

Bylate1347,the rat-infestedholdsof

Ital-ian merchant ships had carried the

pesti-lence to the ports of the Mediterranean,

from whichitquicklyreached thoseofthe

FrenchAtlantic coast.Englandpaid dearly

forits Bordeauxwines:Within a year, the

Black Death was unwittingly imported

along with the claret By 1352, it had

spread to Scandinavia, Germany, Poland,

the disease had first entered Europe, its

grim tour had claimed the lives of more

than20 millionpeople

De-cameronwascast asacollectionofstories

toldbycitizens in flightfromthe

plague-riddencityof Florence,noted avariety of

responsesamongthesurvivors Somehad

no thought other than saving their own

the sickand whateverbelongedtothem."Others soughtoblivioninunbridledpleas-

tavernto another,drinkingandcarousing

unrestrainedly." A third, more moderate

responsewastocontinuelifeasnormalbutwiththeaddedprecautionofcarryingbou-quetsof fragrant flowersto "comfort thebrainwithsuchodors, especially since the

airwasoppressiveandfullofthestenchofcorruption, sickness,andmedicines."

The doctors prescribed mysterious

po-tions of herbs and other ingredients—

in-cluding, forexample, ten-year-old

molas-sesandchopped-upsnake—andlancedtheswellings If a physician tried bleeding apatient,he discoveredthattheplaguevic-

tim'sbloodwasthickandblackand

some-timescovered by a green scum.Onlythe

Farmoreefficaciouswerethe preventive

measurestaken byafewdetermined

com-munities The despotic rulers of Milanwalleduphousesatthefirstsign of infec-

rigorous public-health program that

in-volved thepaving andcleaningof streets

and the carting away of refuse Personal

cleanliness—for many, a completely new

concept— was encouraged, and some

workers even received bathing moneyas

paill»l men wagej.itiiiuii uiiu i tu » «—.D

hadpossibly the lowest death tollsofthe

major Europeancities.

The devastation caused by the Black

Death had passed its peak by the early

1350s,buttherewerefurtheroutbreaksin

thefollowing decades,andtheplague

century.Themassivedeclineinpopulation

transformed therelationshipbetween

peo-pleandresources.Sincelaborwasscarce,

the survivingworkforcecould command

highwagesfor their services,whereasthe

prices of landandagriculturalproductsfell

because of lack of demand One English

chroniclerremarked:"A mancouldhavea

horse,whichwas worthfortyshillings,for

im-posewage controlsprovoked widespread

anger,andinEngland, the workers'

height-enedsenseof their neweconomic

impor-tance contributedtothePeasants' Revolt of

1381 Similar uprisings occurred inother

Europeancountries

Attitudestoward religionwere changed

as well.Theclergyingeneralhadshownas

cial group during the plague years, and

theywerenowregardedasfallibleand

un-justifiably self-important On the otherhand, personal faith was strengthened asthe frighteningproximityofdeath focused

people's minds on the afterlife. Cults of

mysticismbecamepopular,andinreligious

art,theimageofdeath—often intheform

ofaravenousskeleton leadingthelivingtotheir graves—was a recurring motif The

deceasedweredepictedontheirtombsas

hideously emaciatedandtortured,

perma-nentwitnesses to thesocialand

psycholog-ical scarsinflictedbytheBlack Death

trade routes into the Middle East, North Africa, and

cargoes.While somecities, such as Milan,wereonly

lightly affected,manyother communitieswere wiped

out In Europe alone, easily a third of the population

succumbed.After cutting a deadly swath along the coasts of the Mediterranean and into Italy, France, and

Spain, the course of the plague turned almost full circle,

1349

1349

1348

^Z^\V/^\^A\T^\T/A\V/A V

dugfor their interment, victims of the Black Death

are carried to a cemetery

hastily prepared outside the city walls of Tournai, a

summerof 1 349 This lustration from the annals

il-of the local abbot, Gilles li

Muisit,showsthat the

had the luxury of being

buried in coffins As the ravages of the Black Death

increased in intensity,

the cartload and burying

themin mass graves The

Italian writer Boccaccio,

reflecting in the years that followed, describedhow

the tragedy:"Norfor all

theirnumber werethe

ob-sequies honored by either tears or lights orcrowds

cometo this, that a dead

manwasthen ofno more

wouldbe today."

^Sa

*j£*.*

whips poised above their shoulders, process behind

ofawedspectators in

churches or market

squares, the flagellants stripped to the waist and

workedthemselves into a

frenzy by lashing their

leather knotted with iron spikes This self-scourging

itwasbelieved, had

hun-dredmembersof each ciety included bothmen

so-andwomen,rich and

poor; theywereforbidden

their clothes, and the

sex-eswerestrictly segregated Flagellismbecamepreva- lent inGermanyin 1348

and at firstwas condoned

movement was bannedin

1349 whenthepope

muchspiritual authority.

f§ WmnWfk

isaddedto the pyre in

which Jews are being

lepers and various racial

or religious minorities, the

for their dealings in

Churchauthorities—

Eu-rope.Themostcommon

the fact that they

sustained asmany

casual-ties in the plague as the

Christians did not

diminish the fervor of their most fanatical oppo-

nents, the flagellants Pope

per-secutionwaspursued with

vigor until 1351, bywhich

onthe decline.

E

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

i

fought in 1 356,showsKing John II of France—mounted

with fleurs-de-lis—struggling in vain against the English.

Theengagement endedin defeat for the French; the

inability tomatchthe English in the field of battle, the

countryside; in later campaigns of the long conflict that

becameknownas theHundredYears' War, they

con-tinued to avoid major encounters, choosing instead to

weardownthe English through skirmish and ambush.

In thedankdepths ofautumn,the gray swellsofthe EnglishChannel promised anuneasy crossing between England and France But if Henry Burghersh, bishop of

LincolnandcouncilortothekingofEngland,feltany queasinessonhisvoyage,itwas more likelyto becaused bythedocument in hispossession thanby thelurchingof

the deck underneath his feet. A few days earlier, on October 19, 1337, the royal

councilorsandtheirsovereign, Edward III,had metatthe palaceofWestminstertodraftan angry messageto Philip ofValois, kingofFrance Now, bearing thefruitof

those deliberations, thebishop andhisentouragedisembarked and rodehardforthe

French capital at Paris

At the Louvre, the royal palace of the French monarchy, the emissaries were

received with scrupulous courtesy Thekingtook the parchmentfrom the bishop's

hand, perused it in silence,then passed ittoa secretaryto read aloud

asser-tion that he, notPhilip,wastherightfulking of France.Throughhismother, Isabella,

a Frenchprincess, Edward's claimtothecrown was nolessstrongthan Philip'sown:

IVofFrance hadnot diedwithoutsonsin 1328,Philipwouldneverhave reachedthethrone This claim was not a new one; indeed, there were nobles in France who

quietly supported it. But now the English monarch was prepared to back up his

challenge bytheuseof force

Thesecondstatementwasequally provocative.Edward announcedthat,although

heheldvast tracts ofland inFrance,hewas nolongerpreparedtopayhomagetothe

French kingas his landlord.Thefertilenorthern countyofPonthieu, aswell asthe

wine-growingduchy ofAquitaine in the south, was his by hereditary right and by

thegraceofGodalone,and hewouldrulethese areas ofFranceas freely asheruled

England Fromthis day forward, he declared himselfto bethesworn enemyoftheusurper, Philipof Valois

Acourtierwhowitnessedthedeliveryofthismessagereportedthattheking simplysmiledat thebishopofLincoln, complimented him on theskill with which he had

carried outadifficultdiplomatic mission,andtold himthattheletterdid not require

areply Philipthen dismissed the delegatesto their lodgings,sentthem backtothecoast with his personal guaranteeofsafe-conduct, and prepared forwar

Theconflict thatensuedwouldlast farlongerthan themen whobegan it,andnot

eventheirgrandsonswould livetoseeitsend.For 150years thefightwouldgoon,

as aprolongedagonyofsporadic skirmishesand uneasytruces punctuated byspells

of intense and savage combat Its effects would be felt far away from the

battle-grounds, in fortuneslost and gained, in new patterns ofgovernment, in social heavalson an unprecedentedscale.Theconflictwould become knowntolaterages

up-astheHundred War, but those generationswho

knew onlythat theirswas a timeofperpetual strife.

In the volatile world of fourteenth-century European politics, challenges by rival

claimants to a crown were not uncommon Monarchs died without direct heirs;rulingfamilies all over Europewere inextricablyintermarried; customsvaried from

one landto another regarding the admissibility offemale inheritors toa throne; the

Disputes betweenEdwardIII—duke of Aquitaine and

VI of France concerning English territories in France

accord-ingly; the shield of his son, depicted in a stained-glass

windowin Saint Alban's Abbey (above), showsthe

The English domains in Francewereconsiderably

territory they had ceded, and by the 1370s, their fleet

wasraiding the south coast of England.

fatheredmultiplesetsofdescendantsinthe process.Edward's secondchallenge—hisrefusal to payhomage — wasfar moreaudacious, foritthreatened the centuries-old

setof social and property relationshipsthatwas later known asthe feudal system

Atitssimplest,thefeudal bond wasa linkbetweenapowerful person andaweaker

granta lesser lord—thevassal—possessionof aparceloflandthatmight,according

tocircumstance, beassmall as afarmor as largeas aprovince Even a king could

bea vassal to another king, if heheld landthat had been granted to him,orto his

ancestors, within the other monarch's realm The fourteenth-century Plantagenetkings ofEngland weredescendants ofFrench princes and as such held territory in

Franceas vassals oftheFrenchmonarch; theirancestors included William,dukeof

ascended the French throne in the following year Soon thereafter, in accordance

with feudalcustom,Edwardpaidhomageto hisnewly crownedkinsmanforthe lands

he held in France Now, inthe letterdispatched to Philip inthe careofthe bishop

of Lincoln, Edward had declared the feudal contract null andvoid

Butalthoughthe immediatepolitical crisiswascaused by Edward'srepudiationof

hisallegianceto Philip of Valois,theissues raisedwentfarbeyondthebreachofthese

bonds Both monarchs were engaged in the lengthy process of asserting a centralroyal authority,and since the latethirteenth century,economic pressures, strategic

considerations,andpoliticalstrifehad playedtheirpartsingeneratingandescalatingtheconflictbetween them.TheFrenchking hadtocontend withatierof lordswho

were his vassals but, at the same time, enjoyed almost as much power as their

sovereign: Hisgreatdukesandcounts presidedovertheirowncourtsandruledtheir

countofPonthieu,wasaFrencharistocratandwasobliged todefendtheinterests ofhisFrenchoverlord—butaskingofEngland, Edwardcould hardlyallow hisFrenchneighborto dictate his foreign alliances ordemand his support inwartime.Three decades of negotiation had failed tosolve the problem, which was com-

plicated by economic links between England and France based on the vital

com-modities ofsalt, wool, and wine England depended for its salt on the marshesofBrittanyandPoitou, across theChannel;theweaversofthesemiautonomouscounty

ofFlanderswere theprimary purchasers of pastoral England's vastoutputofwool;and Europe'sthirst for good French wine could bequenched only by thecargoes

passingthroughthe English-heldportofBordeaux,whereall thewinesofAquitaine

weregathered, loaded, and taxed

These economicconcerns were inseparablefromstrategic considerations Itwas

equallycrucial toFrancethatitbeabletocontrol the seatraffic alongitscoasts.To

guardagainst thepossibility ofFrenchports falling intoenemyhands,Philip ofFrance

England andScotland had been warring almost continuouslysince the 1290s.The

Scots, ledbytheirking,Robert Bruce,hadrepulsed amassiveinvasion forcein 131 4,

subjecting Edward N'sarmiesto a humiliating defeatatthe BattleofBannockbum.

Althoughthethird Edward had sealeda treatywith the Scotsin 1328, soonafterhis

own accession, he found it impossibleto resistthe temptation to intervene in their

II, and placed hisown puppeton the disputed Scottishthrone.

Philipwasquicktogiveshelter tothe exiledking He soughttoarbitrate between

Scotland and England but insisted thatno settlementwaspossible unless the exiled

Brucewas reinstated.Asense of justicemay have inspired his effortson the young

Scottish king's behalf,but the pleasureofseeingEnglandunderthreaton twoseparate

flankswas an equally strong incentive

discomfitedbythelargefleet gatheringinFrance'sChannel ports.Thesevesselshadoriginally been intended to take an army ofEuropean knights on a Crusade tothe

Holy Land, butwhenthepopecanceledthe expedition,Philipmoved hisshipsfrom

the Mediterraneantotheharbors ofNormandy,virtuallyon England's doorstep.To

attackon England, in support of theScots It was inthese circumstancesofmutualhostility and intimidationthat Edward dispatched his challengeto Philip in 1337

thecriteriaforwarsthatcould be launchedwith divine approval: just authority, just

cause,andjustintention.Byjustauthority,hemeantthatonlyaprince or amonarch,

investedwith the divinemandatetodefend hisrealm,hadthe authoritytostartawar

andraisean army.Topossessa justcause, themonarch hadtomakeastand against

Aminiature from a fourteenth-century manuscript,

pos-sibly Genoese, shows moneylenders counting coins

(left) Italian bankers helped finance both sides in the

Hundred Years'War; thetwogreatest banking firms

had gold coins of theirownfrom the mid-thirteenth

century; an ecu dating from the reign of Charles VI is

shownat right, above.EdwardIII minted the first

Eng-lish gold coins from 1344,oneof which, showing the

king in a ship (right, below),commemoratedan English

naval victory at Sluis in 1340.

who

Finally,every participantinajustwarhadtobe impelledbyjustintentions:Warriors

had to be dedicated tothe struggleagainstevil, not simplyto personal gain

If the royal combatants had not been prepared to turn a blind eye to this last

condition, itwould havebeenvirtually impossibleto recruittroops orallies,but lip

service had to be given to the noble intentions ofall who took up arms And bothprotagonists believed in the righteousness of their cause: Edward III insisted thatPhilipdeniedhimjusticeby withholdinghislegitimate inheritanceinFrance;Philip'sjustification was hisneed to punish a rebelliousvassal

Interms ofmaterial resources, the French king appearedto have the advantage

Thebroad, fertile kingdom ofFrance, thewealthiestinEurope,boastedapopulation

ofsome 21 millionsouls.Bounded on the

northwestbythe EnglishChannel andtendingsouthwardtothePyrenees,France

ex-was a land of powerful contrasts—of

plainsand mountains,cornfieldsandyards, cathedral cities and isolated ham-

vine-lets,plateaus sodensely populatedthatthe

church bellsfrom onevillage rangclearly

in the next, and barren wastes where atravelermightnotmeetanotherliving per-son in the space of a full day's journey

Fully half the kingdom was governed

di-rectly by the king; the restwas under thecontrolof his powerful vassals

Englandwaspoorer.Itsclimatewasless

kindly than that of France, its population

perhaps one-fourth the size of its

neigh-bor's Itscapital, London, was barelyhalf

the size of Paris, and only a handful oftowns,farsmaller thantheircross-channelcounterparts, served as trade centers

Good farmland was concentrated mainly

inthe eastern countiesandthe midlands;the restofthecountrywasa landscapeofmoors, heaths, hills,and unclearedforest.

On both sides ofthe Channel, thesame social structures predominated A largerural peasantry—bothfreetenantsandserfsboundtothesoilthey tilled— laboredto

provide the wealth of the land owned by their noble masters Within this rural

underclass, therewerebroadvariations:peasantsasprosperousas petty lords,less beggars, subsistence farmers for whom the weather's caprices spelled life or

home-death.Inthetowns,agrowingpopulationof artisans, clerks,and merchants occupiedsociety's middle ground

French andEnglish nobles,sprung fromthesamestock,shared thechivalricculture

common to western Europe's upper classes They practiced a common code of

knightly conduct, observed thesame niceties of courtlyetiquette, and drew rationfromthe romancesthatcelebrated the gloriousdeedsofRoland, KingArthur,

inspi-THE BATTLE FSI THE CHAPEL

tiers:lesser lords,ofsmallestatesandfairlylocalizedpower, anda higher aristocracyconsistingof a small butformidable elite—dukes, earls, counts, and viscounts, theprinces of the realm Here, however, the resemblance between thetwo kingdoms

ended.ThechiefnoblesofEnglandwereactively involvedinthegovernmentofthe

entirerealm;andalthoughtheymight bearthetitlesofcertainterritories—Essex, forexample, or Kent—they did not necessarily have jurisdiction overthose lands In

France, themightydukesandcountswerepotentatesintheirownseparatedomains;

unmovedbyanyembryonicsenseofnationalidentity,they did not automaticallyallythemselveswith the king orconcern themselveswith the governmentofthe realm

Theloyaltyof hisnobleswas one ofEdward's mostconspicuous advantages,and

he was able to secure the backing of Parliament—the assembly representing the

nobilityandthegentry—forraisingtaxesto fundthewareffort. He was alsoableto

use England's revenues fromthe wool trade assurety to raise loansfrom Europe's

mostimportant moneylenders,the great bankingfamiliesofItaly. Nevertheless, the

transporting, and maintaining an army on the farside ofthe Channel, and also ofpurchasingthegoodwill of potential allies, would beastronomical

Acrossthewater, Philipfoundneitherpolitical norfinancial support easytocome

by.Lackinganycentral tax-raisingfacility,hehadtoappealforfundstoeachlocality

inturn.Absorbed intheaffairsoftheirownregions,theFrench nobilitydisputed the

king's right to taxthem and showed little inclination toprovidethenecessary

finan-cialor moral backingforthewar.And Philip'sdomestic problemswere aggravated

bytwomajorpoliticaldisputes.Revolts inFlandersin 1338had broughttopowera

local leadernamedJacob van Artevelde;dependent on suppliesofEnglishwool to

Sculpted in gilded bronze, an effigy showing Edward,

armorlies above histombin Canterbury Cathedral.

chivalric knighthood, hewonhis spurs at the Battle of

King )ohn at Poitiers After being appointed prince of

only surviving son ascended the throne as Richard II.

Brittanywas enmeshed inaprolongedsuccession dispute, inwhichEngland fanned

theflames by offering to backonefaction inexchangefor itssupport

Both theexigenciesof raisinganarmy andthevery nature offourteenth-centurywarfare dictated a slow escalation It was late in 1339, two years after Edward's

challengeto Philip,before thefirst majorcampaign was launched

Inthedecadesthatfollowed, bothsideslearned hard lessonsabouttheartofwarfare,

and certain time-honored assumptions governing the conductof battles were deredobsolete.Thestruggleas awhole wasawarofattrition,characterized lessby

attacks of guerrillawarfare.Therewerefewpitchedbattlesbetween massedarmies

Most encounterswere skirmishes betweensmall armed bands contending forsession of a fortress or a strategic town, and much ofthe war was waged against

pos-civiliansintheformof terrifyingforaysbyirregulartroopswho pillagedand burnedtheirwayacross the countryside, aswell as long sieges against walled towns con-ducted fortheexpress purposeofstarving their inhabitants intosubmission

Thesuccessfulconductofsiegeswasa tactical studyin itsownright.Thefirststep

wastocutoffthedefenders'watersupply; then tunnelswere dugunderthewallsand

Europe;firstmentionedina treatisedated 1327,cannon weretobeemployedbytheEnglish atthe siegeofCalais in 1346andotherengagements.Contemporarywriters

ontheartofwar recommendedthatcaptured defenders shouldnotbekilled butthat

they should be maimed, rendering them unableto fight or towork, and then sent

hometo burdenever-shrinking resources

Medieval warfare was a predominantly seasonal tion, best fought in the fall when all the reaping and sowing

harvested whatthey hoped wouldseethemthroughthe

win-ter.Battles,too,were moreeasilywon whentheweatherwas

This late-fourteenth-century steel basinet—a

close-fitting headpiece—is typical of a style ofarmored

hel-met thatbecameincreasinglycommonduring the

Hun-dred Years' War The perforated cone-shaped visor

deflected frontal blows, and the pointed rear gave a

glancing surfacewhenthe headwastilted forward, as

during a cavalry charge The camail, a curtain of chain

the wearer's neck and shoulders Thewholeensemble

kinder and the troops not exhausted by the effort of keeping warm and dry

OnbothsidesoftheChannel, menofallranksweretaughttoseewarfareasaway

oflife.Nobleswereencouragedtopracticetheirequestrianandmartialskills injoustsand tournaments, and thelowerorderswereexhortedto train theirsons inarchery

At thestartofthe war, Edward issued an order forbidding peasants toplay football

orsimilargames,on painofdeath; instead,theyweretooccupytheirleisurehours

practicingwithbowsandarrows.To makesurethepopulacehadthenecessarytools

ofthetrade, the kingcanceledthe debtsofany artisan who made longbows.Archersbecamean increasingly importantpartofanyarmyinthefield Ifanativeforcedid notpossessenough menwiththis skill,thereweremercenariesavailableforhire; mostof the archersfightingontheFrenchsidewere Genoese,adeptattheuse

oftheunwieldy crossbow.Other combatantsinboththe EnglishandFrench armies

—

soldiersarmedwithswords, daggers, axes,andpikes,andlance-bearing warriorson

foot or horseback Each participant was required tosupply his own weapons andarmor; the knightswho made upthecavalry alsoprovided theirownsteeds Equip-pingeventhehumblestfightingman becamean evermoreexpensivebusiness:Itwas

estimatedthatthe costofprovidingweapons andprotectiveclothingforan ordinary

man-at-arms increased eightfold between 1300 and 1350

Butwhatevertheexpensesoflaunchinghimselfona militarycareer,a fightingman

could lookforward—providedhesurvived thewar —to augmentinghisfortunes By

theopeningoftheHundredYears'War,the feudal obligationof militaryservicethat

a vassal owed to his lord had been largely replaced by the employment of paidvolunteers,whoofferedtheirservicesovera fixed terminreturn forwages andother

financialincentives.Theycouldhopetoenrichthemselvesfromsharinginthebooty

of plundered towns and from the ransom money paid for any captives taken A

garrisoncouldcommandafatfeefrom localcivilians fordefendingtheirterritory;a

bandof militarymarauders couldextortahealthysumfromthenervous populacein

supplementaryto armypay; in fact, they often formedthe largest partofa militaryincome Contemporary moralists lamentedthatwar was no longerfoughtforglorybutfor gain A new generationofprofessional warriors had been born

Withthissoldieryat hisdisposal, Edward openedthefirstcampaign ofthewar in

1339.Waiting until September, whenthe peasantsofnorthern France had finishedtheharvest, he led an armyofraiderson afive-week-longrideofterror— known in

contemporary parlanceas achevauchee —layingwastetothedistrictsofCambresis,Vermandois, andThierache Inalettertoto hissonandhisroyalcouncilors,Edward

described these adventures: "On Monday, theeveof SaintMatthew,we left

Valen-ciennes,andthesamedaythetroopsbegan burninginCambresis,andtheyburned

therethroughthe followingweek,sothatthecountry isclean laidwaste, asofcorn,

destroying thecountryfortwelveorfourteen leagues around."

Aswell assowing terror, Edward expressly intendedtoseekoutthe Frencharmy

Philip nevergavehistroops thecommand to fight.Theresultofthis firstcampaign

forEnglandwasthusa propagandavictory ratherthan a militaryone: Theroadsof

the north were crammed with panic-stricken refugees Learning oftheir plight,the

pope sent6,000gold florins to Paris to helprelieve theirmisery

causeseveredamagetotheFrencheconomy.Butforthe English also the costsofwar werehigh, not leastbeingthatoftransportingtheirtroopsand provisions across the

Channel to France Theircommandersreckoned thatchaoswould ensueifsoldiers

wereforcedtolive offa landthatwasbeingrapidlyandsystematically strippedofits

food sources Tosupply rations forthe troops, the inhabitants ofSouthampton andWinchesterwere commandedtobake breadand brewbeerinprodigiousquantities

Beasts were assembled for slaughter near the Channel ports, and the mayor andaldermenofLondonsentout smallcargovesselstodeliverfresh suppliesatfrequent

intervalsto thearmy in France

equip-ment had to be brought along notonlyforfighting battles butfortransporting gage,settingup camp, andconductingsieges One inventoryofequipmentshipped

bag-to France included—inadditiontoartillery piecesandotherweapons —cranes,

sparearrow shafts,horseshoes, horsecollars, and harnesses, leatherstraps, baskets,chains, trestles, lanterns, assault ladders, small leather boats, and all the necessary

England had no standing navy to transport its army and in times of crisis was

compelled to draft merchant ships and other vessels into military service But the

importanceofestablishing controlovertheChannel becameincreasinglyapparenttobothsides,andwhenthe inevitableclashatseaoccurredonJune24, 1340,itproved

to bethemostdecisivebattle inthefirstphaseofthewar.TheFrench, learningthat

launch a preemptivestrike. Philipassembled an invasion forcetobetransported in

hisownvesselsandthoseof hisGenoeseandCastilianallies.The twofleetsmetand

foughtjust offtheFlemish coastatSluis,atthemouth oftheZwin River,theseaport

ofthe richcloth-weaving townofBruges

TheEnglishhadthewindandthesunbehindthem andthetideintheirfavor; theirgreatestadvantage,however,wastheskillof theirarchers,plyingtheirlongbowsfrom

high platforms— known as castles— mounted onthedecksoftheships In forceandfury, theirvolleysofarrowsfaroutstripped thecrossbow bolts fired offbytheGen-

oese In range,thecrossbows could hitatargetmorethan 1,600feetaway, whereasarrowsshotfrom longbows rarelytraveledasfar as1,000 feet; butcrossbowswere

minute, in which timea master longbowman could fireofftwelve arrows

The EnglishchroniclerGeoffreythe Baker described how, asthe shipsfrom each

sidedrewclosertogether,"anironcloudof boltsfellupontheenemy,bringingdeath

tothousands; then thosewhowished,orweredaringenough,cametoblowsatclosequarterswith spears, pikes,and swords; stones,thrownfromthe ships' castles,also

killed many." After hours of hard fighting, with massive losses on both sides, the

Frenchweredefeated.Manyof their soldiers,overwhelmedbythe blizzardofarrows,

weredrivenoverboard Itwas said thatso muchoftheir bloodstained theseathat

ifthefisheshad been given thepowertospeak,theywould havedonesoin French

Bytheir victoryat Sluis, the English decimated the French fleetand made

them-selvesmastersoftheChannel.Anddespiteoccasional setbacks, the Englishwereable

tomaintaintheirpositionduringthe nexttwodecades.WhiletheFrenchwereforced

to rely on mercenary troops and foreign allies to field any kind of fighting force,

EUROPE'S FIRST ARTILLERY

hefirstrecorded useofcannonin

Euro-pean warfarewasduringthe siege of Calais

between1346 and 1347, whenten ofthe

newweapons weredeployed by the

charge of gunpowder, which was ignited

through a'touchhole(inset), tofire either

lead balls or arrow-shaped projectiles

manuscript illustration below; wadding

wrapped around the shaft of the quarrel

helped preventthe force oftheexplosion

fromdispersing

Toounwieldy tobemaneuveredonthe

re-mained ineffectiveagainst stone

fortifica-tionsuntil larger weaponsthat could fire

stoneballsweredeveloped duringthe

fol-lowingcentury

virtually separate armies, each underthe control ofits own commander, operating

singlyonseparatefrontsorcomingtogethertoassaulttheFrench en masse.In 1346,

the English defeated the ScotsattheBattleofNeville'sCross nearDurham, inwhich

they captured the Scottish king That same year, across the Channel in northernPicardy, aboutthirty miles from the coast, they won a decisive victory against the

French atCrecy Here,too, the longbowmen werethe heroes ofthe day

In theory, the French had all the advantages: Their army far outnumbered the

English,andtheyweremeetingtheenemy ontheirown homeground Nevertheless,

exhausted by a long march before the start of the battle, the French forces were

plaguedbyillluckanddisorderoncethearmiesmet.A suddenrainstormhad soakedtheirGenoesearchers' bowstrings, sothatthey lacked tautness; the Englishbowmen

hadkepttheirownstringsdryby stowingthemundertheirhelmets.TheEnglisharmy

took up its battle formation on a small piece of rising ground ideally suited for

defense.The French,blindedbythe sun,were overcome bya pincers movementof

English archers; and as their cavalry tried to moveforward against the barrage of

arrows,theirhorsesfellintoconcealedtrenches.Thosesoldiersnotcrushedtodeath

by theirown sidewere hacked to pieces by Englishswords and spears

TheEnglishfolloweduptheirvictoryatCrecy byseizingtheChannelportofCalais

afteralong siegein 1347, butlaterthatyear,allconflictwas broughttoa haltbythe

arrival in Europe of the Black Death The fatalities caused by this lethal strain of

In an early-fourteenth-century manuscript illustration,

armedrioters ransack the house of a wealthy Paris

mer-chant In both England and France, the urban poor and

the rural peasants bore the brunt of taxes imposed to

finance the war The suffering of the needywas

rebellions throughout the century.Amajor uprising in

Peasants' Revolt of 1 381 , rebels sought an end to

serf-dom,but their pitchforks andhomemadearmorproved

bubonic plague— some 20millionin justfour years—setthecasualtyfiguresonboth

sides during the Hundred Years' War in a new and terrifying perspective, and forseveralyearsitseemedasifthe survivorshad been robbedofall resolvetocontinue

Peacenegotiationsweresetin motionbetween Edward andJohnII,whosucceededhisfather askingofFrance in 1350;butintheendtheycouldnotcometoterms,and

One of these armies was led by Edward's soldier-son, thetwenty-four-year-old

thathehadwornblackarmor Hehad enjoyed anearly taste ofblood andvictory as

asixteen-year-old fledglingknightatCrecy; but thetriumph thatwon him fameandpopularadoration wasthe Battle of Poitiers in 1356

English army,the Black Prince turned back toward Bordeauxwhen he learned that

a much larger Frenchforcewaspursuing him TheFrench caughtup with him near

Poitierson September 17; however, John refrainedfrom attacking the English on a

andwooded land unsuitableforcavalry Onthenext day, the Englishlongbowmen,

continued foreight hours, the English archers engagingthe enemy in fierce to-handcombat once theirarrows had been spent, and theBlack Prince'seventual

hand-victorywas gloriouslyconfirmed bythecaptureofthe French king

The triumphal return ofthe Black Prince to London, with John and many other

noble captives in histrain, was theoccasion for an orgy of public rejoicing The

timbered houses were festooned with banners, the narrow streets carpeted withflowers,andsoecstaticwerethecrowdsthatittookseveral hoursforthe procession

to travel thetwo milesfrom thecity tothe royal palace at Westminster

Having capturedthe French kingand humiliated the illustrious French knightsat

Poitiers,the Englishhad goodreasontobelievethattheycouldconcludethewar on

theirownterms.But,intheabsenceofJohnII,hissonCharles, thedauphin,managed

to inspiretheFrenchwith newdetermination: Encouraged bythepope'ssupportfortheircause, thedauphin's armyforced the Englishto raise theirsiegeofthe city of

sides metfornegotiations in 1360, theFrench wereable tobargain froma position

ofsomestrength.Thetermsofthetreatydraftedat Bretigny,asmallsettlementsouth

sovereigntyovermorethan one-thirdofFrance.Inexchange, however, Edward was

expected to renounce his claim to the French throne and give up any notion of

sovereignty intheareas outside those delineated in thetreaty

Theagreementwaspartiallyratified atCalaisintheautumnof that year,butcertain

important clauses—regardingeachking'srenunciationofsovereigntyovertheother'snewly agreedterritories— wereseparated into anotherdocument, which was neversealed.Asthe new decadeopened,overt hostilities had ceased, but the honor andambitionsofneitherside weresatisfied.

The peace between England and France was welcomed by no one more than the

citizensoftheFrench countryside.In Picardy, Normandy, Poitou,andother regions

overrunbysoldiery, great tracts offormerlyfertileterritorywerereducedtowastelandandoften remained in that state fordecades,their inhabitantsdisplaced,dispirited,

village in Beauvaisafteran Englishchevauchee inthe 1350s: "No cockcrowed,no

hen called to her chicks. . Theeyeofman was no longer rejoiced bythe

the nettles andthistlesspringingup on every side.The pleasant soundof bells was

heard, indeed, not as a summons to divine worship, but as a warning of hostile

incursions,inorderthatmenmight seekout hiding places before theenemyarrived."

Aswell asenduring organized raidsby English troops, withtheirslash-and-burn

tactics and systematic plunder, countrypeople suffered the depredations of armed

extracting such profitasthey could from a terrorized populace These freebooters,

running in packs, were known as routiers; the peasants generally called them "theEnglish," althoughthey wereas likely tobe Genoese, Castilian,or, indeed, French

Roaringintoadistrict,theyeitherstripped itbareor extorted protection moneyfrom

its denizensin exchangefor leavingthem in peace

Fieldsremained unfilled, and food prices spiraled; thecountryside was

depopu-lated,ifnotby warfarethen by famine anddisease,astheBlackDeath continuedthe

soldiery's grim work Outside thecastle walls of the nobility, their less privileged

compatriots spokebitterlyof lordswho madeprivate bargainswiththeroutierbands,

andtheyevenentertainedtheirmore presentablecommandersatdinnerwhiletheir

underlings harried the cottage dwellers in neighboringvillages

Constantdemandsfortaxesto pursuethewarled tounrestandresentment: Ifthenoblesoftherealmrefusedtoopen theircoffers,theking's officialshadto turn theirattentions to those lower down the social scale, imposing sales taxes on salt and

staplefoods,ormanipulatingthecurrencytodebasethevalueof the scanty coinsin

the poor man's purse Jeande Venette lamented the injustice— and the

ineffectual-ly—ofthesemeasuresin hismemoirofthe 1340s,whenthe fortunes ofFrancehad

in France, thepoorerthe kingbecame Noprosperityinthekingdomensued but,on

the contrary, woe is me, every misfortune! Officials were beingenriched, the king

impoverished Money was contributed to manynobles and knightsthatthey mightaid and defendtheir land and kingdom,but itwas all spent forthe useless practice

ofpleasures, such asdice and otherunseemly games."

Afterthecaptureofthe kingatPoitiers,angrysubjects castigated theupperclasses:

thetowns,artisansand marketwomen mobbed and menacedthe taxgatherers.Inthebatteredcountryside,a bloodyrebellion— known asthe Jacquerie, afterthe catchall

Jacques,thatwasthecharacteristicgarmentof their class—setthepooragainsttheir

masters Inflamed with the stored-up wrath ofgenerations,they raided castles and

massacred their inhabitants, not sparingeven babes in arms

In 1358, an allianceof French nobles and neighboring princes abandoned theirmutualrivalriestouniteagainstthisthreatfrom below.Thesavagery withwhichtheyputdownthe uprisingsinthecountryside,andscouredthelandtopunishthosewho

had daredraiseahandagainsttheir lords,wassaid tohaveexceededthebrutalityof

the routiers attheirworst

Somerespitewas affordedto thesuffering peasantry bythe nine-yearpeacethatfollowedtheTreaty of Bretignyin 1360 This precious breathingspace alsoallowed

\ fourteenth-century manuscript illustrationshows

cloth beingwovenon a floor loom Before the outbreak

export ofrawwool to Flanders,whereitwasmadeinto

cloth and sold throughout Europe, but heavy taxes

Flan-ders The consequent transition in England to a trade

the introduction of the fulling mill and other technology

that increased output without raising labor costs.

when the French agreed topay a ransom of£500,000 andsend threeofthe king'ssonsashostages toEngland; butwhen oneofthesesons brokeparole,John—in anextremechivalricgesture—voluntarilyreturned to London, wherehedied in 1364

Thedauphin, now ruling asCharles Vof France, initiated an energetic diplomatic

supporters.Gradually, he unraveled the alliancesthatEdward had so painstakingly

knittedtogether:ThecountofFlandersbecame morereceptiveto his influence,andeven his dangerous eastern neighbor, the German emperor, began to look upon

France morebenignly

armyanda well-filledwarchest but—intheunlovelypersonofBertrandduGuesclin,constable of France and supreme commander of the armies—a special military

wasan uncouth and unprepossessingfigure: "Therewas noneso uglyfrom Rennes

toDinant .Whereforehisparents hatedhimso sorethatoften intheirheartsthey

wishedhimdead.Rascal,Fool,orClowntheywere wonttocallhim;sodespisedwas

heasanill-conditioned childthatsquires

andservantsmadelightofhim."Theson

ofimpoverished minor nobles from

Brit-tany, Guesclin had learned his military

the wars over the Breton ducal

succes-sion His experiencewas thatof a

guer-rillaratherthanachampioninthejousts;

brib-eryfailed, hewouldnot scrupleto resort

to torture Even hisown side referred to

him as"the hog in armor."

If his contemporaries were bemused

bytheriseofthisrough diamond,clin himself did not share their puzzle-

Gues-ment: He wasconvincedthatthe urationofthestarsandplanets, aswellas

config-a set of ancient prophecies ascribed to

the magician Merlin, had predicted his

triumphs Toensurethathedid not loseany ofthe opportunities thatdestiny af-

forded,Guesclin neverdidbattlewithout

consultinghisstaffastrologer Butin fact,

there was nothing mystical about hisachievements: He succeeded in shiftingFrenchtacticsawayfromthe pitchedbat-

toward theambushesand lightning raidsthat he understood so well

Gradually, the tide of war began to

turn in France's favor In 1370, Guesclin defeated an invading English army at

Pontvallain.Twoyears later,theCastilianfleet inalliancewith theFrenchdestroyedthe English fleetoffLa Rochelle Victory bredoptimism,andwith the moral support

of his nobles as well as their financial backing,Charles succeeded in recapturingnearlyall thelands thathad been givenupto Edwardin theTreaty of Bretigny And

the English were furtherweakened bysevere political and economic problems

At thestartofthewar, EdwardIIIhadmanaged hisfinances badly Hehad run up hugedebts,andhisattemptstoraiserevenues byinterferingwithEnglishwooltraffic

had thrownthetrade intoconfusionand neardisaster Duringthe years of Englishsuccess, thewardid, indeed, bringwealth intothe kingdom, as soldiers ofall ranksreturnedhomewiththeir spoils.But thosewhohadremainedathome weresqueezed

byever-rising taxdemandsto subsidize theconflict.A popularsong duringthefirst

years ofthewar complained thatcommonfolkwereforcedto selltheir cattle, theirdishes,andthe clothesofftheirbackstomeetthedemandsoftheroyal tax collectors

To imposethesetaxes, thekingneeded theconsentof Parliament Originatingin

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royal council, Parliament had acquired its own rules, procedures, and statutory

Lords, numberingabout 100dukes, earls,and other high nobles aswellasbishops

andabbots; and theCommons, made up ofknights— twofrom every shire in land—and burgesses, the leadingcitizens ofall importanttowns, about250 in all.

Eng-When Parliament assembled at Westminster in April 1376, the membersof the

Commons wereangry.Thecountrywasin crisis.Overseas,thewar wasgoingbadly;

separatelyinsecret session,theCommonsconfrontedtheLordswiththeirgrievances

andwehavehad noredress Norare thereany persons aboutthekingwhowill tell

thetruth,or givehim loyalandprofitablecounsel, but theymockandtheyscoff,and

theyworkalwaysfor theirown profit. Wedeclareto you thereforethatwewill do

nothingfurther until those who are aboutthe king, who aretraitors andevil

membersof hiscouncil, men whowill notshirkfrom tellingthetruth,and whowill

carryout reforms."

So forceful was their case, and so real their power of withholding the right oftaxation, thatthe Commons' demands were met: Corruptadviserswere impeached

forthetime being, no newtaxeswere granted From thatdayforward, the prestige

laws were made andthe greataffairsof state not onlydiscussed butdirected

Prince, whohad returned to Englandfrom theduchyofAquitaine in 1371 because

ofillhealth,diedofdysentery.Thepersonificationof a chivalric military tradition that

eulogized by the contemporary French chronicler Froissart as "the flower of theworld's knighthoodat thattime andthe most successful soldierof hisage."

M ASTERWORKS IN THE VERNACULAR

The dominantliterarylanguagesinEurope

atthebeginningof the fourteenthcentury

Church,and French,widelyusedin

popu-larromances Butbytheendofthe

centu-ry, writers in Italy and England had

pro-ducedmasterpiecesintheirnativetongues,

which graduallycame todisplace Latin as

the vehicle ofhighartandcontributedtoa

growingsense of nationalidentity.

exiledFlorentinenamedDanteAlighieri set

outto create, in a language basedon thedialectofTuscany,anepicpoemthatcould

Rome TheresultwasThe DivineComedy,which recountsthe author'sspiritualjour-

ney towarda revelation of divineglory.

Taking inspirationfrom Dante's

follow-ersPetrarchandBoccaccioas well asfrom

Frenchwriters,thepoetGeoffreyChaucer

forgedin hisCanterburyTales—written tween1387 and1400—afoundationfor all

be-subsequentEnglishliterature.

pendent county of Hainaut, close to the

northern borderofFrance, the chronicler

Europeandenjoyedthepatronage bothof

the English royalcourtandofvariousnoble

families sympathetic tothe Frenchcause

Thus he was especially well qualified to

compile an authoritative account of the

greateventsofhisgeneration,andin

thetwonations

fromeyewitness sourcesonbothsidesina

dramatic narrative enlivened with

recon-structeddialogueandlavish descriptions of

weddingsandfunerals,whichhe included

pa-trons.Froissart'sdescriptions of thebattles

oftheHundredYears'Warare so vivid that

hehasbeen describedastheworld'sfirst

greatjournalist.

Thepage reproducedat right,takenfrom

a fifteenth-century manuscript edition of

ceremo-nial entry of Isabelle of Bavaria, wife of

CharlesVI of France, into Parisin 1389

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