How a disputed inheritance sparked a century of English-French warfare
In short: In 1340, Edward III of England made a bold proclamation: he was the rightful King of France. This wasn't just a title; it was the catalyst for the Hundred Years' War, a conflict driven by complex dynastic laws and a strategic attempt to secure Flemish support.
The roots of the conflict lay in the death of the last direct Capetian king, Charles IV, in 1328. His death left no male heir, creating a succession crisis. Edward III, the King of England, was Charles's nearest male relative through his mother, Isabella. However, French magnates preferred Philip VI of the House of Valois, a male-line relative. To justify bypassing Edward, French jurists later invoked Salic law—a 6th-century Frankish code—to argue that the crown could not be inherited through a female line. While this became a widely held belief, historians note that the link to Salic law was tenuous and the connection was not formally made until the 15th century.
Edward III's formal claim in 1340 was a tactical maneuver. By quartering the English arms with the royal arms of France, he sought to win Flemish support by appearing as a legitimate sovereign rather than a rebel. He argued that while women might be excluded from the throne, they could still pass the right to rule to their sons. This legal battle was eventually brought before the Papacy, with legal briefs presented to Pope Benedict XII and later Pope Clement VI at Avignon.
The resulting Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) saw dramatic shifts in power. Henry V briefly established a 'dual monarchy' via the Treaty of Troyes in 1420, where his heir was recognized as the successor to the Valois king Charles VI. However, French resistance eventually expelled the English from most of France by 1453, leaving only Calais as an English possession. The English monarchs continued to use the title 'King of France' for prestige until 1801, when the new French Republic formally objected to the practice.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: English claims to the French throne
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