Goldenrule Essay, Research Paper

The definition of the Golden Rule is that those with the gold make therules. In other words, those with the gold have the power as well as thosewith the power have the gold. History books will discuss the general reasonsfor war such as freedom from adversity or freedom from religion. But thereal issue for any war is the thirst for power and control; and the means tofinance them are the economic issues. Nations will endure years of fighting for power and control. Franceand England fought each other for more than a hundred years to have controlof the Channel trade routes. 1 This century of warring was known as TheHundred Years’ War and is the longest war in record history. It began in1337 when King Edward III invaded Normandy and ended in 1453 whenFrance won the Battle of Bordeaux. However, it was not a hundred years ofconstant battle; there were periods of truces in between. 2One cause for the Hundred Years’ War was the claim to the Frenchthrone. The conflict began when the direct line of succession died without amale heir and the nobles decided to pass the crown to a cousin, Philip ofValois. But this left two other male cousins equally deserving of the crown;Charles, King of Navarre and Edward III, King of England. 3 Edward IIIclaimed that he himself was deserving of the throne because his mother wasthe sister of the late French king, while Philip VI was only a cousin. Butaccording to French law, no women could inherit the throne, nor could thecrown be inherited through a woman. 4″Philip of Valois chances of becoming King of France had been remoteand he had not been brought up as the future lieutenant of God on Earth.Philip VI spent much of his resources on entertainment and finery with gayabandon.” 5 This caused conflict with the king’s subjects. Since the king wasconsidered to be sacred and inviolable, neither cousin would challenge PhilipVI. However, they would exploit the situation and King Edward III lost notime and invaded Normandy with an army of 10,000men. 6This leads to another cause for The Hundred Years’ War. The landalong the Channel and Atlantic coasts was England’s first line of defenseagainst an invasion. England held claim to this territory from the twelthcentury through the marriage of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine.King Edward III was determined to gain control of the French coastline whileproviding himself with a bridgehead for future expeditions intoFrance. 7But the major cause of The Hundred Years’ War was the economicinterest – the revenues to be gotten from this rich territory. Wine wasGasgony’s largest export product and major source of income to the vassal.Wool was England’s largest export product and the source of its wealth.English pastures produced fleeces that were the envy of Europe whichFlanders depended on for its wool and linen market. 8 English sheep growerssold their long fine wool to weavers in Flanders, across the English Channel.Flemish weavers as well as English sheep growers depended on this trade fortheir business. In 1336, Philip VI arrested all the English merchants inFlanders and took away all the privileges of the Flemish towns and the craftguilds. Resulting in the Flemings revolting against the French control andmaking an alliance with England. 9 Consequently, the flourishing market ofthe industrial cities of Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp and Ypres were naturallycoveted by the Kings of France and England. Moreover, the Bordeaux harbor was within the borders of EnglishGascony and was the center of the shipping and trading industry.Commodities such as grains, dairy products, dyes and salt would be shippedinto Bordeaux via the Dordogne and Garonne Rivers and the merchants werecharged a customs fee for these products. Also, Bordeaux would receiveduties on wine, whether shipped-in or grown on Gascon soil. Consequently,the profits from the tolls and customs made Bordeaux the economic capital ofGascony. Furthermore, control of neighboring areas such as Guyenne andCalais were economically vital. Their union with Bordeaux would ensureEngland with a monopoly of the shipping and trading industry from Spain,Portugal and Brittany. 10France was the richest country in Europe and its army was much largerthan England’s. In addition, France’s army consisted of hired mercenaries.Therefore, France should have quickly defeated England. But France’s armyconsisted of heavily armored knights who were less mobile against the agileEnglish swordsmen. The French military leaders soon realized the archer wasthe only effective when fighting a pitched battle. Consequently, Franceimplemented a strategic plan which was to avoid active warfare and to utilizethe technique of diplomacy and concessions. England could win battles, butFrance could avoid them. Pitched battles were accepted only when there wasno alternative. Otherwise, France would raid unprotected towns and villages,take what they could, then burn them to the ground. 11Meanwhile, England could depend on the loyalty of her subjects. Thesoldiers were happy to receive a salary and eager to fight on French soil.They could profit from the plundering while their homes didn’t suffer anddamage. Moreover, England had superior military tactics. They hadperfected the fighting technique of the longbow drawn by free swordsmen.Even though the archers were below the knight on the social ladder, theywere not ashamed to fight side by side. Subsequently, the archer coulddestroy the effectiveness of a French calvary charge. Also, King Edward IIIwas very popular with his subjects. He would fight beside his troops as wellas to the folks at home. As well, his sixteen year old son, the Black Prince,was a superb military leader. 12 He successfully continued to lead theEnglish armies into battle against France. As a result, England won most ofthe initial battles and kept the war in France. 13One of the great English victories was the battle at Crecy. The Englishwere outnumbered four to one by the French, led by Philip VI. The Englishoccupied the side of a small hill, while the heavy number of Frenchmen-at-arms and hired Genoese crossbowmen were at the foot of the hill on aplain. The English were ready with their new longbows at hand. The Genoese crossbowmen attacked the English, but were too tireddue to the long day’s march and because of an earlier rainstorm, theircrossbow strings were loose. The English’s longbow proved to be too muchfor the Genoese, so they dropped the crossbows and began to run. KingPhilip was so outraged at the Genoese actions, he had his men-at-arms killmany of them. At one point during this battle, the French came across a group ofEnglish knights led by the Black Prince, the son of Edward III, dismountedfrom their horses and not prepared for battle. As Edward III heard of hisson’s misfortune, he ordered no aid be sent to him and his men. This was to

be his day. Slowly, pieces of the French army began to flee, while theEnglish army stood strong. England had won the first great land battle of the long war. They hadalready won control of the English Channel and a few years later, the town ofCalais surrendered to them on September 28, 1347. For the next ten years,fighting was slowed. This was due mainly to the Black Death which killedmore than a third of the population. 14 Initially, England feared they would never be able to defend themselvesagainst a French invasion. France had enormous wealth, military prestige anda dominant position in European politics. However, the Battles of Vrecy andPoiters were major victories for England. In both battles, England wasgreatly outnumbered by France but, the English archers were more effectivethan the armor-clad French knights. Therefore, the victories were perceivedto be granted by god because England was the rightful ruler of France. AsEngland continued to win the early battles and keep the in France, themilitary’s feelings of inferiority and insecurity were replaced withself-confidence and optimism. The first phase of The Hundred Years’ Warwent well for England. Eventually the false sense of prosperity created by the pillaging of theFrench towns and villages began to surface. Also, the commoners werebecoming dissatisfied with the high war expense. The war was a strain onEngland’s resources and it was beginning to get difficult to pay the soldiers’wages as well as maintain the garrisons. The English subjects were taxed outand tired of the misappropriation of the war funds by the corrupt royalofficials and military commanders. Moreover, the military began to decline.”King Richard II was not a good general. Most of Edward III’s captains weredead or in captivity and the new generation of officers showed little aptitudefor war.” 15 But King Richard II had to fight France not only for glorioustradition but to save the wine trade with Gascony and the wool trade withFlanders. These resources were needed to help finance the war. However,his campaign ended in retreat. The Gascons were opportunists. They did not adhere firmly to onelord. Even though they did better under English rule, they were not resistantto the French. Consequently, France gradually gained control of the Channeltrade routes. Then King Henry V renewed The Hundred Years’ War with avictory at Agincourt. He was a strong, brilliant military leader and continuedto win battles against the French, recapturing the Gascon territory. 16 Also,with the marriage to Charles VI’s daughter, King Henry V achieved the goalof French sovereignty. He became the French regent and upon Charles VI’sdeath, the King of England would succeed to a dual monarchy. However,when Charles VI died, the King of England was a child. 17Henry VI was too young and inexperienced to supervise a kingdom andlead an army. As a result, authority did not rest in any one person, but in allof the lords together. This led to English disputes and disunity. Also, thesubjects believed this was the king’s war and the king should not finance thewar through taxation but from his own income from Gascony. Themaintenance of a dual kingdom was a financial strain and England was far indebt on military wages. In addition, Gascony was very difficult to defend andthe unstable economic conditions made it difficult to meet military crises asthey arose. Consequently, the English army in Gascony disbanded. 18When it seemed as if there was no hope for France, a new lightappeared for them. She was Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans. Joan of Arcand Charles VII were able to organize France. They invaded Gascony withan overwhelming force and began to capture the English towns along theNorman border without being drawn into a pitched battle. Even after Joan ofArc’s capture and execution by the English and Burgundians, her spiritseemed to inspire the French. As a result, the French offensive spirit wasrekindled. Again, the French outnumbered the English. But this time theFrench army did not rest, instead they sped aggressively to the next battle. Moreover, the French implemented the use of the cannon-ball. 19Again, “the allegiance of the noble families to England or France wasdetermined by the economic and judicial privileges of their lordships.” 20But their land and goods were confiscated during Charles VII’s invasion.Consequently, the nobles defected to France. As England continued to loseits control of the South-West, France’s ability to allure the nobility away fromEngland increased. “In the past many had mocked the sovereignty of France.But in the political conditions of 1442-53 they were seldom able to resist thebribes, threats, and sanctions employed by a stronger and wealthiermonarchy.” 21 He who controls the Channel controls, controls the gold.Subsequently, the high rate of the nobility defection to France severelyweakened England and ultimately caused its collapse of territory control. It took over a hundred years and five English kings to win thesovereignty of the French crown and thirty years and one king to loose it.Success in warfare depends on the combination of a king who is a competentmilitary leader, an enthusiastic ruling class prepared to fight and command thearmies, and people willing to bear the cost through taxation. For almost ahundred years England had this combination while France did not. TheEnglish hated the French and always feared an invasion. Also, the highdemand for English would exports created a substantial treasury for KingEdward to pay for the war. However, the pendulum swung the other way.As a result, England may have won the battle, but France won the war.

Barnie, John. War in Medieval English Society. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1974. Duby, Georges. France in the Middle Ages 987-1460. Paris: Blackwell,1987. “Hundred Years’ War.” Compton’s Online Encyclopedia. 1995. Hutchinson, Harold F. King Henry V. New York: John Day Company,1967. Palmer, J.J.N. England, France and Christendom. London: University ofNorth Carolina Press, 1972. Vale, M.G.A. English Gascony 1399-1453. London: Oxford UniversityPress, 1970. The Hundred Years’ WarEngland vs. FranceHistory 101 Notes1. Palmer, J.J.N., England, France and Christendom. London:University of North Carolina Press, 23. 2. “Hundred Years’ War.” Compton’s Online Encyclopedia. 1995. 3. Palmer, 47. 4. “Hundred Years’ War”5. Duby, Georges. France in the Middle Ages 987-1460. Paris:Blackwell, 1987, 274. 6. “Hundred Years’ War”7. Barnie, John. War in Medieval English Society. Ithaca: CornellUniversity Press, 1974, 181. 8. Palmer, 120. 9. “Hundred Years’ War” 10. Barnie, 219. 11. Duby, 233. 12. “Hundred Years’ War”13. Palmer, 161. 14. “Hundred Years’ War”15. Barnie, 25. 16. Hutchinson, Harold F. King Henry V. New York: John DayCompany, 1967, 214. 17. Hutchinson, 214. 18. Barnie, 245. 19. “Hundred Years’ War”20. Vale, M.G.A. English Gascony 1399-1453. London: OxfordUniversity Press, 1970, 165. 21. Vale, 215.