Читать книгу The Loire Cycle Route. From the source in the Massif Central to the Atlantic coast онлайн

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The Hundred Years’ War

One particular neighbour proved hard to defeat. Ever since Vikings settled in Normandy and around the mouth of the Loire in the ninth century there had been a threat from the west. The Vikings became the Normans, and when in 1066 they annexed England, their power base became larger. For nearly 400 years the Norman kings of England and their Plantagenet successors sought to consolidate and expand their territory in France. The main confrontation was the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453) fought between France and an alliance of England and Burgundy. For many years the English and Burgundians had the upper hand, capturing large areas of France. The turning point came in 1429 when a French force led by a 17-year-old girl, Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc), succeeded in lifting the siege of Orléans. By 1453 the English had been driven almost completely out of France, consolidating the French monarchy as the dominant force in the region. When Burgundy (1477) and Brittany (1532) were absorbed, the French king controlled the entire Loire basin.