When in 1328 we run out of those brothers, we can either climb back up the Capitian family tree and jump over to a cousin, Philip, Valois. Or we can consider Edward the third's claim, because even though we've come to develop an idea that women don't themselves come to the throne, the question remains, can they transmit their inheritance to a male relative? What happens is that Philip the sixth, he's a grown up, whereas Edward at this time is only a teen, so a group of the elites, the magnates, choose him as king. In 1337, Philip the sixth confiscated the Dutch of Accutaine and the country of Monty
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the brutal events of 26 August 1346, when the armies of France and England met in a funnel-shaped valley outside the town of Crécy in northern France.
Although the French, led by Philip VI, massively outnumbered the English, under the command of Edward III, the English won the battle, and French casualties were huge. The English victory is often attributed to the success of their longbowmen against the heavy cavalry of the French.
The Battle of Crécy was the result of years of simmering tension between Edward III and Philip VI, and it led to decades of further conflict between England and France, a conflict that came to be known as the Hundred Years War.
With
Anne Curry
Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the University of Southampton
Andrew Ayton
Senior Research Fellow in History at Keele University
and
Erika Graham-Goering
Lecturer in Late Medieval History at Durham University
Producer Luke Mulhall