Edward III (reigned 1327–1377) claimed the throne of France through his French mother. The dispute escalated into the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), a series of campaigns fought across France. English longbowmen won famous victories at Crécy in 1346 and Poitiers in 1356; Edward's son, the Black Prince, captured the King of France at Poitiers and demanded a huge ransom.
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A century later, in 1415, Henry V won another celebrated victory at Agincourt. But the war eventually went against the English, helped by the rise of Joan of Arc, and by 1453 they had lost almost all their French possessions except the port of Calais. The conflict shaped national identity on both sides of the Channel.
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