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| 1347 |
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| Edward's siege and capture of Calais gave the English an economic and military base in France that was held until 1558. | 1 |
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| 1348–50 |
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| The Black Death penetrated northern Europe, gradually reducing the population by about a third and contributing to the crisis of 1357–58 in France. | 2 |
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| 1350–64 |
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| JOHN II (the Good Fellow), a “good knight and a mediocre king,” a spendthrift who repeatedly debased the currency. | 3 |
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| 1355 |
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| English renewal of the war in a triple advance: into Brittany; from the Channel; and from Bordeaux, by the Black Prince. Virtual collapse of French finance. The estates of Languedoc and Langue d'Oïl (the latter under the leadership of Etienne Marcel, the richest man in Paris, provost of the merchants), forced the king (ordinance of 1355) to agree to consult the provincial estates before making new levies of money, a policy already in practice, and to accept supervision of the collection and expenditure of these levies by a commission from the estates. John cleverly induced the estates to adjourn, debased the coinage in the interest of his treasury, and organized his opposition to the estates. | 4 |
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| 1356 |
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| The Black Prince (the English “model of chivalry”) defeated John, the last “chivalrous” king of France, at Poitiers (Sept. 19) (See 1356, Sept. 19). Royal authority in France was reduced to a shadow; civil chaos reigned. Charles, the 18-year-old son of John, became regent. | 5 |
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| 1357 |
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| Climax of the power of the Estates General: The Estates General again had to be called, and it passed the Great Ordinance, which provided for supervision of the levy and expenditure of taxes by a standing committee of the estates, regular and frequent meetings of the estates, poor relief, and many other reforms, but did not attempt to reduce the traditional powers of the monarchy. The estates had met frequently, were divided, and had no real coherence or skill in government. They were discredited by Marcel's alliance with Charles the Bad of Navarre (a son of Jeanne, daughter of Louis X), who had a better claim to the throne than Edward III. The regent Charles fled from Paris and created a powerful coalition against the estates and Charles the Bad. | 6 |
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| 1358 |
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| The Jacquerie, a violent peasant reaction against war taxes, the weight of the ransoms of the captives at Poitiers, and the pillage of the free companies (demobilized soldiers), led to a merciless reaction by the nobles. Marcel, already distrusted, was further discredited by intrigues with the revolted peasantry and with the English. Charles, after the murder of Marcel (1358), returned to the capital, repressed disorder with a firm hand, and refused to approve John's preliminary peace (1359), which virtually restored the old Angevin lands in France to Edward. | 7 |
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| 1360 |
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| The Peace of Bretigny (Calais), virtually a truce of mutual exhaustion: Edward practically abandoned his claims to the French crown; Charles yielded southwestern France (Guienne), Calais, Ponthieu, and the territory immediately about them, and promised an enormous ransom for John. King John was released on partial payment of the ransom, but returned after the flight of a hostage to die in his luxurious and welcome captivity in England. The southern provinces protested their return to English rule, clear signs of national sentiment born of adversity. | 8 |
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| 1361 |
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| The duchy of Burgundy escheated to the crown, and John handed it to his son Philip as an appanage (1363). Charles negotiated (1369) the marriage of Duke Philip to Margaret, daughter and heiress of Louis de Male, last count of Flanders, to keep Flanders out of English hands. As Margaret brought Flanders, the county of Burgundy, Artois, Nevers, and Rethel under control of the dukes of Burgundy, this marriage added a new danger on the east and north to the Plantagenet threat in the west. | 9 |
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| 1364–80 |
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| CHARLES V (the Wise), neither strong of body, handsome, nor chivalrous; a pious, refined, realistic statesman of “modern” cast. He saved France and made it plain that national well-being depended on the monarchy rather than on the Estates General. | 10 |
| The reign opened with bad harvests, plague, and pillage by the free companies. The Breton Bertrand Du Guesclin, the first great soldier on the French side in the Hundred Years' War, was sent with some 30,000 men to support Henry of Trastamara against Pedro the Cruel of Castile, who had become an ally of the Black Prince. | 11 |
| Charles managed to dominate the new financial machinery set up by the Estates General, continued the war levies (e.g., hearth tax, gabelle, sales taxes) and utilized the peace for general reform and reconstruction: castles were rebuilt, and royal control of them strengthened; permanent companies of professional cavalry and infantry were established; artillery was organized and supported by pioneers and sappers; a military staff and hierarchy of command was established in the army (1374); the navy was reorganized, and French sea power restored. New walls were built around Paris. | 12 |
| The grant from the estate of Langue d'Oïl (1360) for John's ransom had been for a term of six years; the grant of a hearth tax (1363) was without a time limit. Following these precedents, Charles was able (1369) to induce the estates to agree to the general principle that old grants of funds need not be renewed by the estates unless their terms were to be changed. This freed the king from control by the estates unless new taxes were needed, and it meant that the estates no longer had a vital function. The financial control established by the estates (1357) was transferred to the royal chambre de comptes in Paris. | 13 |
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| 1369 |
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| The appeal of the count of Armagnac to Charles against the Black Prince and the Black Prince's refusal to appear at Charles's court served as an excuse for the resumption of the war. The reconquest of Poitou and Brittany (1370–72) was followed by the death of the Black Prince (1376); the French fleet, supported by the Castilian, regained control (La Rochelle, 1372) of the Channel, and blocked English transport in the north. By 1380 the English held only Bordeaux, Bayonne, Brest, Calais, Cherbourg, Valais, and their immediately surrounding territory. France was cleared of the enemy, but it was in ruins. | 14 |
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| 1380–1422 |
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| CHARLES VI. A minority reign accompanied by the disruptive rivalry of the king's uncles (the dukes of Anjou, Berri, and Burgundy, the “Princes of the Lilies”), who exploited France for their own ends. This was followed by the intermittent insanity of the king, and paralysis in the government. | 15 |
| General economic distress, popular unrest, and general revolts, usually against taxes. Flanders, on the death of the count (1384), passed to Burgundy; its pacification was completed in 1385. The hearth tax was renewed, and taxation remained heavy. | 16 |
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