Problems Faced by England c. 1300-1500

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Despite of the fact that England is separated from the Continental Europe, it couldn't avoid typical problems of a Medieval country such as wars, epidemics, rebellions. The external problem was The Hundred Years' War. The domestic ones were the plague epidemic and The Peasants' Revolt. Each of the problems had an impact on the English history timeline, influenced on its way of achieving what we observe now.
The Hundred Years' War
Started as a dynasty conflict argument the lines of the house of Capetians, nowadays this series of armed conflicts between England and duchy of Burgundy on one side and the Auld Alliance of France and Scotland on the other is known as The Hundred Years' War. At the beginning England succeed. The victory over the French Navy in the battle of Crécy (1346) gave them an opportunity to settle down in Calais, one of the Atlantic ports, and use it as an entrepot in the further advancing inland. In the battle of Poitiers (1356) and of Agincourt mastery of the English bowmen let defeat French army which was 6 times bigger and consisted generally of cavalry.
In spite of the visible success, England lost the very war. Having not seized Orleans, they were beaten in the battle of Pates, letting the dauphin to crown himself as Charles VII. In 1449 the French took back Roanne and Cannes. English army under the command of John Talbot attempted to turn back Gascony, but lost in the battle of Castillon in 1453. That one was the last battle of the war, which ended with capitulation of an English garrison in Bordeaux.
As a result England lost all of its French territories but Calais. That fact and the King's insanity plunged the country into a series of Magnats' Wars. The war resulted in the development of military: infantr...

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... the individual feudal burdens, but also against the feudal system itself. Despite the defeat, the rebellion helped to accelerate the liberation of the peasants and replacing serfdom with money rent, which led England to a gradual transition from a feudal to a capitalist society.

In order to summarize, let us say that the period from 1300 to 1500 cannot be called insignificant. Irreplaceable loss of human lives, spending large amounts of money and resources could be observed as well as the process of progress. The Hundred Years' War put an end to a strong dependence on France. The Black Death helped peasant to realize the inequality of feudal system and forced landowners to rise wages for labourers. The Peasants' Revolt was one of the first attempts to achieve the idea of human rights and inborn freedom, and the country for people, not for the king and his court.

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