Late Middle Ages · 1337-1453

The Hundred Years' War

For more than a century the kings of England claim the crown of France. Students follow the war from Sluys and Crécy to Agincourt, see why longbows mattered, and ask who really paid the price of a war fought mostly on French soil.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1337 to AD 1400
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

For more than a century the kings of England claim the crown of France. Students follow the war from Sluys and Crécy to Agincourt, see why longbows mattered, and ask who really paid the price of a war fought mostly on French soil.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why the kings of England and France went to war in 1337.
  • Locate the main battles and English possessions in France on the map.
  • Describe the effects of the war on ordinary people and on the identity of both kingdoms.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1337

A king who is also a vassal

Open the map in 1337 and find the English lands in southwest France around Bordeaux. Why was it a problem that the king of England held these lands as a vassal of the king of France?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1400

The battles

Set the year to 1400 and turn on Historical Events (Battles). Find Sluys, Crécy, Poitiers and Agincourt. Where were most battles fought, and what does that mean for the people living there?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1400

English France

Look at the English territory on the map of 1400. Compare it with France. What do you think a French peasant in Gascony felt loyal to?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Edward III claimed the French crown through his mother. Why did the French lords reject a claim through the female line?
  2. English armies often raided the French countryside, burning villages to weaken the enemy. Who suffered most from that tactic?
  3. Longbowmen were mostly commoners, yet they beat armored knights. How might that have changed ideas about who mattered in war?
  4. The war lasted 116 years, with long truces in between. Why is "Hundred Years' War" a name given later rather than at the time?
  5. By the end, the English court spoke English rather than French. How can a long war shape a nation's identity?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Rule History as Sejong the Great, who ruled Korea in the last decades of this war. Afterwards, compare: Sejong spent on science and writing, while the kings of England and France spent on war. Which choices helped their people more?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.